Posted on 06/04/2013 11:44:25 AM PDT by rickmichaels
An Alabama teenager was denied her high school diploma and fined $1,000 for wearing a feather on her graduation cap to celebrate her Native American heritage.
Escambia Academy High School in Atmore, Ala., makes its students and staff sign a pre-graduation contract agreeing not to wear "extraneous items during graduation exercises unless approved by the administration."
Chelsey Ramer, 17, tried in vain to get approval to attach an eagle's feather to her graduation cap as a symbol of her Native culture.
"They told me that if I wore it that they would pull me off the field," Ramer, a member of the Poarch Creek Band, told NBC affiliate Local 15.
But Ramer wore it anyway and refused to sign the dress-code contract.
The school wouldn't give Ramer her diploma. She now has to fork over $1,000 to get it.
The teen, however, regrets nothing.
"It was worth it. It means a lot to me," Ramer said.
That was my thought. Holding it under the gown and pulling it out for pictures with friend and family should be more then enough.
Probaly looking for her 15 minutes
hahaha she must have dropped her feather
A contract signed by a minor is also not enforcable. I am sure they will be finding out shortly.
Legal Requirements for Raptor Possession
Many people ask “If I find an eagle or hawk feather, can I keep it?” The answer is "No." All raptors are protected by state and federal regulations. It is illegal to capture or kill a raptor; possess a raptor (living or dead), or any pieces or parts of raptors, including feathers, without proper permits from state and federal government agencies.
In the United States, wildlife species are considered the property of all citizens and are protected and managed by federal and state governments. Public sentiment, as well as the law, does not favor the unrestricted use of wildlife for commercial purposes. Thus killing, collecting, or taking into captivity most forms of wildlife is either against the law or strictly regulated.
Federal Permits
All birds native to North America, (which excludes pigeons, European starlings, and English house sparrows), are protected by at least one, and sometimes many more, federal laws. Additionally, many states and municipalities also regulate the keeping of wild birds.
If she was not a Native American I have little doubt she would be in jail.
It is a private Christian school - that's how it can be legal. We are not supposed to be a regimented society, and personal touches should be encouraged, not punished.
There are limits, and this school decided it didn't want to deal with all possible expressions of personal identity as part of the graduation. The graduation ceremony is to celebrate one thing - not to celebrate each student's individual quirks, but to celebrate their completion of high school.
If you can be proud of your ethnicity, you can also be ashamed of it.
A school using the name of our savior to justify something completely unrelated is dishonest and convoluted.
Your apparent inability to grasp that fact fails to equate to incoherence on my part. Your willingness to grant them license in the above shows on you, not FR.
>> “If you can be proud of your ethnicity, you can also be ashamed of it.” <<
.
Possibly so, but how does that little snippet edify us in the regard of the subject?
Did you steal that from a teenager, LOL!
One, it is only your opinion that the rule is arbitrary. Two, she had the right to break the rule if she chose - now she has the right to face the consequences.
The school made a rule (and a pretty standard rule at that, most graduation ceremonies they prefer you not be “adorning” the outfit), she was aware of it, she broke it. Thus it goes. Though she probably shouldn’t pay the fine, actual physical diplomas, especially high school, aren’t really worth much. Nobody’s ever asked to see mine, colleges want to know if you graduated, but they request transcripts for that not diplomas.
I have serious doubts as to the legitimacy of their claim of Christianity, and as to the claim of privacy, I’m sure they accept endowments, and charge for tuition, so they are not likely any more private than a Safeway store.
I think she should make an offer of compromise — say an offer of $500 to close the matter — pick up her diploma and then join the real world. Then she can grow up and wait for a few years for her own daughter to do something stupid at her graduation.
“What is stupid about ethnic pride?”
I said ethnic pride nonsense was stupid which includes narcisistic displays done for personal gratification and then whining when people dont think they are awesome. Pride is something that is earned and felt within.
“Do you prefer pornographic pride?”
I have no idea what the heck you are talking about or why you felt the need to insert a porno reference into this discussion.
.
As does the school. Any guess as to the outcome? Or as to their regrets for being overly rigid?
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."
Hebrews 13:17
“If you can be proud of your ethnicity, you can also be ashamed of it.” . Possibly so, but how does that little snippet edify us in the regard of the subject?I'm sorry, I should have connected the dots.
I can take no credit for anything that my "race" or ethnic or other "group" does, and I cannot be faulted for anything they do either. I can only take the credit or the blame for my own actions. Because of this, ethnic pride makes no sense to me. Unless the person expressing ethnic pride is so insecure that he feels he must make that expression in order to affirm himself and puff himself up. In that case, okay, I get it.
A feather today will become a whole chicken suit for some graduate next year.
Hey, Chelsey, this is just the first of many times you’ll be learning you’re no more special than anyone else. Get over yourself.
Hey, bro, I'm just expressing the subtle individuality that has given us so much, LOL!
And this is a perfectly valid position. Just don't complain about the consequences when you break a rule you think is stupid. If you break the rule because you think it is stupid, you are accepting the consequences of your actions.
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