Parents, ACLU want apology over T-shirts

Potomac News ^ | Tuesday, April 4, 2006 | DANIEL GILBERT

[chambley1]

Anderson Urrutia, 8, complained of a headache on Sunday night. Then his tummy started hurting. At 2:15 a.m., he walked into his parents' bedroom and asked if he had to go to school. "I don't want to get in trouble again," he told his mother.

Anderson, a second-grader at Occoquan Elementary School, went to school on Monday with 5-year-old kindergartner Joseph Soriano after the two were not allowed to attend class Friday for wearing T-shirts that were deemed potentially disruptive by the principal.

Printed in large blue letters with red trim, the T-shirts stated in Spanish "Latino Forever" on the front and "100% Latino" on the back.

The incident -- which touched off a flurry of media attention and sparked a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union -- is being brushed off by Prince William County schools officials.

Side-stepping interview requests from media, Phil Kavits, the school system's spokesperson, maintains that Friday's incident was a case of "a principal's best effort to keep his school safe and orderly, and nothing more."

The ACLU contends that the principal overstepped his bounds to limit the students' freedom of expression, and is asking for an apology to both students and parents.

The parents say it is too late for an apology.

Maria Urrutia and her daughter Carmen Soriano accompanied their sons to school Monday and had a brief interaction with Occoquan's principal, Todd Erickson.

"He was like, 'How're you doing guys?' " Maria said.

It wasn't the response she and Carmen had hoped for.

"I don't feel I should have to ask for an apology," Carmen said. "As an adult you know when you cross the line, you know when you should apologize, and he hasn't."

Maria and Carmen were contacted Friday afternoon and asked to come to Occoquan to speak with Erickson. When they arrived, they found their sons eating lunch on the floor of the main office, and no sign of the handmade T-shirts.

"They were buttoned all the way up to the top," Maria said. "You couldn't even know if they had a T-shirt underneath or not, that's how covered up these kids were."

Kavits heard a different account from Erickson, who said that the second shirts "didn't even button up, and left the whole thing visible."

Maria and Carmen said Erickson wanted the students to remove the T-shirts. That's when they took their sons home.

Three days after the event, Maria and Carmen are still smoldering over what they see as an unwarranted punishment of their children.

Maria worries about the lessons her son might learn from the event.

"If I stay quiet, what is that saying to my child?" she said. "That they can treat him like a dog and not apologize."

MORE THAN T-SHIRTS?

Friday's incident took place in the midst of a week of student protests against harsh anti-illegal immigration legislation pending in the Senate, an outburst of student political activism that ACLU Executive Director Kent Willis says is unprecedented in his experience.

"I don't recall anything like this on this scale in Virginia," said Willis, who has worked with ACLU in the state since 1987.

A Prince William County schools media release on Monday pointed out the danger lurking in such protests, referring to a student protest in Springfield when a student was stabbed.

Despite concerns for student safety, Willis says Erickson's preemptive action -- which the Occoquan principal made in part out of a concern that some of his students might join the protests -- does not meet the judicial criteria for such a decision.

First amendment rights are protected in schools unless it is demonstrated that an action will "materially and substantially" disrupt the learning environment, according to Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).

In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a student who wore a black armband to protest the war in Vietnam was protected under First Amendment rights.

Willis acknowledged that the school officials have some leeway in making a decision where there is a strong basis to prevent freedom of speech.

For example, a "blatantly racist remark" on a T-shirt in an integrated high school where fights had broken out in previous cases might warrant preemptive action, he said.

What is unusual about the Occoquan case, Willis says, is the age of the students.

"These kinds of cases almost always develop in high schools and sometimes middle schools, where kids are educated enough to develop opinions on social issues and want to express them," he said.

THE AFTERMATH

Occoquan has yet to respond to the ACLU's request for an apology and a statement affirming the protection of students' free speech. Maria and Carmen have not decided on a course of action, but they've made an appointment with a lawyer. Meanwhile, Anderson and Joseph continue to attend school.

When she picked up Anderson at school Monday, Maria asked her son how his day was.

"OK," the second-grader said. "I had a headache all day long."

[RexBeach]

Good one, Trebb!

[elli1]

Yup. Those wiley Latinos tricked a public school employee into doing something stupid. /s

I gotta' wonder if the principal would have reacted to an 'African Forever/ 100% African' t-shirt.

