Posted on 01/06/2006 12:05:39 PM PST by stainlessbanner
BURLESON — Two North Texas high school students who were kicked out of class for displaying rebel flags vow to take their fight to court. They said they are proud of their heritage, but Burleson High School education officials maintain the Confederate symbol is offensive.
Ashley Thomas remembered how it all started. "Principal comes up and says, 'You've got to get rid of your purse... it's racist."
Ashley and Aubrie McAllum both received purses patterened after the Confederate battle flag from their parents for Christmas. Both girls decided to take their presents to school.
"I don't have 'KKK' written on me or anything; it's just a purse," Aubrie said. "Doesn't have anything to do with what color you are."
The students were asked to leave their purses with the principal; they elected to leave school after calling their parents.
Ashley was sent home three times this week. "I'm at the point where I really don't know what to do," she said. "I want to keep going to school and get my education, but this is my life. I was born and raised in the South. Why is the flag so bad?"
Here's the answer, from Burleson ISD spokesman Richard Crummel: "It's a violation of the dress code," he said. "We don't want students to wear anything that might cause a disruption, and that symbol has done that in the past."
"Then that's a heritage violation on her, on me... on all of us," said Aubrie's father, Rick McAllum. "So we can push it."
McAllum belongs to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Ashley's mom, Joni Thomas, is from New York. But the parents of both girls praised their daughters, and vowed to fight.
"I'm hiring a lawyer," Thomas said. "I'm going all the way with it, because I think it's wrong."
Burleson High School, with a 2,200 student enrollment, is about 90 percent white, 8 or 9 percent Hispanic. There are very few African Americans.
"We want to be sensitive to everyone; make it comfortable in school for all our students," Crummel said.
Both girls said they have never been in trouble and don't want trouble now.
But they don't want to back down, either.
School officials know controversy often follows the Confederate flag, and they will not let it in.
The girls as of Friday, decided to go back to school
And I'd agree.
http://www.answers.com/topic/abraham-lincoln-on-slavery
Lincoln was not the hero he was painted to be, that's for sure. He didn't put a stop to slavery, either.
Hey why not? I just put on some popcorn, sit back and wait for the lunacy to take hold.
It beats cable news, that's for sure.
It's not nearly as racist as the name Planned Parenthood. Will they be banning all of their material too?
The Alumni Association should have protested, chanting "Badgers? We don't need no stinking Badgers!"
I wouldn't want these school adminstrators teaching my children about history, because they don't even know it themselves.
God bless them.
I was born, bred and live in NY. I am no fan of the confederate flag but this should definitely be protected speech.
http://www.answers.com/topic/abraham-lincoln-on-slavery
Learn to fly, blaquebyrd. The truth is not pretty and not as simple as you would like for it to be.
Perceptions are everything.
Colonel Santos Benevides and his Texas Cavalry comes to easily to mind.
But, Texas is also stuck with Adrian Vidal and his Partisan Rangers. Vidal started out fighting for the Confederacy, switched sides, deserted again, and crossed over into Mexico to fight the revolution with Juan Cortina. He was eventually caught and executed by the Mexican Imperialists.
The Oklahoma Cherokees, now that I thank of it, also contributed a regiment to the Confederacy.
Yea..If people knew why the Battle Flag came into being ,,No Rebel Flag ever brought a slave into this country, Big deal over nothin'.
The Civil War lasted 5 years ending 1865. Yet we are apparently still fighting it 140 years later in 2006. It's American history folks. History should be preserved and studied, not fought or erased. JMHO.
"Ethnic Cleansing" would be a more appropriate name.
Just to jump in....Oh puhleese....slaves were bought and sold in the Americas...they were not taken from military conquest where a slave held no value....quite a few slaves had a decent life....the majority of slave owners made sure their slaves were healthy and stayed healthy....who would pay good money for a slave and then treat them like S*&T so you lost money on your investment....you must be watching to much TV or reading (taught) revisionists history....sometimes slave owners had to be cruel...after all...the slave was a monetary investment...and just so I can make a barb on the N.O. disaster...I'm pretty sure that 90% of the blacks that they showed on TV were not earning a paycheck...they were receiving a paycheck...but I seriously doubt earning a paycheck.....
Got It
Wanted to leave that one be...Picked my share of Cotton in my day,,,for free...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.