Kids Kicked out of School for Wearing American Flag Tshirts

[Mkrop]

Um this is crazy, the kids should be allowed to wear American Flag tshirts any day of the week. I guess is someone wears an American Flag tshirt on St Patrick's Day I should be offended

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36981179/ns/local_news-san_francisco_bay_area_ca/

 

[damone]

Good lord.....What's next?

 

[kimmar067]

...and THAT'S why we have adopted the policy of school uniforms at our public middle school...

 

[gottaluvPluto]

It's extremely sad that in America you can't wear the American flag! Administrators in schools are getting too big for their pants. Did you see the article about race playing a role in a field trip? They let kids of one race go on a field trip and didn't include the other races. WOW!

 

[LukenDC]

That is just crazy. Mexican-Americans ARE Americans and should not take offense at our flag. The principal needs his head examined.

I grew up in CA and remember what a big deal Cinco de Mayo is and for most people, regardless of ethnicity or national origin, it is a fun day of parades, Mexican food, and drink specials. I live in DC now and it is hardly recognized. We don't have a large Mexican-American population and of course other Latino nationalities do not celebrate it.

 

[Mermaid02]

That is absolutely INSANE. Mexican AMERICANS.... Don't we all pledge allegiance to the same flag? If you don't want to be AMERICAN give up your citizenship and move out of the country.

 

[Scurvy]

That's completely ridiculous. They weren't violating any school dress code and they had every right to wear those shirts. I'd be wearing a flag on my clothes every day for the rest of the year, if I were them! Maybe I'm just cynical, but I suspect if the situation were reversed and students were asked not to wear clothes with Mexican flags there would be all sorts of outrage about it.

And in response to some of the absurd comments from the other students in the article - yes, it's a Mexican holiday. Mexican. The school in question is not in Mexico. The fact that it's a Mexican holiday should not have any effect on the school dress code at all.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, it's good to see that the school district has more sense than the school, and that the students won't be penalized - although I did like the idea of the ones wearing the t-shirts to not turn them inside out but instead go shirtless all day

 

[moburg]

...and THAT'S why we have adopted the policy of school uniforms at our public middle school...

While there certainly are merits to adopting school uniforms, this is more a case illustrating why school districts should hire competent administrators.

I hope they have an opportunity to show better hiring practices for this particular school in the very near future.

 

[pweyl36]

To me this was not done because they are patriatic . to me it smells like rascism.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Um this is crazy, the kids should be allowed to wear American Flag tshirts any day of the week.

Perhaps...but these kids should NOT be allowed to have on both american flag shirts AND bandanas that are worn specifically because it's Cinco de Mayo and specifically to inflame and disrespect their mexican-american peers.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

While there certainly are merits to adopting school uniforms, this is more a case illustrating why school districts should hire competent administrators.

I hope they have an opportunity to show better hiring practices for this particular school in the very near future.

exactly!

I am still waiting to hear the whole story - if they have evidence that the boys were intending this to stir up trouble and coordinated the shirts specifically for this purpose, then I will change my stance. Until then, this is clearly a major over reaction by the school principal or whoever.

ETA: then again, what are the chances they all wore the same shirt on this day......so I am leaning to racism!

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

To me this was not done because they are patriatic . to me it smells like rascism.

You're probably right. I'm guessing these "patriotic" youth decided to get their boxers in a bunch over the day and picked the flag t-shirts as their protest. I'm sure they have been inspired by the debate regarding the Arizona immigration law and protests. This was their little counter-speech.

Dismissing the students was the wrong approach, though. It only emboldened the little twerps.

 

[robinb]

To me this was not done because they are patriatic . to me it smells like rascism.

Ya think? ITA. These kids were not simply innocently wearing their American Flag t-shirts .

 

[crashbb]

Okay, so I'm a stupid Canadian, but isn't Cinco de Mayo a day that celebrates Mexico's victory over FRANCE? So, wouldn't wearing a French flag be offensive, rather than an American flag?

 

[robinb]

Okay, so I'm a stupid Canadian, but isn't Cinco de Mayo a day that celebrates Mexico's victory over FRANCE? So, wouldn't wearing a French flag be offensive, rather than an American flag?

Between the recent talk of illegal immigration, Arizona's immigration law (and subsequent protests) and the drug cartel war that is spilling over the border there has been an increase of anti-Mexican sentiment in the US.

 

[moburg]

To me this was not done because they are patriatic . to me it smells like rascism.

So, in an American school, wearing clothes showing an American flag is racist??

 

[crusoe2]

While it certainly is possible that the boys wore their US flag shirts as some sort of statement about the Arizona immigration law, that is their right. That doesn't necessarily mean their actions were incendiary - they may not have had any intent other than to make a quiet statement. Given the current climate regarding the immigration issue, one could just as easily argue that perhaps the Mexican-American students were the ones being incendiary. The report I read said that hundreds of the Mexican-American students were sporting the colors of the Mexican flag, had the Mexican flag painted on their faces, etc. Without being there, we can't know if they did this just because it was Cinco de Mayo or if they were, shall we say, "more enthusiastic" than usual about the holiday as a means of protesting the Arizona law. It could go either way.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm a bit confused....

A nationality is now a race and if we celebrate our own "race/nationality" on a day that is not a federal holiday but merely an observance for another "race/nationality' celebrating a victory over yet a third "race/nationality"--then this is now what we call racism????

Coordinated or not--the American Flag is protected speech--there is likely one in every classroom of that school and in the auditorium and perhaps even in the gym. So unless the school opted to put all the flags away for the day, it's a bit ridiculous to claim an issue, racism or otherwise to students who chose to wear the American flag on that day.

I'm sure if school were in session on the 4th of July that they wouldn't go around strong arming students who wore clothing representing other countries--that would become an ACL issue so fast, their heads would spin.

This is not "racism" or our entire country was guilty of it yesterday anytime the National Anthem was sung or the American flag was waved.

 

[Scurvy]

While it certainly is possible that the boys wore their US flag shirts as some sort of statement about the Arizona immigration law, that is their right. That doesn't necessarily mean their actions were incendiary - they may not have had any intent other than to make a quiet statement. Given the current climate regarding the immigration issue, one could just as easily argue that perhaps the Mexican-American students were the ones being incendiary. The report I read said that hundreds of the Mexican-American students were sporting the colors of the Mexican flag, had the Mexican flag painted on their faces, etc. Without being there, we can't know if they did this just because it was Cinco de Mayo or if they were, shall we say, "more enthusiastic" than usual about the holiday as a means of protesting the Arizona law. It could go either way.

Excellent point!