Posted on 08/20/2015 6:40:57 PM PDT by markomalley
ONA, W.Va. – West Virginia mother April Stanley believes school officials are playing favorites, and her son is getting the shaft because of it.
Her son wore his Confederate flag t-shirt to Cabell Midland High School Tuesday and school officials made him turn it inside-out and promise not to wear it again, WSAZ reports.
The next day he wore a different Confederate flag t-shirt, and it was the same thing, except he was threatened with suspension if he repeats his defiant behavior, Stanley said.
She believes school officials are infringing on her son’s freedom of speech to protect some students who might take offense to the symbol – one Stanley said her son wants to destigmatize by educating his classmates.
“He believes he should have his freedom of speech,” she said.
“He’s not prejudiced at all,” Stanley said. “It’s not about slavery, and he’s trying to get that point across.”
The mother also quested how school officials determine which symbols are appropriate and which aren’t, because some students are offended by symbols promoted in the school every day.
“There also kids offended by the gay symbols and the gay flag,” Stanley said, noting a framed rainbow poster and peace symbol that hangs outside of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance student club as one example.
The school has 63 student clubs, according to the news site.
District officials supported administrators who warned Stanley’s son, and said a ban on apparel depicting the Confederate flag was implemented two decades ago because of racial tensions in the school district.
“When Cabell Midland first opened, and in the not too distant past, there have been some racial tensions occasionally with minority students at Cabell Midland High School, like there are at any other school,” Dave Tackett, district administrative assistant for secondary education, told WSAZ.
Tackett doesn’t think Stanley’s gay analogy holds water.
“There have not been any disruptions or altercations over that poster,” which has hung inside the school for three years, he said. “However, there have been cases of racial tension.”
Stanley said she plans to file for a rule change with the district.
The issue at Cabell Midland comes as schools in South Carolina and other states move to ban Confederate flags, symbols and similar clothing in the wake of a racially motivated church shooting in Charleston that left nine black parishioners dead. The suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, had a penchant for posing with the Confederate flag in Facebook pictures.
The Charleston County school district banned Confederate t-shirts, belt buckles and other apparel Tuesday, Reuters reports, while other districts have strived to preserve students’ constitutional right to free speech.
In a prepared statement, district spokesman Daniel Head said the decision to ban the symbol was “in light of a year marred with racially divisive and tragic events.”
“The ban in the district, where nine black churchgoers were shot dead earlier this summer, runs counter to policies at other schools across the U.S. South requiring them to defer to the free speech rights of students,” according to the news service.
And as Charleston school officials banned the Confederate battle flag, administrators at Stewarts Creek High School outside of Nashville, Tennessee affirmed students’ rights when a parent complained about Confederate flags flying from vehicles during the first week of school, News 2 reports.
“Students are allowed to express their political views even if we don’t agree with them,” Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans said.
Just sue. Even if she loses it costs them.
Vib G. Yor disagrees.
One does not talk about 'getting the shaft' when referring to the gay agenda.
A Gay Confederate Flag
We end government schools and let everyone send his kids to the private school of his choice. As long as there are one-size-fits-all public schools, these fights will continue.
I don’t understand why any Christian or any conservative has kids in government schools. They are a floundering dinosaurs.
Who would know the difference.
It would be a test of affiliation for the school staff.
It would be a test of affiliation for the school staff. We need to take the rainbow back.
Funny.
She is right: I would expound... - the Homosexual emblem is truly offensive to all that is decent while the Confederate flag is only offensive to those with severe emotional problems.
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.