Dixie's dilemma

At the beginning of the school year, Dixie Outfitters T-shirts were all the rage at Cherokee High School. Girls seemed partial to one featuring the Confederate battle flag in the shape of a rose. Boys often wore styles that discreetly but unmistakably displayed Dixie Outfitters' rebel emblem logo.
But now the most popular Dixie Outfitters shirt at the school doesn't feature a flag at all. It says: ''Jesus and the Confederate Battle Flag: Banned From Our Schools But Forever in Our Hearts.'' It became an instant favorite after school officials prohibited shirts featuring the battle flag in response to complaints from two African-American families who found them intimidating and offensive.

The ban is stirring old passions about Confederate symbols and their place in Southern history in this increasingly suburban high school, 40 miles northwest of Atlanta. Similar disputes over the flag are being played out more frequently in school systems -- and courtrooms -- across the South and elsewhere, as a new generation's fashion choices raise questions about where historical pride ends and racial insult begins.

Schools in states from Michigan to Alabama have banned the popular Dixie Outfitters shirts just as they might gang colors or miniskirts, saying they are disruptive to the school environment. The rebel flag's modern association with white supremacists makes it a flashpoint for racial confrontation, school officials say.
''This isn't an attempt to refute Southern heritage,'' said Mike McGowan, a Cherokee County schools spokesman. ''This is an issue of a disruption of the learning environment in one of our schools.''

Walter C. Butler Jr., president of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, said it is unreasonable to ask African Americans not to react to someone wearing the rebel flag. ''To ask black people to respect a flag that was flown by people who wanted to totally subjugate and dehumanize you -- that is totally unthinkable,'' he said.
But the prohibitions against flag-themed clothing have prompted angry students, parents, Confederate-heritage groups and even the American Civil Liberties Union to respond with protests and lawsuits that argue that students' First Amendment rights are being trampled in the name of political correctness.
''This is our heritage. Nobody should be upset with these shirts,'' said Ree Simpson, a senior soccer player at Cherokee who says she owns eight Confederate-themed shirts. ''During Hispanic Heritage Month, we had to go through having a kid on the intercom every day talking about their history. Do you think they allow that during Confederate History Month?''

Simpson said no one complains when African-American students wear clothes made by FUBU, a black-owned company whose acronym means ''For Us By Us.'' Worse, she says, school officials have nothing to say when black students make the biting crack that the acronym also means ''farmers used to beat us.'' Similarly, she says, people assume that members of the school's growing Latino population mean no harm when they wear T-shirts bearing the Mexican flag.
Simpson believes the rebel flag should be viewed the same way. The days when the banner was a symbol of racial hatred and oppression are long gone, she contends. Far from being an expression of hate, she says, her affection for the flag simply reflects Southern pride. ''I'm a country girl. I can't help it. I love the South,'' she said. ''If people want to call me a redneck, let them.''

It is a sentiment that is apparently widely shared at Cherokee, and beyond. The day after Cherokee Principal Bill Sebring announced the T-shirt ban on the school's intercom this fall, more than 100 students were either sent home or told to change clothes when they defiantly wore the shirts to school. In the weeks that followed, angry parents and Confederate heritage groups organized flag-waving protests outside the school and at several school board meetings.

''All hell broke loose,'' said Tom Roach, an attorney for the Cherokee County school system. When principals banned the shirts at other county high schools in the past, he said, ''there was no public outcry. No complaints. No problems.''

But the Confederate flag was a particularly hot topic in Georgia this year. Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes was upset in his re-election bid in part because he successfully pushed for redesign of the Georgia state flag, which was formerly dominated by the Confederate battle emblem. On the new state banner, the emblem is reduced to a small icon. During the campaign, Barnes' opponent, Sonny Perdue, called for a referendum on the new flag, a position that analysts say helped make him the state's first elected Republican governor since Reconstruction.

Elsewhere in the South, civil rights groups have mobilized to remove the banner in recent years. Activists had it removed from atop the South Carolina statehouse and from other public places, saying it is an insult to African Americans and others who view it as a symbol of bigotry and state-sanctioned injustice. But that campaign has stirred a resentful backlash from groups that view it as an attack on their heritage.

