Texas School District Bans Christmas Colors

Maranatha Christian Journal ^ | December 16, 2004

[RayChuang88]

(MCNS)--Attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today against the Plano Independent School District for a discriminatory policy that censors the Christmas religious expression of students and their parents.

“The policy is a perfect example of politically correct extremism,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb.

“School officials have gone so far as to prohibit students from wearing red and green at their ‘winter break’ parties because they claim they are Christmas colors. Even the plates and napkins must be white. The district’s policy is ludicrous to even the most common observer.”

[HostileTerritory]

Do they put up a Santa, reindeer, and Christmas trees? The article doesn't say, but it looks like people are protesting the lack of a creche specifically, so they're probably there already.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Goodness gracious, give it a rest. You've made your point.

Is it really patriotic to piss all over anyone with the slightest tangentially different view? The guy ain't advocating communism or Hillary...

[dnandell]

Sigh

Don't get me wrong my British friends. I've studied British history for my history degree so I'm familiar with your country. My politics forbid me from accepting a monarch. My knee will bend to no "sovereign" on Earth. As a member of FR, you know my politics as well, conservative.

I didn't realize FR(ahh, Free Republic, not Free Dominion) was such a home to conservative leaning Brits.

Calm down, I'm a big fan of Britian. Well, prior to Labour trying to "modernize" everything.

[dnandell]

We turned up late for WWII?

I'm not necessarily saying I agree with doing it this way, but the U.S. usually has this nasty habit of waiting for somebody to attack us before we kick their arse. I think some are realizing we need to strike first.

But than when we do countries like the UK hate us for our unilaterilism. We might piss the French and Germans off and all of petite, delicate Europa.

[FreedomCalls]

Over here both state and independent schools can have religion

As they can in Pakistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

[KC_for_Freedom]

This is clearly a Constitutional issue for which we should stand up against. I also wonder what the school board would do if parents grouped together and refuse to support any more fund raisers?

Parents should provide their kids with little green and red ribbons to wear with every garment in solidarity with the Christians who cannot wear their holiday colors.

This will cause the demise of the entire party festival industry, which demands that every party have napkins and plates and tablecoverings in the proper theme. I wish Martha Stuart could opine on this thread, but alas she is indisposed.

[MamaTexan]

And parents should show up in the hallways IMHO

Parents need to go caroling down the hallways singing offensive tunes like 'Silent Night' and 'Away in a Manger'!

[ladylib]

All of what you said will go into effect next year.

[moog]

Interesting that this comes in the land of George Bush and the so-called Sectretary of Education.

[RayChuang88]

Inclusive and respectful of any and all, just as was intended. Not much room for complaint because the program was as diverse as the student body, and any complainers would be outed as bigots.

Very nice. If ANYONE still complains after that program said complainer will be castigated in no time flat.

[ladylib]

This type of thinking is one of the reasons why a group of parents started a K-12 Christian school in the Los Angeles area. It seems that kids in the public school were allowed to have a menorah at Christmas because it represented a historical event, but a creche was forbidden because the birth of Christ was not considered a historical event.

Perhaps many, many more parents should think about starting Christian schools where their children will feel welcome rather than go through this insanity every year.

[HarleyD]

Parents should provide their kids with little green and red ribbons to wear with every garment in solidarity with the Christians who cannot wear their holiday colors.

Better yet, perhaps the parents should send letters to the local retailers telling them that since the area school board does not recognize Christmas then there is no need to shop at their stores. I bet that would receive a quick response.

[Grampa Dave]

Merry Christmas to this PC school board.

[Grampa Dave]

http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/840/840_headlines_romero.asp

Precedent setting
Anthony Romero is tapped to be the first openly gay and first Latino ACLU head

By Chris Bull
From The Advocate, June 19, 2001

When the American Civil Liberties Union named Anthony D. Romero as its new executive director in May, it touted him as “the first Latino and openly gay man” to head the 81-year-old national civil rights group. If that description is not impressive enough, Romero is only 35, an age when even the most ambitious activists are just beginning to make their marks. His predecessor, Ira Glasser, served in the post since 1978 and guided the organization to the forefront of gay rights battles.