[ishabibble]

I think these are "finger in the chili" women.

Mother and daughter dress their 5 and 8 yr. old sons in inflammatory shirts that almost guarantee suspension.
They'll sue, and get something for it. I'd like to check back in one year and see how much these two got from the school district.

[tumblindice]

Do you think a child should be allowed to wear a t-shirt
with the confederate flag displayed, front and back, professor?

[BenLurkin]

It appears that latino racism is OKAY for the ACLU.

[Hoodlum91]

These women purposely dressed their kids in political T-shirts.

That said, unless there is a dress code barring T-shirts with words, the kids have every right to wear them.

Of course, it would be interesting if some kids showed up in INS T-shirts.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Macht nichts.

It's neither here nor there.

I can respect a school's right to decide clothes like this are simply inappropriate (personally, all t-shirts should be banned on the basis they are gutter wear).

OTOH, I don't think it's that big a deal to declare yourself "Latino".

[speed_addiction]

Somehow, the intent of my post has been misunderstood. I am not in anyway defending this woman. I do not believe in this hyphenated and "culture" crap. You are here, you either ARE an American or you strive to be one. America is where a person's first loyalty should lie. Not with the country of their ancestors or Allah.

I served for six years in the most elite light infantry unit in the world. Set foot on 20 different countries. In all of those places, people saw past my color and the color of the rest of my unit and called us "Americans." I wish we could see ourselves the same way.

I am a hodge podge of Mexican and Basque on my father's side. My mother is Mescalero Apache (blood thirstiest woman you will ever meet), but my heart is and has always been American and nothing else.


What We Are About To Do Here Is What The Good Lord Would Call A Cleansing of the Wicked. I Call It A Good Old Fashioned Texas Ass Kicking.

[robertpaulsen]

Attitudes like yours lead to "zero tolerance" rules.

The principal is paid big bucks for his experience and judgement. Allow him to use both or fire him. Either or.

[RexBeach]

Dear Robert-

You misinterpret my initial post. I merely posed it as a question. That is all.

-Rex

[ShutUpandSing]

You're right, unfortunately the whole school district will suffer, not just that one school.

In addition to that, they have probably succeeded in hurting their sons more. Children at that age are hardly political. And in particular, 5 & 8 yr old boys don't care what they wear. So now everyone knows the boys have created a controversy and may bear the brunt of some bullying. I hope I'm wrong - kids don't think critically, they react.

[robertpaulsen]

"That said, unless there is a dress code barring T-shirts with words, the kids have every right to wear them."

How about a dress code that bars T-shirts deemed potentially disruptive by the principal? Would that be an OK dress code?

[trebb]

I didn't misunderstand your post - it looked like you wondered if a patriotic statement would be treated as the same type free speech as one that seems less than patriotic. I just added another possibility with free speech and Christianity.

I served 24 years in the AF and thank you for your service.

God Bless.

[Hoodlum91]

That's fine. However, we don't know the dress code, or even if one exists, so it's moot to argue it.

[BigCinBigD]

"OK," the second-grader said. "I had a headache all day long."


I wonder if he said it in English or in spanish?

[AustinBill]

One of the many reasons why school uniforms are a good idea.

[robertpaulsen]

"Do you think a child should be allowed to wear a t-shirt with the confederate flag displayed, front and back, professor?"

Why are you being so specific? Why don't you simply ask if a child should be barred from wearing a T-shirt deemed potentially disruptive by the principal?

I'm sure there are many schools where the wearing of a T-shirt with the confederate flag displayed, front and back, would be acceptable to the students, teachers and parents. In that case, why not?

A better question would be, do you think any outside group (NAACP, ACLU, GLAAD, etc.) should be able to dictate what students wear at their school?

[detsaoT]

I'm with you on this one, zook. The school should've had the student turn their shirt inside-out, or something to that effect, rather than sending him home.

When are the schools going to get it: Either ban all messages, or none of them. There's nothing wrong with requiring a uniform dress code for all students, that's devoid of all political selections.

[robertpaulsen]

"They should call themselves Mongolics or Mongolos"

Mongo?

[chatham]

Would someone have these wetbacks read the Oath of Citizenship PLEASE!!!!!!

---

The Oath of Citizenship

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God. In acknowledgement whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.