...the flag of the state of Texas might have been more appropriate... Would this one have done the trick?...
Posted on 02/03/2006 4:55:22 PM PST by paltz
Two Hickman High School students disrupted a multicultural assembly yesterday in the school’s auditorium by unfurling a Confederate flag from the balcony.
Ryan Lanman, 17, who is white, and a friend enacted their plan while another student was singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to commemorate the Spanish-American War and honor Texas.
After the disruption, the students involved were told to leave, and the assembly continued, Principal Mike Jeffers said, adding that he couldn’t talk about whether the students would be disciplined.
Lanman, reached by phone after the assembly yesterday afternoon, said he and fellow student Kevin Meyers meant to "show Southern pride" and didn’t intend the flag to be racist.
"Me and Kevin, we don’t believe in slavery or anything else that goes along with the symbol," Lanman said.
The assembly included celebrations of Irish, Spanish, Bosnian, Indian, Middle Eastern, black, American, Japanese and Chinese cultures, among others, Jeffers said.
Lanman said he and his friend waited until "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to unfurl the flag out of respect for the other cultures being celebrated at the assembly.
Jeffers said he questions Lanman’s argument that his actions were about cultural support for the South.
"Ryan’s interpretation of things well, there’s information I can’t share with you," Jeffers said. "Ryan is not telling you the whole story."
Collin Kemble, 16, who is white, said he is sure the unfurling of the flag was intended as a racist action. He and a group of football players sitting outside Hickman yesterday discussed what Lanman and his friend did.
None of the students said he believes there will be any retaliation against Lanman or anyone else.
"No, there ain’t going to be no riot," Vaughan said.
One thing that bothered those in the group was something they saw as a double standard. "Students wear Confederate stuff all the time," said Michael Tufts, 16, a sophomore. The school "doesn’t do anything about it."
"If I came to school in a ‘I hate crackers’ T-shirt, I’d be sent home," said Xavier Bagby, 16, who is black.
Jeffers said Confederate flag clothes are not prohibited unless they cause disruptions, adding that Lanman’s use of the flag did cause a disruption.
"It’s one thing to wear something and another to stand up in a multicultural assembly with a Confederate flag," Jeffers said. "You don’t have the right to run into a movie theater and yell, ‘Fire,’ and you don’t have the right to do something disruptive in school."
Jeffers said school officials planned to meet with students’ parents today or Monday.
"I think if you see kids this age who are racist, you have to look at their parents," said Evan Conrad, 14, a white student at West Junior High School. "They’re not going to just develop racism. They learn it from somewhere."
Tom Lanman, Ryan Lanman’s father, said he disagrees with his son’s behavior and actions.
"However, a lot of students have grumbled about how the multicultural assemblies don’t represent" the Southern point of view, said Tom Lanman, adding that nobody in his family is a racist. "Ryan is a student that steps up to the plate and makes a statement. He’s a leader in that sense."
Not to boast, but I joined the Navy the same way.
“We talked a lot before he signed,” says Lorraine Lanman. “No matter how proud of him I was, I had to play devil’s advocate. But he told me, ‘Mom, if I don’t do this, I will always feel like I should have served...’ ”
Welcome my brother in arms.
So long as you aren't talking about a hellhole called Waynesboro, I agree with you.
Waynesboro is about the worst town I have ever been too or had the dishonor of living in.
Gettysburg is nice though.
Funny, don't seem to remember Pedro Almodovar flying over St. Augustine. ;-)
But you are correct. The Florida flag is based on the old Hapsburg Spanish flag.
Well, in Western PA that's what all the last names end with ;-) My ex-wife grew up in Beaver County. Purgatory.
Ever visit Chuck County?
"All of Ohio east of there and Western Pennsylvania is Appalachia. Big time."
I think the same could be said of Central PA.
Lol, I love how you get so worked up over Waynesboro. I believe I have read your posts on the subject on other threads. Admittedly, I know nothing about the town. My favorite areas of PA are Berks and Lancaster Counties. I just hope the Amish don't keep getting pushed off their land. For God sakes, leave them alone!!! They just want to live in peace.
yeah...
it's just one town.
Chambersburg isn't that bad. Anything to the west of Waynesboro isn't that bad.
There's just something about that crappy little town that didn't work.
Maybe it was the people marrying their cousins. I don't know. I just never liked it there and although I lived there for 14 years, my brother and I were always referred to as the "outsiders"....
Yup. Used to drive through there from Connecticut at least three times a year back in the '90s.
"Maybe it was the people marrying their cousins. I don't know. I just never liked it there and although I lived there for 14 years, my brother and I were always referred to as the "outsiders"...."
I feel your pain. I have been stuck in my fair share of towns I just wanted to escape from.
As for PA, it has that Appalachia feel. I actually like it, but alot of people do not.
What county is Waynesboro in, btw.?
LOL! I married a girl from Beaver County in Western PA. I was called a "cakeeater." Go figure. The biggest compliment my in-laws gave me was that I was the "right religion" (Catholic). But in their estimation I was "too white."
The superior intellect of the white southern flag waver on display...
Franklin.
Interestingly enough, when we moved to Columbus, OH, we were about 3 miles outside of Franklin County in Ohio :)
yeah....
I don't know.
Waynesboro was something else. Literally the mullet was still in fashion there in 1997 when I left....
We (southerns) lost that war.
It's kind of like wearing the headdress of an Apache Chief.
It makes you a loser by association.
Furl that Confederate Flag. It had its place in time but it is no more.
The only flags I desire now are the Flag of the State of Texas, the Star Spangled Banner, and the Standard of the USMC.
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