But for Romero, who graduated from Princeton University and Stanford Law School, great expectations are nothing new. Before joining the ACLU, Romero was director of human rights and international cooperation at the Ford Foundation. The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, Romero was born in the Bronx borough of New York City and now lives in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood with his partner of five years.

How about this new position?
I’m proud of being the first openly gay man and Latino to head the ACLU. With my selection, the board was sending an important message about discrimination, prejudice, and injustice.

Some leaders in similar positions have expressed discomfort at being a poster boy.
My whole life has been focused on civil liberties and gay rights, so I actually welcome it as a challenge.

When you first realized you were gay, did you imagine it would be an obstacle?
All of us who grow up gay or lesbian know firsthand—one of the first things we learn is that hate and stigma stand against us. We learn that lesson in the school yard, workplace, and community. We still don’t have basic human rights. I learned from my mom and dad the importance of believing in dourself and fighting for what you believe. They taught me to treat others with respect but also to demand it in return. In college and at Stanford Law school, I learned about civil rights heroes like Harvey Milk and how to overcome those barriers others set up for us

[EdReform]

Bump!

[FreedomCalls]

Goodness gracious, give it a rest. You've made your point.

I get pissed off when someone who signed up yesterday comes in here and pisses all over Americans while all the time claiming their country is the best bastion of all that is right in the world without any drawbacks whatsoever. To remind you:

• He first denigrates the the Constitution calling it "silly pieces of paper to wave around".
• Calls us "adolescent".
• Tells us to "watch out" for our liberty as we have no Monarchy (!) to make us safe.
• Criticizes America for being "obsessed" with Diana, whereas in Britain they are so past all that.
• Claims the English never so much as mussed an Irishman's hair a little.
• Wouldn't dare feign to listen to criticism that his own country may have problems with politically correct bureaucrats.
• Smears all Republicans with the old Dan Quayle incident.
• Finds Tony Martin to be less than honorable.
• Pretends not to have heard of private schools in America.
• Calls us barbarians.
• Tosses another slur on Americans.
• Denigrates the Supreme Court Justices.
• When finally confronted with evidence of PC crazies in Britain he claims that British city councils have less power than an American school district administrator. As if.
• Claims the heroic veterans of WWII hampered Britain's fight against the Nazis in spite of the 3,812 airmen buried in the U.K.

It reminds me of the old Yakov Smirnov joke about the Soviet Union:

When I came to America, I was amazed at the freedom of speech comedians had. I couldn't believe they could criticize their country's leaders out in the open. Here in America you could say, "I don't like Reagan". Of course, in Russia, we were allowed to do that too. We could say, "I don't like Reagan!"

It seems foreigners want to come here and criticize America, denigrate our institutions, and slur Americans. But they can never accept criticism of their own country. Christ said "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone." Where's the UK's version of Free Republic?

It's first degree trolling.

</rant>

[Centurion2000]

British freedoms rest on our Monarchy, that is why we are free without silly pieces of paper to wave around

When you can carry rifles and pistols around, I'll believe the part about freedom Brit. Till then you are subjects.

[Centurion2000]

Watch out America, you have no Monarchy to defend your freedom.

What around you ... English Bob?

Where's a Little Bill when you need one.

[Oztrich Boy]

Or Stoke City Council banning the word "Christmas" from their Christmas celebrations and substituting “WinterFest” instead? Or Birmingham City Council calling theirs “Winterval”?

How are the City Fathers Parents of Ithaca NY planning on celebrating Festivus?

[topcat54]

"The Puritans knew what subsequent generations would forget; that when the Church, more than a millennium earlier, had placed Christmas Day in late December, the decision was part of what amounted to a compromise, and a compromise for which the Church paid a high price. Late-December festivities were deeply rooted in popular culture, both in observance of the winter solstice and in celebration of the one brief period of leisure and plenty in the agricultural year. In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior's birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it always had been. From the beginning, the Church's hold over Christmas was (and remains still) rather tenuous. There were always people for whom Christmas was a time of pious devotion rather than carnival, but such people were always in the minority. It may not be going too far to say that Christmas has always been an extremely difficult holiday to Christianize. Little wonder that the Puritans were willing to save themselves the trouble." (Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas)