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A video showing a group of teenagers from Orange County doing a Nazi salute while a German song of the era of World War II was broadcast in the background Monday and quickly aroused indignation.
The video shows about 10 boys from Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, standing in what appears to be a banquet hall, offering the stiff-arm salute used in Nazi Germany. A song written by the German composer Herms Niel during the rise of Hitler's power in Germany plays in the background. At least one of the boys starts singing while the others laugh.
The video, taken before the start of an athletics banquet held off campus in November 2018, had originally been shared by a small group of students on Snapchat. High school administrators learned the video four months later, Garden Grove's unified school district said in a statement Monday.
The officials "took immediate action and addressed the situation with all students and families involved. The Daily Beast, who reported for the first time the existence of the video, said that she had been posted on Instagram by a student.
been removed.
District officials declined to say whether students had been sanctioned as a result of the incident.
"In response to this unfortunate incident, district and school administrators have turned to community organizations to provide them with support that will continue to ensure an anti-bias learning environment and address the problems of hatred, prejudice and exclusion with all staff and students, "said the district. wrote in a statement. "Pacifica High School, along with our other district schools, will work with students, staff, and parents to continue to address these issues in the fall, in collaboration with anti-education organizations. -biais. "
A spokesperson for the Garden Grove Unified School District and Pacifica High School Director Steve Osborne did not respond to requests for additional comments on Monday.
The Daily Beast reported that students are members of the boys' water polo team, but the Los Angeles Times could not confirm this information independently.
Brian Levin, director of the Center against Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said the incident was a learning time for students and school administrators,
which, according to him, waited too long to solve the problem publicly. He said the video was "chilling" and a "vile expression of Nazi fanaticism".
"When we have a fragmented society with increasingly rude and manipulative social media, with a dose of ignorance and white nationalism, that's what's considered acceptable," said Levin. "That's why the school has to solve this problem. It's a representation of their institution. "
The incidents occurred while hate crimes are on the rise across the country. The Anti-Defamation League has seen a 58% increase in documented antisemitism from 2016 to 2017.
This sharp increase is due, in part, to a significant increase in the number of incidents occurring in schools and university campuses, said the organization.
In March, a group of high school students from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa were photographed at a party – arms extended in a Nazi salute – gathered around red plastic cups arranged in the shape of a swastika.
Pete Simi, professor of sociology at Chapman University, who focuses on extremist groups, said the song played in the background of the video was not very well known and could suggest that teens
watch extremist materials online.
Digital environments such as
Social media and even online chats about video games frequently used by young people can quickly become a home for people who spread white supremacist ideas, experts say.
"What is clear is that we have a problem and we have one for a long time," said Simi. "When something like this comes to our attention, the last thing to do is try to move on. This should be part of a broader discussion of what drives young people in this direction. "
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