Albany Teens Suspended for Wearing Crucifixes (Oregon)

KATU NEWS ^ | Feb 24, 2008 | Assoc. Press

[Global2010]

Albany teens suspended for wearing crucifixes

YouNewsTV™ Story Published: Feb 24, 2008 at 2:55 PM PST Story Updated: Feb 24, 2008 at 2:55 PM PST By Associated Press

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - A pair of Albany teenagers were suspended from high school for a few days recently because they were wearing crucifixes that school officials called "gang-related behavior."

Fourteen-year-old Jaime Salazar and his friend, 16-year-old Marco Castro, say their mothers gave them the crucifixes - and they deny they're involved with any gangs.



But South Albany High School Principal Chris Equinoa is clear about the school district's position. He says religious items are not banned. But he reserves the right to ask a student to remove, or cover up, any item he feels could indicate gang affiliation - even a crucifix.

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Portland says the archdiocese has no reports of gangs using crucifixes to identify themselves in Western Oregon.

[tioga]

LOL..........good one!

[Question_Assumptions]

Can we get a gan to wear Che Guevara shirts so those can be banned, to?

[wastedyears]

The kid was wearing a small crucifix. I’d show him how Catholic I can be.

[Always Right]

OMG!! Crucifixes are NOT gang related!!

Depends how you define gangs, I guess. The gangs of church goers scares principles more than street gangs.

[wastedyears]

Just below the Adam’s apple is pretty small. I stopped wearing my St. Anthony because the chain was just too small for me.

[cowtowney]

What did Jesus say at the Last Supper?

“You better sit on this side of the table, if you want to be in the picture”

[wastedyears]

Not yet

[SpinnerWebb]

I think it was this gang.

That bunch of rabble-rousers? A rough group, that one. Disrupted the financial markets in Jerusalem... One even got in a gang-related knife fight, and hacked off an ear of a law enforcement officer.

After their leader was tried and executed, he was found and questioned, but denied any gang involvement... three times.

[Hot Tabasco]

I think it was this gang.

Holy cow! That's the notorious JC-13 gang.............

[stevie_d_64]

Well when you start classifying these object by size it goes into the realm of, for example:

— you cannot carry or pack in your carry on luggage anything firearm related, even a replica of any size firearm whether it is operable or not, including toys...

Remember the absolute stupidity of the “keychain” replicas??

So if you start trying to classify objects based upon their size, for how much they may or may not offend or break any rules...

That is a slippery slop best avoided...

I think the entire incident is indicative of the downturn in common sense this country is heading in at full steam!

I would tell my kid to continue to wear it, and if the principal told him to remove it, that would be their own undoing...

[Republicus2001]

I’ll bet if it was a pentagram or photo of a turd on a shirt there would be no problem at all!

[Fiddlstix]

Ah yes. The 'ol "gang" of twelve. Really bad, those guys. A real threat to any community.
</sarcasm>

[Michamilton]

OMG!! Crucifixes are NOT gang related!!
What is the Principal's s name? I want to contact him.

Rosaries with colored beads are have been used as markers of gang affiliation in various Latin-American originating gangs (e.g. the Latin Kings and MS-13) for a long time and the tradition is moving over to homegrown gangs. I have seen articles that mention that people wear red rosaries to show they're in the Bloods, so I don't find it surprising that someone with a blue rosary (the color associated with the Crips) would be suspected of being a gang member. Do a Google search for "rosaries" and "gangs" and you'll see that this is not really an issue with a clueless principal in Oregon, it's just the fallout of the unfortunate co-option of a religious symbol by the gangs. Sad.

[kiriath_jearim]

If the kids were wearing “iron crosses”, it would have been OK... /sarc

[Salvation]

Ping!

[Emperor Palpatine]

Which is all anti-liberty BS.

The Founding Fathers would be aghast.

[Emperor Palpatine]

"While at school, they are subject to greater restrictions than when they're in a park or on the sidewalk."


Just show me where it states that in the Constitution.

[mware]

Quite a few years ago, we had problems with kids wearing rosary beads in school It was not the fact that they were wearing the beads, it was that fact that the beads were part of the drug culture. The color beads worn indicated what type of drugs they were selling.

We told those wearing the rosary beads (members of a gang that quickly disbanded after the administration had a chat with the police department) that they could be worn but had to be under their shirts.

[j_tull]

P.Tar later kicked some Phasisee A$$!

[ReignOfError]

>>>"While at school, they are subject to greater restrictions than when they're in a park or on the sidewalk."

Just show me where it states that in the Constitution.

The Constitution is the supreme law, but it is not the only law. There is, for example, no prohibition against murder in the Constitution.

Does any government have the right to tell you where to go, when you must return home, when to go to bed, what to wear, what to read, what to watch on television? Parents are not only allowed to exercise that kind of control over children, but they're irresponsible if they don't. Schools take on some of the duties of parents when parents entrust children to their care.