Posted on 10/03/2014 9:40:41 AM PDT by walford
“The American flag is not a symbol of racism or division,” Becker said. “It is the symbol of freedom and unity. Americans have fought and died to protect that flag, and now we are told to conceal it so we don’t offend Mexican aliens, some of whom entered this country illegally.”
Previously, Live Oak High School, in the San Jose suburb of Morgan Hill, had reports of problems between American citizens and Mexican students. The school sent the American kids wearing the American flag home but allowed the Mexican kids displaying the Mexican flag stay in school.
In 2009, a group of Mexican students marched and waved a Mexican flag around the Live Oak campus in front of all the school.
Some non-Hispanic students then raised the American flag on a tree to show their American patriotism. The Mexican group found this offensive, and then the two groups exchanged profanity-laced threats.
To fix the ‘problem’, the principal issued an order banning students from wearing Stars and Stripes shirts. If a student was caught in violation of the crime of wearing the American flag they would either have to turn them inside-out or go home. The incident garnered national attention as many expressed outrage that students were barred from wearing patriotic clothing.
Parents and a few lawmakers had argued that the actions violated the students’ Constitutional right to free speech.
In the original ruling, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that past problems at the school gave officials sufficient and justifiable reasons for the order. In its opinion, the court said that schools in general have wide latitude in curbing certain civil rights to ensure campus safety.
On Wednesday, the Federal Appeals Court said they will not reconsider the February ruling upholding the unconstitutional actions of a principal in a Northern California high school who ordered students wearing American flag shirts inside out during a 2010 Cinco de Mayo celebration.
The school’s actions “were tailored to avert violence and focused on student safety,” Judge Margaret McKeown said
The panel said the plaintiffs’ request for a rehearing had failed to gain a majority of votes on the 29-judge court. In a dissenting opinion, three conservative judges said the court should have reconsidered and reversed the February ruling as a violation of free speech.
The ruling “permits the will of the mob to rule our schools,” said Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, joined by Judges Richard Tallman and Carlos Bea. He said the court was allowing students to silence others by threatening them with violence.
William Becker, a lawyer representing the students called Wednesday’s decision “outrageous” and said he’d likely take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“(We) will not allow the politically correct judiciary to insult our flag,” he wrote in his blog.
In February, a three-judge panel ruled that it was not the court’s place to second-guess the school’s anti-violence efforts.
“The past events “made it reasonable for school officials to proceed as though the threat of a potentially violent disturbance was real,” Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote for the panel.
But, in his blog, Becker said wearing an American flag to school is a symbol of patriotism, not aggression.
“The American flag is not a symbol of racism or division,” Becker said. “It is the symbol of freedom and unity. Americans have fought and died to protect that flag, and now we are told to conceal it so we don’t offend Mexican aliens, some of whom entered this country illegally.”
I think the Superintendent messed up. He should have told the students to choose to be tolerant of each other or no one gets to wear any kind of flag shirt.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, but the worst is he rewarded bad behavior and made the resentment worse between the two groups.
When kids fight, it is rare that one or the other is 100% right. So they both need a time out, and should come up with a way to resolve the situation amiably.JMHO
I posed that to one of the teachers and they said they considered that but, felt the fastest way to peacefully get past the day was the action they took.
There is almost nothing that makes kids smolder any worse than unfair treatment. So what they created was a jubilant group and a group with even more resentment.
The goal is to get people who must be in the same location all day long to get along, and that's not easy, and takes some time and facilitation. Bad behavior robs both groups, as well as others not causing trouble, of their educational opportunities.
When Reagan was Governor, that was one of the things I liked about him. The students at Berkley I think it was were blockading and demonstrating and other students were being impacted. He said students have to be able to go to class, clear out the troublemakers.
It was long ago so I don't remember all the details exactly, but I do remember being impressed with his action. Anyway, these situations in schools are sometimes hard to get a handle on.
I have also noticed here, that more often than not the real trouble makers get light treatment, cause their parents cause so much grief and protest, but let a good kid do a little something and he gets dumped on with a ton of bricks, but that's life.
I always told my kids-whoever told you life was fair was a liar. Still it works out better if one can be fair, especially with kids. Glad we don't have these particular problems here.
Agreed.
Appeasement is only a temporary solution and only encourages more aggression. Anyone who has dealt with a toddler knows that setting limits and exacting consequences is much harder than giving in. But doing the latter only makes a monster of the child, who becomes a burden to those around them — and they get worse as they get older.
The school and local government should have made it plain to these bullies that free speech applies to everyone and if they resort to threats and violence if the American flag being displayed in America by Americans, they will be have riot police set upon them, using tear gas and water cannons. Then they will be expelled. Civilization is not possible if that mindset is tolerated; it must be quashed immediately.
This is a Constitutional Republic, not a pure democracy. The rights of the individual must be protected and the law must apply to everyone equally — especially if the majority does not agree. That is what the Founding Fathers gave to us and what many Americans died to defend.
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