High School Bans US Flag shirts

E

egofed

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http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/court-school-ban-of-us-flag-shirts-allowed

Mexican flag shirts were allowed on Cinco de Mayo but not US flag shirts due to possible violence threatened by the Latino students. What happened to equal protection? Why not ban all flag shirts instead? Is any member of this forum in favor of how this went down? I'm in full support of a totally private school mandating whatever dress code it wishes, but it appears that this is a publicly founded high school. Screw our cowardly and idiotic legal system for allowing this.

 
mykevermin said:
So sorry that provocateurs are being called out for what they were doing.
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Right. I originally thought this was political correctness gone too far, but then the more I thought about it, it was obvious the students wearing the American flag t-shirts were doing that xenophobic, pseudo-patriotic dickwaving that's been all the rage for the past few years and were looking to cause trouble.

 
Perfect, I knew you guys wouldn't let me down. :applause:  Special rules for certain people, and it is OBVIOUS that the US flag wearing students were provocateurs and "xenophobic, pseudo-patriotic dickwavers". :roll: I'm glad you guys still have your mind reading abilities and know everyone's intentions..... ;) Presumptuous and totally anti-First Amendment is what I mind read on you guys. :D

 
egofed said:
Perfect, I knew you guys wouldn't let me down. :applause: Special rules for certain people, and it is OBVIOUS that the US flag wearing students were provocateurs and "xenophobic, pseudo-patriotic dickwavers". :roll: I'm glad you guys still have your mind reading abilities and know everyone's intentions..... ;) Presumptuous and totally anti-First Amendment is what I mind read on you guys. :D
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I don't know why you hate the poor, single mothers, starving children, minorities, or the disabled. Must be all that time you spend on storm front.

Did I get them all?

 
egofed said:
Special rules for certain people
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Unless there was a class of people allowed to wear US flag shirts that day, this doesn't really apply. The rule of the day seemed to be "No US flag shirts" not "Bob and Jim and Tom can't wear US flag shirts, the rest of you may".

You can complain that Mexican flag shirts were allowed, but that's (at worst) "special rules for certain shirts" not "for certain people".

 
If I was a student in that school and I wanted to cause trouble, I would have came to school wearing the Stars and Bars.

It's sad when wearing the flag of your native land means you're xenophobic and a trouble maker.
 
I disagree with the school's decision and I would allow them to wear the shirts. I also think that choosing to wear said shirts to a Mexican celebration is not as innocent as conservatives are making it out to be.

 
^ Yeah... good thinking. Looks like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren will need to go in a different direction with the bulk of their designs. No room for "xenophobic, pseudo-patriotic dickwaving".

 
GBAstar said:
^ Yeah... good thinking. Looks like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren will need to go in a different direction with the bulk of their designs. No room for "xenophobic, pseudo-patriotic dickwaving".
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Those designers' red white and blue aesthetics have nothing to do with the school's situation.

The school has a history of violence between whites and Latinos on that day.

This isn't about the flag shirts themselves. It's about wearing them specifically to start a fight. I think the school had good intentions, but I still disagree with the ban.

Context is something a lot of posters on this board struggle with.

 
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I would say that the school (and the community in general) needs to do a better job of disciplining/prosecuting violent students and teaching all of them to use better judgment.

Of course, I personally favor instituting school uniforms (or comparable dress codes) all across the board.  Solves a lot of these issues.  

 
While I'm having trouble finding the actual text of the decision to read for myself and figure out how I feel about the court's decision, one of the articles I found indicates the court relied heavily on Tinker v. Des Moines. A case which is notable for 2 reasons.

The first is that the court acknowledged that freedom of expression/speech applies to schools. The second is that for administrators to restrict free speech they must have a reason beyond just avoiding the discomfort of an unpopular viewpoint and that it must be to prevent the disruption of the operation of the school.

Now, in this case, if the school's argument is true that there has been violence in the past on this day for this same reason, it pretty much stands to reason their decision was to prevent school operations from being disrupted. On the other hand though, I disagree with the administrators in that they should have banned Mexican flag tee shirts as well.
 
Good post, Red. Pretty much sums up my feelings as well. I worked in the public school system for a few years, I've seen clothing bans to dispel disruptions (mostly wayyy too much teenage girl skin being shown) but it was always equal across the board and never involved a national symbol. 

PS: Should you be allowed to wear your swastika T shirt to school?

 
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They probably should have just banned all flag shirts to avoid this second layer of childishness (on top of the childishness of those who would wear an American flag t-shirt specifically to stir up shit on cinco de mayo).  Or they could have just not banned anything and upped security (though that requires time and resources that banning shirts ostensibly doesn't).

 
I understand the school's stance, not that I agree with it. The problem to them isn't determining what is causing the bullying, but what is the easiest way to fix the issue. It's a lot easier on their part to remove an object permanently from the situation than to discipline several children and hope that they stop. That said, those school officials are ignoring an overlying fact. Bullies don't just stop being bullies. They will probably find some other reason to bully the kid or they will find an entirely new kid to bully.

 
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