Posted on 09/23/2004 11:49:10 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
Cyndy Stewart said she was shocked when her son showed her a symbol that "sanctions intolerance" in his SAIL High School yearbook.
The page included a Confederate flag and the phrases: "Long Live General Lee. Redneck and Proud!! The South Will Rise!!" Stewart said it's "defeating and condescending" to students of color and sends a bad message to all students regardless of race.
She and another parent asked the School Board on Tuesday to create stricter policies on offensive materials in student publications.
"It's 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education," said Stewart, who teaches school in Georgia. "It doesn't make sense this is still being debated in 2004."
The Confederate flag is a symbol associated with both racism and Southern heritage.
Parent Iliana Volaric said students should be able to express themselves, but within stricter boundaries.
"If it's angst, it's fine, as long as it's not directed toward a particular group in society," she said.
The student who created the page graduated, Principal Roseanne Wood said. SAIL students can submit personal pages to the yearbook that allow them to express themselves.
"Some put kittens on there, some express political points of view," Wood said. "You put anything you want except no sex and anything that promotes violence, drugs or hate."
Tolerance and freedom of speech are encouraged at SAIL, an alternative school, Wood said.
A committee that includes teachers, media specialists and the principal reviews the students' messages. The student's page that caused parent concern also includes a message to three teachers whom he thanked for making his graduation possible. One of those teachers was black, Wood said.
"In the judgment of the committee at the time, he wasn't espousing hate," she said. "He was espousing being proud of being a Southerner."
The school district's policy on written expression prohibits "material which is obscene according to current legal definitions, libelous, or disruptive to the orderly educational process." When questions arise about whether material is appropriate, the principal has the final say.
Superintendent Bill Montford said the School Board has a reputation of being sensitive in these matters. Rickards High's Raiders were formerly the Redskins, he said.
"I'm not sure this board or any board can pass a policy that would guarantee removal of offensive materials," Montford said. "Quite frankly, it's a gray area and a judgment call."
Until two parents expressed concern about the yearbook, the Confederate flag hadn't been an issue for the school, Wood said. Stewart and Volaric say their sons and other students are concerned but don't want to step forward for fear of being ostracized.
"If something is disruptive to the school process, we could ban it," Wood said.
The school will take a harder look at such messages next year, she said.
"I do understand the parents' point of view, and I will take it in consideration in the next go-round," Wood said. "We don't want to alienate anyone."
I sense a theme in your posts.
Oh why don't they get stuffed. I'm glad it's on our state flag(MS),they can't say much about it that way:)
This same student whom they're raising a ruckus about also PRAISED a black teacher. Yet he's racist????
And your point is??????
"I do understand the parents' point of view, and I will take it in consideration in the next go-round," Wood said. "We don't want to alienate anyone."
But you don't mind alienating the author of any page you might find offensive.
Gawd, will these people ever stfu?
Oh, that's good. Instead of a team named for proud American Indian warriors, we now have a team named for a band of murdurous thieves...
Let's ban history altogether. That way, nobody will ever be offended in our multi-cultural world. Besides, if nobody knew history, every conflict would be like a first. Think of all the lessons our kids could learn. (sarcasm off)
Since when do symbols "sanction" anything? Don't people have to do that? Wait a minute, what am I thinking? This like all those dangerous guns that "fire" without anyone around, right?
It took you 3 years to figure that out?
Appears this momma is just trying to have her 15-minutes worth of fame. No sympathy here.
But, long live White haters Malcom-X and Calypso Louie, and hey man, ole race baiting Al, ya gotta love that Jesse J. spitting in the Honkie's food, laughing and bragging about it, soooo cooool.
More contrived anger from a "concerned parent" who in my view is more concerned about getting her name in the paper than the issue at hand. Meanwhile, another swipe is taken at freedom of speech and expression.
I'll never swat an annoying house fly, for my eye's are not sharp enough to decipher what the color or Creed of the fly is.
It's best to be safe than sorry, for I wouldn't want to go to my grave with the idea that I my be a "color biased" bigot, so for my own peace of mind I will tolerate the fly in my house even with the annoyance which that fly creates, until I can some day determine the color of the fly's and only swat the "lighter colored" one's for I have come to realize that "a fly isn't a fly" I must determine the color of the fly before I take action in swatting it!
Makes sense to me....
And don't forget all those SUVs that are killing people left and right.
And just what is the problem here? 
Uh, yeah. It's called the "Dixie Ping List".
"Dixie" is not here a reference to the New Orleans beer.
Thanks for clarifying.
I'll trade all my Andrew Jacksons for all those vile Useless Grants -- I'll even give you 2 to 1.
I hope the ACLU does not discover that the cross on the Battle Flag is the dreaded St. Andrew's Cross, a (gasp) Christian symbol, which, I guess, makes the flag doubly offensive to Godless Yankees and various other busybodies.
SSHHHH! It's a secret!
"It took you 3 years to figure that out?"
