Posted on 02/03/2006 4:55:22 PM PST by paltz
Two Hickman High School students disrupted a multicultural assembly yesterday in the schools 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 couldnt 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 didnt intend the flag to be racist.
"Me and Kevin, we dont 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 Lanmans argument that his actions were about cultural support for the South.
"Ryans interpretation of things well, theres information I cant 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 aint 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 "doesnt do anything about it."
"If I came to school in a I hate crackers T-shirt, Id be sent home," said Xavier Bagby, 16, who is black.
Jeffers said Confederate flag clothes are not prohibited unless they cause disruptions, adding that Lanmans use of the flag did cause a disruption.
"Its one thing to wear something and another to stand up in a multicultural assembly with a Confederate flag," Jeffers said. "You dont have the right to run into a movie theater and yell, Fire, and you dont 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. "Theyre not going to just develop racism. They learn it from somewhere."
Tom Lanman, Ryan Lanmans father, said he disagrees with his sons behavior and actions.
"However, a lot of students have grumbled about how the multicultural assemblies dont 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. Hes a leader in that sense."
They're still in high school. BTW, when do you graduate?
I fly all those you mentioned plus the Gadsen flag, the Bonnie Blue Flag and my beloved CBF!
The CBF ia a symbol of fighting injustices against great odds.
"And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his Fathers
And the Temples of his Gods"
Lord MacCauley "Lays of Ancient Rome"
Descendants of Quantrill's bushwackers [and Anderson's and Todd's and Poole's, etc.] as well as desendants of the troops who fought under Jo Shelby might disagree with you.
It sounds to me like these boys know much more about history than their counterparts up here is Yankeedom.
Being a BSA leader for 24 years I speak from experience.
Each of them individually was quite capable of stomping a mudhole in me. I decided to lay off the Polack jokes.
Thing is, most of the time they were great guys (if over-testosteroned due to the roids they were taking for bodybuilding). But all of a sudden they'd just start launching on blacks or Japanese or Arabs or Indians or even Italians and it sounded like something straight out of a KKK rally. Far worse stuff than I ever heard growing up in central Virginia in the '70s.
They thought it was the coolest thing in the world when I hung up a Confederate naval jack that I bought at some cheap surplus store back home. Unfortunately, they thought it was cool for all the WRONG reasons. So later on I bought a Confederate First National flag (the true "Stars and Bars") at the Chattanooga/Chickamauga National Battlefield gift shop and hung it up instead. That did a good enough job of reminding me where I was from (growing up 25 miles from Appomattox) without sending those two yahoos into waves of racist ecstasy every time they saw it.
}:-)4
The superior intellect of the morthern, tolerant multicultural student on display...
lol! The Greenwich Village battle flag.
You haven't been in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee have you. You'un, we'un etc are quite common expressions. We used to razz my brother-in-law all the time mocking him. :-)
OB
I guess that depends on what you believe in. My ancestors came from Missouri and one of them even ran slaves to freedom. I however, believe in the right of a state to determine its own internal affairs without interference from the Feds. I believe in the right of self-determination as our Founders saw it. And I believe I would've fought for the South based on those two beliefs alone. It isn't about slavery and racism, its about freedom.
P.S. You don't know much about Missouri State history do you? Do ya think that Jesse James, Frank James, Capt. William Clarke Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson, Cole Younger and Bob Younger considered themselves to be Yankees?
That is the equivalent of proudly stating that because you believe in the freedom and right to self-determination of the head of the household, you would refuse to report and in fact fight police intervention against a husband who repeatedly beats and rapes his wife and molests his children in the sanctity of his own home. Gee, how noble.
Another blowhard "Southron" wrapping himself in a rebel flag of kooky nonsense, like children dressing up in Star Wars outfits. Oh what a 'gentleman' patriot you are. BTW, I'm a native Texan whose ancestors came here after surviving Sherman's march to the sea, so the 'Yankee' copout won't work.
You know. I never thought of it like that. Thanks for the new slant.
It was disruptive, all right.
It disrupted an official values celebration called "Everyone-but-YOU Day". Read this again:
The assembly included celebrations of Irish, Spanish, Bosnian, Indian, Middle Eastern, black, American, Japanese and Chinese cultures, among others, Jeffers said.Might as well call it "Everyone's a Real Person Except Southern Scots-Irish Trailer Trash Day".
Or perhaps it was an accidental omission. Maybe they just assumed anyone who was "one of them" would be out driving a long-haul tractor-trailer rig instead of sitting in school.
a recent survey of 500 HS teachers, taken by a college student from KS, indicates that about 35% couldn't tell you what in which CENTURY WW1 was fought.
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
after the revolution, she was gifted with a land grant of 640 acres in Collin County, for her service & died of old age there on her farm in 1875.
free dixie,sw
i'm the G-G-grandson of PVT William James (Little Thunder) Freeman, late of the 1st Mounted Cherokee Rifles & the 4th Missouri Partisan Rangers.
fwiw, BG Stand Watie was my ancestor's first commanding general. i took a diminutive of the General's WAR-name because my ancestor's WAR-name was being used by another FReeper when i joined FR.
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
Thank you! I've heard of "you'uns" before, but didn't know where it originated.
"You know Colonel, I always thought of you as a cold pitiless man, but you really are quite emotional."- Lee Marvin's character in the Dirty Dozen.
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