''We're not in a battle just for that flag, we're in a battle to determine whether our Southern heritage and culture survives,'' said Dan Coleman, public relations director for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, one of the groups that joined the protests at Cherokee High School.

The battle over Confederate-themed clothing has made its way to the courts, which generally have sided with school dress codes that prevent items that officials deem disruptive.

In a 1969 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District that school officials could not prohibit students from wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, but only because the court found that the armbands were not disturbing the school atmosphere.

By contrast, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit earlier this year revived a lawsuit by two Kentucky students suspended for wearing shirts featuring the Confederate flag. The court said the reasons for the suspension were vague and remanded the case to a lower court, where it was dismissed after the school district settled with the students.

Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit earlier this fall sided with a Washington, N.J., student who challenged his school's ban on a T-shirt displaying the word ''redneck.'' The student was suspended from Warren Hills Regional High School for wearing the shirt, which school officials said violated their ban on clothing that portrays racial stereotypes. The school's vice principal said he took ''redneck'' to mean a violent, bigoted person.
But the court overturned the ban, saying the shirt was not proven to be disruptive. School officials, noting the school has a history of racial tensions, have promised to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

''Since last year, we have gotten well over 200 complaints about the banning of Confederate symbols in schools,'' said Kirk Lyons, lead counsel for the Southern Legal Resource Center, a North Carolina-based public-interest law firm that works to protect Confederate heritage and is in discussions with some families at Cherokee High School. He said the center is litigating six lawsuits and that dozens of others challenging Confederate clothing bans have been filed across the country.

As the controversy grows, Confederate-themed clothing has become more popular than ever. The owner of Georgia-based Dixie Outfitters says the firm sold 1 million T-shirts last year through the company's Web site and department stores across the South. Most of the shirts depict Southern scenes and symbols, often with the Confederate emblem.

''This is not your typical, in-your-face redneck type of shirt,'' said Dewey Barber, the firm's owner. ''They are espousing the Southern way of life. We're proud of our heritage down here.''

Barber said he is ''troubled'' that his shirts are frequently banned by school officials who view them as offensive. ''You can have an Iraqi flag in school. You can have the Russian flag. You can have every flag but the Confederate flag. It is puzzling and disturbing,'' he said.

I spent eight years of my youth being herded by an 80 year old, 5 foot tall nun with a 6 foot ruler, they're lucky I'm allowing blue jeans...

My father was stationed in Naples, Italy when I attended kindergarten and first grade. I was the only student in my class, towered over by what looked like four 8' tall nuns. I still have nightmares. My children are receiving an excellent education a private Christian school where Dixie Outfitter and Confederate Cotton shirts are allowed, toy guns are used as props for the cowboy themed homecoming decorations, and a history teacher asked me for a copy of my CNN LIES bumper sticker. Life is grand.

''Since last year, we have gotten well over 200 complaints about the banning of Confederate symbols in schools,'' said Kirk Lyons, lead counsel for the Southern Legal Resource Center, a North Carolina-based public-interest law firm that works to protect Confederate heritage..."

Old friend Kirk Lyons of Andres Strassmeir/Dennis Mahon/Tim McVeigh/OKC Bombing fame fame. Having been chased out of the neo-Nazi movement, he has recast himself as a defender of Southern Heritage. Southern Heritage does not need this guy around.

The South was oppressive on Blacks back then, none of us deny that. However no one alive today was ever enslaved by us Mr.Walter C. Butler so we have never dehumanized anyone. In my opinion Blacks & other minorities want to be able to rub their pride symbols in our face and yet we cannot do the same, that's totally unfair and eventually it will bite them in the @ss.

...secession was illegal and treasonous.

Not so. There would not have been a USA if the constitution had included a clause banning secession. The original thirteen states, north and south, were far too jealous of their own sovereignty, to have entered into such a union.

If the South Carolina militia had not fired on Ft. Sumter, Congress would have had no legal authorization for declaring war.

The victory of the north in the Civil War definitively established the supremacy of the central government over the individual states, and thus, ended federalism as it had been understood by the founders.

Slavery was evil? Yeah we can agree with that. Secession was illegal and treasonous? I don't know about that, I seem to recall reading that the English said the same thing about us when we rebelled but I don't hear anybody saying we're all treasonous but it's only because we kicked their @ss. Yes the South was defeated but that doesn't mean that we aren't proud of our Southern Heritage so we'll wear whatever we damn well please, thank you very much. Oh by the way Jesus is just as discriminated against as we are in our public schools, it's a damn travesty and it isn't sitting well with us.