LOL, my thought too!
BTW, took two, beer injected shoulders off the smoker earlier this morning.
GOOD post.
We might need to clean house here later on... :)
Makes my heart swell with pride that we didn't allow ourselves to blackmailed:)
Kind of a stretch that. If someone wants to make a cross they can certainly do so in a much simpler and more straightforward way.
The saltere or X-cross is the flag of today's Scotland, and part of the flag of Nova Scotia and Jamaica and Florida and other states, but it's doubtful that everyone who flies it is sending a Christian message, no more than Malcolm X was when he took the same pattern for his last name, or that the stars on our flag imply any belief in astrology. The English flag is based on the cross of St. George, but it's likewise questionable whether everyone who flies it is thinking of Jesus or that having one or three crosses on their flags makes Britain more religious than the US, or that the crescent moon in the South Carolina flag indicates support for Islam.
There's been some question about whether St. Andrew's cross was in fact the inspiration of the Confederate battle flag and naval jack. The British flag may have been the most important source, and the attribution of any especially Christian signifcance to these banners may have come along after the fact. The x or saltier is an old heraldic symbol and federal courts have ruled that they could not accept that "every X, or every X the straight-line connection of whose four points would form a square, is predominantly a religious symbol."
In any case, symbols have a way of getting disconnected from their origins, so that if someone comes along later and tries to make claims based on the what's taken as the origin, it doesn't necessarily prove anything. The x has been a symbol of religion, later of empire and then of secession and arguably of racial superiority, and it's hard to argue that the religious meaning is still paramount.
"The student's page that caused parent concern also includes a message to three teachers whom he thanked for making his graduation possible. One of those teachers was black, Wood said."
THIS is what they don't get.
One can love the symbols of our heritage,
and our history, and NOT be racist.
Makes my heart swell with pride that we didn't allow ourselves to blackmailed:)
And many blacks voted with us to keep the flag as well.
SO THERE you intolerant boobs.
The Confederate flag is a battle flag. Get over it!
"I wish I were in Dixie"!!!
LOL! Good'un, wardaddy. ;o)
Huh? Get over what?
I believe alot of groups such as skin heads and the k.k.k. have used that flag for hatred so much that alot of folks associate it with hate.
It was originally a battle flag no different than many other battle flags that look similar.
My point this flag does not "sanctions intolerance" and as a teacher she should know that. But then she was also, most likely, taught in our school system.
She should "get over it".
Sounds to me like this Parent/Teacher needs a HISTORY lesson. Apparently she doesn't teach history. She obviously needs to know the facts before spouting off.
Even this could one day be called a “slavery flag”.
You brought up the reference to slavery knowing the flag in question does indeed bring up extremely adverse memories, which many people alive today still recall.
In terms of flags of the past; It remains illegal to fly the any Nazi flags in a number of nations. Think if you were Jewish and had to see emblem of torture which flew over the death camps.
Or those which were forced to live under the brutal boot of communist regimés would not approve of any communist emblem's being shown in public, never mind allowed or promoted by a national or state government.
The same horrible feeling exists for Americans which suffered under the confederate flag.
There remains small enclaves of racist groups which fly that flag, actually stating publicly they favour returning to the days of the 'old South', do you?
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The same horrible feeling exists for Americans which suffered under the confederate flag.
A stark contrast with the Star & Stripes, which never flew from the mainmast of a slave ship, or fluttered in the breeze over the port cities where slave ships unloaded.
Oh, wait...
The question on the 'old South' has been was answered.
I'm sorry to say, but the flag in your post flew over far more horrible things longer than the Confederate flag did. The US flag flew over every slave ship that brought the Africans here. The US flag flew over my ancestors as they were forced marched from North Carolina and Georgia to Oklahoma (The Trail of Tears). The US flag flew over massacres of these same people (Indians) until they all were oppressed onto reservations.
Don't quibble about a flag that flew over a hideous lifestyle for 4 years when the US flag has seen far more horrible things done under it.
Whether you like it or not, the Confederate flag is a symbol of America. It is part of our history and it should not be written out due to a few people who can't handle history as it was.
Funny...I was just thinking earlier that FR should initiate a "Sit Down and Shut the F Up" award. (This was after listening to some liberal female who is sponsoring a 'vigil' in front of Kerry's Boston mansion WHINE about the stolen election.) With the amount of BS being spewed by liberals; this ward could be handed out on a daily basis. Sandy from Boston? Sit down and shut the f up!!!
Interesting post.
Your screenname is well-chosen. :-)
The the overwhelming majority of thinking conservative Americans want nothing to do with the banner of the KKK & neo-nazis.
"The the overwhelming majority of thinking conservative Americans want nothing to do with the banner of the KKK & neo-nazis."
I've seen more than a few pictures of KKK rallies with Ole Glory flying behind them. Shall these "thinking conservative Americans" do away with Old Glory as well? You seem to blame the flag instead of the people abusing it.
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.