A photograph of members of the Greely High School girls' basketball team in Cumberland, Maine that surfaced last week on Facebook, in which they were sporting the Nazi "Heil Hitler" salute has people alarmed nationwide. School officials also say they found out about anti-Semitic jokes from an anonymous letter sent to them last week, according to NESN (New England Sports News).
The picture depicts two members of the team, wearing their uniforms, giving another team member the Nazi salute. The letter also lists three pages of tweets allegedly written by the girls, which include offensive and anti-Semitic language. In the multiple tweets, the girls affectionately refer to a teammate as "Hitler."
One tweet, dated December on 24 reportedly said, "So Jewish to have prac [tice] on Christmas Eve day."
Another one reads, "If ---- picked me up, she would've made me do sprints, then put me in a gas chamber." The letter also states that at least one team member was following and retweeting '@DictatorHitler,' which is an account that regularly, posts anti-Semitic tweets.
"When situations like this come up when students are using prejudiced and intolerant speech and actions, it shows that the school really needs to seriously institute anti-bias, anti-bullying education and curriculum," said Emily Chaleff, the executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine,
Greely High School Principal Dan McKeone said that the school has spoken with the girls about their actions, and he does not fully understand the gravity of their actions, and also says the girls have been disciplined, but he declined to say how because they are minors.
McKeone also said the school has an assembly scheduled in which a member of the Attorney General's office will come to speak about prejudice, hate speech and bullying.
"These were kids that made a mistake, and they learned from it, and they're moving forward," McKeone said.
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