A group of Texas high school students are in big trouble for being patriotic — I mean racists — because they chanted, “USA! USA!” when their school’s basketball team won a championship game.

And I mean big trouble. The Alamo Heights High School students were reprimanded, banned from the upcoming state title game and forced to apologize for their patriotism — I mean their disgraceful and disrespectful, “racially motivated” USA chant.

Fox News Radio reported that school officials’ heads are spinning because Alamo Heights is a predominantly white school and rival Edison High School is predominantly Hispanic.

San Antonio Independent School District spokeswoman Leslie Price told Fox News the chant was racially motivated. “The implication is they are not American citizens,” she said. “We understand competiveness and rivalry, but you need to choose your words and think about the meaning behind them.”

“According to local news accounts, the chanting occurred immediately after Alamo Heights won the championship. It lasted about five seconds before the head coach ordered the students to stop,” the article said.

And then everyone began apologizing to one another for these patriotic — I mean racially insensitive — students.

Kevin Brown, the Alamo Heights Independent School District superintendent, apologized to San Antonio school officials. “Unfortunately, after the game, we had a handful of students who made a bad decision and we’re very sorry it happened,” he said. “They made a mistake and we’re going to use this as a learning experience.”

You can say that again. The University Interscholastic League, which oversees school sports in Texas, is investigating, according to Fox News. The league’s Jamey Harrison said league officials don’t know at this time if the chant was racially motivated, but if it was, “the school could face a whole range of sanctions — from probation to potential suspensions.”

The National Review Online had more from the student’s perspective, quoting students who said they were simply being patriotic, as they always are.

“We’ve done it always,” one student said. “It’s something we do. It’s the same group of friends. We’re all very patriotic.” The four students gained support from their peers: More than 100 students gathered by the school’s flagpole the following morning to protest in patriotic clothing.

Watch a news report from San Antonio’s KSAT-TV:

Other Stories:

School janitor fired after exposing disrespect of American flag

NJ town proposes ordinance that will ban American flag