With students who speak more than 60 languages, Portland’s public schools are the most diverse in Maine, and this is something to be celebrated: A multicultural environment gives young people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds a chance to learn from one another and makes them better equipped for a complex, ever-changing society.

Not everybody, though, perceives this diversity as something positive. At an Oct. 7 boys’ soccer match at Scarborough High School, home-team fans allegedly directed ugly racial taunts at players from Deering High School in Portland, reportedly telling them to “Go back to Africa” and waving an American flag while chanting “USA.”

But a few people with unenlightened views shouldn’t be allowed to have the last word. In short order, the slurs have been investigated and denounced; Scarborough’s superintendent has declared a zero-tolerance policy for bigoted talk from the sidelines, and the schools have announced plans to join forces to promote respectful behavior at games.

There’s a lesson here for all fans of high school sports, some of whom can go too far, if not all the way to bigotry, at least to unnecessarily profane and denigrating. Simply, there’s no place in the stands for someone who can’t cheer on their side without demeaning the other.

The “USA” chant may have been a well-meant reference to cheering at international matches, but it’s tone deaf when facing Deering’s team and others that have a sizable roster of immigrant players.

And there’s no excuse for demanding that these student-athletes “go back” to their homeland — it tells kids whose families have weathered violence, hunger and worse to get to the United States that they don’t belong here, no matter what they’ve accomplished.

Another reported insult, “I can smell you from here,” is personally degrading and has no place in an atmosphere that’s supposed to foster a sense of friendly rivalry based on one’s athletic skills.

Defusing the hurt calls for Scarborough to hold itself and its fans accountable for their actions. Superintendent George Entwhistle set the proper tone when he said, “We take responsibility. … We don’t know that they were Scarborough students, quite frankly, but we’re taking a stand to say that’s not going to be happening.”

No students have been disciplined; however, the district has reminded young people and their parents of the standards for appropriate conduct. And the Scarborough and Deering athletic directors, along with Deering’s principal, are taking part in discussions about fan education.

The camaraderie in the stands can too easily sour into jeering and ridicule. The events at the Deering-Scarborough soccer game give Scarborough fans a chance to take some hands-on lessons on life in a multicultural world.

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