another ugly high school basketball moment associated with president donald trump in my home state of iowa made national headlines earlier this school year. patrick redford on deadspin.com reported
before a basketball game between eagle grove and forest city in forest city, iowa, two local radio broadcasters were heard cheerily expressing their disdain for the “español people” who played for eagle grove high school.
broadcasters are announcers or people who work producing the broadcast. cheerily is happily. disdain is disrespect.
draco malfoy shows a strong disdain for harry potter. and muggles.
the most offensive and most publicized comment was
as trump would say, go back where they came from.
as means the same way. in this example, like is a good substitution. go back means return. the idea is that because the players have spanish last names, they don’t belong in the u.s. listen for the comment at 1:28 on this video.
one of the students mentioned, 17-year-old nikolas padilla, showed judgment and empathy in his response to the broadcasters’ comments in this tweet.
Thank you everyone for your sympathy. I am proud to be Hispanic and of my background culture. I don't want Mr. Harris to be known for his devastating remarks. He made a terrible decision, I accept his apology and want him to move on with his life as I will with mine. #EGSTRONG
— Nikolas Padilla (@NikolasPadilla7) December 4, 2017
proud means happy or satisfied about personal characteristics or accomplishments, background refers to padilla’s personal history. apology is saying you’re sorry. move on means continue and implies leaving behind or forgetting this incident. as has the same meaning as (
) it does above.
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padilla also talked to local television station kimt and said…
i know it’s a huge deal but I didn’t want it to be a huge deal…..forgive him and accept his apology because I’m not the one who’s going to hold a grudge against him for the rest of his life for the decision he made.
a huge deal means really important. forgive is excuse, pardon. hold a grudge means stay angry or resentful and have feelings of revenge.
janet jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show at super bowl xxxviii was a big deal when it happened.
kimt talked to eagle grove superintendant (top manager in a school system) jess toliver too.
[toliver] stresses when dealing with a minority population you’re bound to encounter racism; while you can try to ignore it, it is best to address it: the main thing is in our school district everybody is welcome, no matter where you come from. we’re not a rich town, not a flashy town, we take care of our kids, and we take care of our community. the main thing is if you come here you’re going to be safe, you’re going to be taken care of.
deal with is the same as work with. a minority is a small percentage of the population. in the u.s. it is often used to refer to ethnic groups. bound means sure, certain. flashy is extravagant, ostentatious. take care of means protect. the first two applications of take care of have we as a subject. the final application, be taken care of, is passive voice (auxiliary be + past participle). no subject is mentioned.
forest city and eagle grove players and school officials before their game in january
when eagle grove and forest city played again at the beginning of january, in the mason city globe gazette, an article by steve bohnel reported that players from both teams held hands during the national anthem (official song for a country) to show unity. eagle grove superintendent toliver commented
it just took the edge off everything
and misty padilla, nikolas’s mother, agreed…
it brought the students a little closer even though the forest city basketball team had nothing to be ashamed of, it was not them who racially degraded our children.
take the edge off means the situation became less intense. even though is for contrasting ideas, similar to but stronger than but. ashamed of is embarrassed about, sorry for or guilty of. degrade means insult, disrespect.
https://twitter.com/itsbohdi/status/983790598732869633
a little something to take the edge off is commonly used to refer to relaxing drugs, drinks or food; like tequila & maruchan 
what are your thoughts about the expression of racist sentiments in the media? against kids? by political leaders? share your feelings under leave a reply
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have fun, amigos.
