Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Confederate flag controversy brews at Bloomington school (Minnesota)
KAAL-TV ^ | June 4, 2008 | Justin Piehowski

Posted on 06/04/2008 1:32:11 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo

Three seniors at Bloomington Kennedy High School will not be allowed to walk in their graduation ceremony after driving to school with confederate flags flying from their trucks.

Seventy-five other students showed up at the school Wednesday morning to protest the action taken by the school against Justin Thompson, Joey Snyder and another student.

"I figured, you know, we’re seniors, it’s the last day of school…we didn’t mean any offense by it," Thompson said.

Added Snyder: "We didn’t look at it as racist or anything."

But school officials feel that flying a confederate flag violates the school’s student conduct policy. The students have been suspended from all school-sponsored activities.

"We are responsible for the 2,000-plus students that attend this school," said Rick Kaufman, of Bloomington Public Schools. "The very nature of what they did had the potential to create a very serious situation."

Students disagreed.

"They weren’t trying to hurt anybody, they just had it on their cars. It’s just freedom of speech" said Landin Lind, one of 75 students who chanted ‘Let Them Walk’ at the school Wednesday morning.

"I feel it was a racist move, but I feel that they were just kidding around," added student James Granberry, who supports the students. "I didn’t really take offense to it."

School officials added that they’ve dealt with some racism issues at the school recently, which is why they are taking the incident so seriously.

All three students will still receive their diplomas.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: cbf; confederateflag; crossofsaintandrew; discipline; dixie; prank; publicschools; saintandrewscross; zerotolerance
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-144 next last
Three soon to graduate Minnesota students remember their southern heritage by flying Rebel flags from their trucks on the last day of school. A silly act of course, but who of us who remember what it was like to be 17 and on the last days of school can say we wouldn't have done something just as silly at such a stage of life? The Rebel flag is offensive to many of course, but I wonder how the school officials would have reacted to a corresponding offensive display from offences that are currently more PC?
1 posted on 06/04/2008 1:32:12 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

One begins to wonder what the response would have been had they flown “Gay Pride” flags, or perhaps “Black Power” flags, or considering it took place in Minnesota, A USSR flag?


2 posted on 06/04/2008 1:35:52 PM PDT by GT Vander
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
Yankee rednecks?

Does their horn blow Dixie?

3 posted on 06/04/2008 1:36:22 PM PDT by HIDEK6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
Jeeze. They're building mosques in MN, but are upset by a confederate flag?

Wait until the schools are filled with these guys:

Photobucket

4 posted on 06/04/2008 1:36:42 PM PDT by Cobra64 (www.BulletBras.net)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GT Vander

If they drove to school with a flag of Mexico? Or one of Iran? Or one of Serbia? I thought we were now TOLERANT people.


5 posted on 06/04/2008 1:37:17 PM PDT by rovenstinez
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

It’s only offensive to those that choose to be offended.


6 posted on 06/04/2008 1:37:33 PM PDT by CindyDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

I wonder what descendents of soldiers from the Iron Brigade would think of this. :)


7 posted on 06/04/2008 1:39:36 PM PDT by C19fan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
From the great Civil War writer, Shelby Foote:

The flag is a symbol my great grandfather fought under and in defense of. I am for flying it anywhere anybody wants to fly it. I do know perfectly well what pain it causes my black friends, but I think that pain is not necessary if they would read the confederate constitution and knew what the confederacy really stood for. This country has two grievous sins on its hands.

One of them is slavery - whether we'll ever be cured of it, I don't know. The other one is emancipation - they told 4 million people, you're free, hit the road, and they drifted back into a form of peonage that in some ways is worse than slavery. These things have got to be understood before they're condemned. They're condemned on the face of it because they take that flag to represent what those yahoos represent as - in their protest against civil rights things.

But the people who knew what that flag really stood for should have stopped those yahoos from using it as a symbol of what they stood for. But we didn't - and now you had this problem of the confederate flag being identified as sort of a roughneck thing, which it is not.

My synopsis : why should historical fact get in the way of the schools feeeeeeeeeeling?

8 posted on 06/04/2008 1:42:32 PM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GT Vander

Flying flags from their OWN cars? Exactly where does the authority of the school officials (elected by us to serve us) end? Sure, gay flags or transgender flags, Muslim flags — those would have been fine. Makes me want to get a Confederate flag for my front trellis, just for a taste of freedom. before it’s gone for good.


9 posted on 06/04/2008 1:42:41 PM PDT by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

Hmmm, so according to the libs the burning of Old Glory is protected speech, but mere display of the Confederate Battle flag is an actionable offense. What nonsense. A decent Constitutional lawyer could make the school district’s decision very expensive.


10 posted on 06/04/2008 1:46:00 PM PDT by Jacquerie (The income tax code is a daily mugging - Ronaldus Magnus)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bboop

I have a nice Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. I bought it in 1975 in New Orleans from a Black guy who owned the company that made it.


11 posted on 06/04/2008 1:48:04 PM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: bboop

... you left out Mexican flags.....


12 posted on 06/04/2008 1:48:18 PM PDT by NEMDF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

This is Minnesota; We were never a confederate state. The kid should be flying the American flag or nothing at all.

That said, this is a CLEAR violation of his freedom of speech, and I hope he sues the school.


13 posted on 06/04/2008 1:49:01 PM PDT by lesser_satan (Cthulu '08! Why vote for the lesser evil?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
One would think that graduating seniors in Minnesota would have been politically corrected by graduation day. Sounds like three slipped through the net.
14 posted on 06/04/2008 1:49:13 PM PDT by CarryingOn (Don't tell me words don't matter. Barack H. Obama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GT Vander

A standing ovation?


15 posted on 06/04/2008 1:50:39 PM PDT by Salamander (And don't forget my Dog; fixed and consequent......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
Three soon to graduate Minnesota students remember their southern heritage by flying Rebel flags from their trucks on the last day of school.

I didn't know that Minne-freakin'-sota had a Southern heritage to remember? Or are they from southern Bloomington?

16 posted on 06/04/2008 1:52:46 PM PDT by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo
In this day and age of professional victims, I admire people that want to tweak the PC crowd.

A Confederate Flag in Minnesota though?

17 posted on 06/04/2008 1:54:32 PM PDT by BallyBill (Serial Hit-N-Run poster)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Puppage
"But the people who knew what that flag really stood for should have stopped those yahoos from using it as a symbol of what they stood for."

So what was it being used as a symbol for in this case?

18 posted on 06/04/2008 1:54:38 PM PDT by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Jacquerie
Hmmm, so according to the libs the burning of Old Glory is protected speech, but mere display of the Confederate Battle flag is an actionable offense.

Maybe they should have just burned the confederate flag? That way nobody would have gotten into trouble.

19 posted on 06/04/2008 1:56:01 PM PDT by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Colonel Kangaroo

A lot of difference in Minnesota and say Georgia. If they had the same attitude Minnesota does towards the confederate battle flag, they’d have to lock up 90% of the state of Georgia. You see it flying everywhere in Georgia...and South Carolina, and Alabama, and even Florida which is heavily infiltrated with northern sentiment.


20 posted on 06/04/2008 2:02:46 PM PDT by sasportas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-144 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson