Posted on 10/20/2011 4:06:01 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
DOWAGIAC, Mich. -- School officials at Dowagiac Union High School have banned students from wearing the Confederate flag. Now students are fighting back!
There has been outrage, hurt feelings, and death threats after a student was suspended last Friday for wearing a belt buckle with the Confederate flag on it.
On Monday, a handful of students wore Confederate flag T-shirts in retaliation, and they too were suspended.
On Wednesday, dozens of students went to school in protest, wearing T-shirts with a Confederate flag on them. The students either left school on their own, or were sent home for fighting back against the school. School officials say wearing anything with the Confederate flag on it is violation of the dress code.
The school stands by its dress code policy and students were again warned on Wednesday that they would face expulsion if they wore anything that displayed the Confederate flag on it.
Still, students says they are not backing down. The students say they want the same rights as everyone else, and refuse to compromise, even with threats of violence surging on the internet.
While students and their parents say it is just about principle and fighting for their Freedom of Speech, there is no doubt that this protest has the community divided.
Many people in the community say they understand that everyone has the right to voice their opinions, but they say students are walking a very thin line when it comes to racism and doing something that could offend someone.
"Honestly, I think of 'redneck', 'country', and 'racist'."
That is what Angelique Ware immediately thinks of when she sees someone wearing or flying the Confederate flag. She has four kids, all around high school age. Although they do not attend Dowagiac Union High School, they do compete against student from that school in sports.
"To see their friends or classmates wearing something like that, to me, it really hits home," said Ware.
That is because her kids are interracial, which is why she worries about what kind of message these students are sending.
"Why are they doing this? Is it really for the rebellion aspect, or is it because they are having problems with racism at school?"
Ware hopes the latter is not the case. She says diversity is important to her and it was something she considered when choosing which school her kids would attend.
"We live in Benton Harbor, but we bus our kids into Berrien Springs because it is such a diverse school," said Ware.
She says she supports the school’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from the dress code, and also says any other reaction to the controversial symbol would be unacceptable.
"If I knew the school system was okay with flying that flag, my kids would definitely not attend that school."
Angelique says this sort of thing is something she would never expect to happen here in Dowagiac, and added that she is very concerned about why students at the high school feel so strongly about expressing themselves this way.
Why do I suspect that Che tee-shirts are welcome?
I’m no fan of the Confederacy, but you don’t have to be to suspect a selective intolerance of divisive clothing. If it was up to me, all writing and political statements on students’ clothing would be banned. And I suspect there would/should be a lot more items of clothing prohibited than just the rebel flag.
Ms Ware may be illegally sending her kids to be educated in a different town at the expense of the taxpayers of the different town. Parents have been arrested for this in various places.
Ban those rainbow shirts......oh wait.....those are
endorsed...
Mexican flags allowed? American flags? Any national flags?
The confederate battle flag is a pretty common sight here in southern Michigan. A guy down the road from me has an enormous mural of a battle scarred confederate battle flag on the side of his pole barn. He also has a mural of the submarine he served on when he was in the Navy.
Its never been offensive to me.
At my daughter’s high school, seniors get to decorate (paint) their assigned parking space in the student lot.
One kid put in a Confederate flag, said it reflected his “southern heritage”.
That's because you are normal. It takes a liberal to get their panties in a wad over something like this.
The students should switch to wearing to wearing the Bonnie Blue flag. It is a single white star on a blue background. They will have one heck of a time banning that one, and anyone with a bit of history in them will recognize it.
I've been to Benton Harbor. Angelique should worry about her own city before making comments about Dowagiac which is in another county. Benton Harbor is little over an hour from the South Side of Chicago.....and looks about the same. If this paleface is going to Benton Harbor, he's bringing a gun.
My girlfriend’s from the South. I see more confederate battle flags in rural Michigan than I do down south.
Unfortunately, the quality of education being what it is, that is a dwindling number of 'anyone's'
Unfortunately, the quality of education being what it is, that is a dwindling number of 'anyone's'
Sort of as a joke, I always wondered how libtards would react to the Confederate Battle Flag in the Black Liberation colors of black, green and yellow. Sort of blow their minds.
Lots of southern heritage in southern Michigan from when they all came to work at the bomber plant during WWII. I’ve read that we have a very specific accent across southern Michigan, Northern Ohio and Indiana.
A simple solution: Uniforms.
Same in rural Ohio.
How ya gonna teach civics or government ... if indeed civics or government is still taught in any meaningful way?
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