The really amazing thing is it's all this flap is elevating the Stars and Bars from a symbol of a defeated revolution to a status symbol of pride. The first black daddy (I know, he probably wasn't around but we won't go there) whose kid came home complaining should have simply told his upset son, "Grow up, boy, and live with it. You won't always like the people around you. The best way to deal with it is to do well in school, then refuse to hire the bums in the business you create." If that had been the black reaction then the flag would be a symbol of a bygone era, nothing more.

I think it was Lenny Bruce who did a comic routine suggesting that JFK should introduce his cabinet saying, "n*****, n*****, greaseball, greasball, whop, honkey, ..." so that the words would lose their offensive power. The black community could learn a lot from that kind of thinking.

Shalom.

Ban all message clothing at secondary public schools. It is a distraction from the essential purpose of the place. Better yet, have uniforms. Call me a facist if you like. That is the way I see it. Folks can let it all hang out when they reach adulthood, and/or got to college. In the meantime, I don't hesitate in using the iron fist prudentially. 17 posted on 01/06/2003 8:55 PM PST by Torie

WOWWW that is scary !... of course it does work well for the Chicoms doesn't it?.. In other words what your saying is an American citizen should not be afforded there rights until adulthood hey?...

The school's vice principal said he took ''redneck'' to mean a violent, bigoted person.

The problem is that so-called "educators" have lots and lots of tiny rocks where their brains should be.

Hell, some of my best friends are rednecks! ;-)

I have no brief against R. Lee; many Southerners were good men, and many Northerners were bounders, cads, and hypocrites. And yes, the Civil War was about more than slavery, although slavery was certainly important. At the time, the economics of the situation were paramount. But God works in mysterious ways, and as it turned out, the Civil War ended slavery. What is important is now. What statement can a modern person be making by wearing a Confederate flag? Is he for slavery? For secession? (And yes, history and treason are defined by the winners. So what? We won the Revolutionary War, so Benedict Arnold is a traitor and Geo. Washington is a hero. Do you disagree with these characterizations?) Surely there must be some symbol of "Southern culture" that is not tainted. Isn't it really pretty much like those black Olympic athletes raising their fists at the awards podium, except that you guys are mouthing "white power." Isn't it strange that some conservatives really get excited about the First Amendment on this issue? What if some Japanese exchange student wore the Rising Sun flag, or wanted to celebrate December 7, or some German exchange student wore a swastika, or wanted to celebrate Auschwitz. What if some Arab student wanted to celebrate 9/11 or wear an Osama T-shirt? At what point can we regulate student speech in the name of good order, decorum, and common sense? Can white students wear hoods? If black students are wearing symbols that are similarly disruptive (and frankly, I don't think FUBU is anything like the rebel flag), so be it. It's time for white Southerners to get over the War Between the States.

I don't think what you wear in school has much to do with whether you become a mind numbed robot.

My point isn't that the clothes do or do not make one a sheeple. My point is that being conditioned to think that the government should be able to tell us what to do on even seemingly trivial matters is a problem. The government should only rarely be telling us what to do and should confine its authority to the important issues. You seem to think that because what one wears is relatively unimportant in life or at least in school, then the government should dictate the matter. I think just the opposite.

On the points that are important, I think the schools should have intelligent but strict rules. I think that being disrespectful to a teacher should be strongly punished. I think that failure to pay attention in class should be punished. I think that mistreating other students should be punished. These are important things, and there should be strong rules to govern these issues.

Did you go to a private grammar school or a public one? In private schools, I don't think that uniforms cause the same problem because the student eventually realizes that his parents have made the choice. I think parents should make choices about what children wear, and making that choice through the vehicle of choosing a private school is not the same as having it imposed by the government.

WFTR
Bill

And yes, the Civil War was about more than slavery, although slavery was certainly important.

Let me ask you. If our founding fathers had not owned slaves, nor if the Constitution of the United States had not protected slavery and if slavery had been abolished at the founding of this Republic and did not exist in the 1800's, do you think the War Between the States would have taken place at all?

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