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How can this sort of thing still be happening?

Five students from Lincoln-Way East High School, removed from a football game for “racist harassment” and offensive behavior directed toward Homewood-Flossmoor fans during a game at Homewood-Flossmoor.

The powers that be at H-F commended their staff for dealing with the ugliness swiftly and safely removing the offenders. And helping Homewood-Flossmoor students “remain in the bleachers and safe.”

Lincoln-Way East said they “sincerely apologize to the HF community for the behavior displayed by these students. This behavior does not reflect the expectations and standards we have for Lincoln-Way students.”

My reaction to the whole brouhaha is: “Really???”

Schools were desegregated decades ago. You’d think by now students would be able to interact civilly with their peers regardless of race or ethnicity.

Warm and friendly may be asking too much, but couldn’t they just be polite, decent people?   

It’s true that Chicago is notoriously still fairly segregated when it comes to housing. We had years of white flight. And the Lincoln-Way area may well be filled with families whose history includes one or more of those moves in search of neighbors who look like them.

Still, at this point we should be able to expect civil communication from young people who are growing up in a culture that includes all kinds of people from all kinds of places.

I don’t know how to fix this. I hope you do!

Maybe it’s all about parents. If they modeled acceptance and tolerance, their kids wouldn’t be spewing racist crap at a football game, right?

On the other hand, sometimes teenagers do say things their parents wouldn’t be happy to hear. It might be a mistake to assume these kids come from households where bigotry is accepted or even encouraged.

If you’re a parent yourself, you might have some insight into this sort of thing—I’m all ears.

Teachers probably play a role. This kind of incident raises questions about the attitudes they’re modeling in the classroom. And on the playing field.

Maybe white kids are picking up the idea that they’re better than some of their classmates by virtue of being Caucasian.

Could be the whole culture that needs a revamp. The president’s kicking out Haitian refugees and Latinos, and the Defense Department is ditching high-ranking officers, especially Blacks and women.

It may seem that tolerance, inclusion, and acceptance have gone out of fashion. And considering the vitriol that shows up on social media, that may well be the case.

I still think most of us disapprove of “racist harassment.”

Maybe I’m too optimistic, but when I think about the people who are part of my world, I’m certain they wouldn’t engage in that kind of interaction, and they wouldn’t let their kids get away with it either.

Are we simply more enlightened than everyone else? Doesn’t seem likely to me. I have to conclude that most people in 2026 America have left blatant bigotry in the past.

Not all people, of course. We still hear news stories like this one about the south suburban football game, after all. It would be naïve to think that everyone in the country is ready to hold hands and sing “Kumbya.”

I have to believe, though, that this kind of ugliness is becoming rarer and rarer. And I’d like that downward trend to continue!

So, how do we make that happen?

Seems like step one is to be crystal clear about our own openness to different people from different backgrounds. And that should probably include people with different opinions—that one may be the most challenging for me.

Then we need to support candidates—at every level—who manifest that same openness. And we should reject the public officials who express biased views, or who try to rig the system in ways that discourage or dilute minority participation.

And I’m increasingly convinced that we should prepare to be even more active. Yes, in my private life, I’m tolerant. Yes, I vote for candidates who share that mindset, and occasionally I even support them financially.

That’s about the extent of it for me, though. I did participate in No Kings Day marches, but that’s pretty paltry when it comes to activism. And those seem to have petered out anyway.

It’s fair to say I could—and even should—do more to stop our culture from backsliding into blatant bias.

What exactly should that look like? Maybe you have an idea …  Tell me about it with a comment below.