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April 14, 2006
Last week's flap over the American flag at Shaw Heights Middle School in Westminster and Skyline High School in Longmont is an instructive case study. Many Latino students at the schools got caught up in local and national protests over proposed policy changes to rein in illegal immigration. Some of them displayed support for their illegal alien countrymen by bringing Mexican flags to school. In response, other students countered with patriotic displays of American flags and clothing with similar themes. Fearing the dispute could lead to a violent confrontation, Shaw Heights Principal Myla Shepherd and Skyline Principal Tom Stumpf issued coincidental edicts that no flags or representations of flags on clothing could be displayed by any students. This was done, they explained, in the name of safety. And here's where the tricky problem on conflicting principles comes in. Student safety is certainly a legitimate concern in public schools. But it shouldn't be a magic word, the utterance of which trumps all other considerations and rational thought. All too often, these days, that seems to be the case. In the name of safety, students have been sent home or suspended for bringing plastic butter knives to school with their lunch; or, absurdly, for having tiny toy likenesses of "weapons" on a key chain or charm bracelet. The school T-shirt police have zero tolerance for the silliest images they arbitrarily find "offensive." At Shaw Heights, last week, 11-year-old Katie Golgart was suspended for wearing a United States Marine Corps T-shirt. Other students were told they couldn't even wear the color combination: red, white and blue. I disagree with some critics of the two principals who called them un-American. I don't think it's that. These are just typically pusillanimous educational bureaucrats who hide behind the mantra of safety at the expense of all other conflicting principles. Even if it prevented even one student altercation, wouldn't it be worth it? My answer to that question is an emphatic "No!" What's next, eliminating the Pledge of Allegiance for all students because some Mexican students might be offended? How about banning necklaces with Christian crosses or Stars of David because radical Islamic students might regard those who wear them as infidels? If safety trumped everything, little black kids who faced hateful resistance wouldn't have been allowed to break the color line at segregated schools in the South 50 years ago. The edict of these unprincipled principals was not only cowardly, it was illegal. Colorado law, CRS 27-2-108.5, makes special provision for the rights of individuals to display the flag of the United States on their person or property. Attorney General John Suthers affirmed to Education Commissioner William Moloney that this applied to students as well. Moloney then passed this ruling along with his own letter of instruction to school superintendents. Shepherd and Stumpf reversed their flag ban the next day. Ironically, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in this area is Tinker v. Des Moines School District. In that 1969 case, the court ruled that black armbands could be warn by junior high and high school students protesting the Vietnam War. This was, of course, during a time when tension was acute and violence was common. Apparently, it never occurred to the justices to issue a wholesale ban on black armbands, the American flag and Marine Corps T-shirts, subordinating the First Amendment to "safety." If school administrators want to avoid flag-based confrontations, they could certainly ban the Mexican flag for two good reasons: 1. Because it's not specifically protected by Colorado statute, and 2. Because this is the United States, not Mexico. Could you imagine Mexico banning its flag in its schools because American students there might get rowdy? How about France? The fundamental error of Shepherd and Stumpf was confusing symbols with behavior. Maintaining discipline and safety is clearly one of their primary responsibilities. But rather than banning flags - and especially our nation's flag - they should have focused their attention on unruly behavior, under any colors. That's what endangers others and what shouldn't be tolerated in our schools.
Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA. Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved. |
