Kentucky school likes their confederate symbols
Categories: Teens & tweens, Education
The walls of Allen Central High School in eastern Kentucky sport pictures of the school mascot, a confederate soldier. The confederate battle flag is featured prominently throughout the school. You'd think they might look for something a little less controversial, something not so heavily associated with slavery and racism, but you'd be wrong. The student body, the teachers, and the school board -- for the most part -- are quite happy with the status quo."I have colored friends around here and they never say anything," said Tiffany Owens, an eighteen-year-old cheerleader at Allen Central. I'm not surprised that they don't say anything; African-American students in Floyd County, where Allen Central is located, make up just over one half of one percent of the student body. There are more than 6,300 white kids in the county and only 33 African-Americans.
The students do understand the issue. "If I was black, it probably would bother me," said eighteen-year-old Charles Randolph. He doesn't hate anyone, though. Really. It's not about that. "But if they can understand it wasn't put toward them in hatred, it wouldn't be an issue." If they would just stop being so thin skinned about it all, there wouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, what's a little slavery among friends, eh? Besides, there are only a few black kids around anyway, so who cares what they think?
And what do they think? Ted Honaker, one of just two dozen black kids at nearby Pikeville High, said "It really makes me mad." He plays basketball for Pikeville and plays against Allen Central. He says he sick of looking at the confederate flags in the stands during games. He's also tired of people assuming that the black students don't care about the issue. "It brings back slavery and what happened to my ancestors," he said.
"When these kids say, 'This doesn't represent race to me,' they're saying they have forgotten history," according to Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of education and history at New York University. Steven Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky notes that "You don't have to buy that the Confederate flag means anything bad to recognize that it hurts people's feelings and should be done away with."
It seems to me that what these kids are learning is that they don't have to consider the feelings of others, especially when those others are such a significant minority. That's not a lesson I would want my kids to learn. I guess we can just be thankful, at the very least, that these kids do have some "colored friends" and that they're not racist or anything.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Denise 12-13-2006 @ 3:55PM
yeah using the word "colored" in 2006 shows EXACTLY where she (and more importantly her family) stands on "race relations"! WOW!!
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Billy Bearden 12-13-2006 @ 5:39PM
Denise,
Since you are the source of racial enlightenment, could you give the rest of us out here in bigotville a lesson on exactly what term the black race is using to describe themselves this week?
Our choices are:
United NEGRO College Fund, & MLKJr ALWAYS referred to his race as NEGROES.
BLACK Caucus, BLACK Coaches Association, BLACK Entertainment Television, etc...
National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People.
"Persons of COLOR"
AFRICAN American
Nigga (as in Rap Music)
N.O. Mayor Nagin's "CHOCOLATE" City"
If the blacks call themselves Colored, why was it wrong for Tiffany to?
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Uncle Roger 12-13-2006 @ 9:32PM
Re: Colored -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored
Billy, here's an experiment you can do to understand the concept. Next time your wife says, "I think I look fat", you say "Yes, you do look fat." Let us know how it works out for you and if it helps.
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Jen 12-14-2006 @ 1:35AM
Billy, here's your history lesson for today:
MLK Jr. was murdered nearly forty years ago.
The United Negro College Fund was founded in 1943.
The NAACP was founded in 1909.
"Persons of color" is an acceptable label but includes many more races than just African-Americans. Black is also a perfectly acceptable term and is probably the one that is most commonly used.
Ray Nagin is a joke.
I'm not even going to address your "nigga/-er" comment. It's NEVER been an acceptable term.
The point isn't that "colored" is derogatory. The point is it's a label that went out of vogue thirty years ago. If you're using the terminology of the 1950s and 1960s to describe African-Americans today, I'm going to conclude that their level of enlightenment on the subject might just be circa 1955, too, which isn't saying much for them, considering the stance of the majority of whites in the South during that time.
It's not really about what African-Americans "call" themselves, now is it? It's about your desire to label people and not being able to fit them into your boxes.
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High School Teacher 12-19-2006 @ 1:58AM
Thanks Denise, Uncle Roger and Jen. When a similar issue was posted and discussed recently, I had a lot to say on the matter. After a hectic day with my students, while trying to get over a cold, I just don't have the strength today to address such ignorance. Thank you for doing it for me.
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Billy Bearden 12-15-2006 @ 1:44PM
Simply asking a question. Seems if some terminology is out of 21st century vogue, then certanly said groups can alter titles to change with the times.
Another simple question:
IF
The NAACP pushes the National Park Service into including Slavery as a display at every National Civil War Battlefield Park.
The NAACP pushes Colonial Williamsburg into including Slavery as part of it's offerings
The NAACP is pushing for building a National Slavery Museum
The NAACP is pushing for Slavery reperations for non slaves from people who never owned slaves
Then HOW
Can the NAACP opposes the ACHS use of a Confederate Flag as a "Painful reminder of Slavery"?
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Lyonside 12-19-2006 @ 9:37AM
>Then HOW
Can the NAACP opposes the ACHS use of a Confederate Flag as a "Painful reminder of Slavery"?
A memorial to the past is one thing. To have a symbol (in this case, a confederate soldier and prominantly displayed confederate flag) that teenagers, and their parents and teachers, RALLY AROUND AND CHEER FOR at sporting events, graduation, and the like is NOT remembering a negative past event, but rather a glorification of the ideals that caused that event.
Here's another analogy: A school adopts a Nazi swastika as part of their school emblem or mascot. They claim it's merely to show their history, since a majority of the student body are of German descent.
Shockingly, the few Jewish students, one of whom has a grandmother with a faded tattoo, and a teacher whose father fought in WWII and saw death camps first hand objected.
Gee, are they being too sensitive and thin-skinned?
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rick uhlig 12-20-2006 @ 6:55PM
Comparing the Confederacy to Nazies is a typical Socialist tactic. It only shows that your argument against the flag has no merit. When liberals cant win an argument on the facts they always start name calling. I know many black people that have no problem with Confederate symbols (in fact the majority of the blacks in Mississippi voted to keep the Confederate canton in their state flag.....gee I guess they are all just dumb uncle toms huh?)so why is it that it only takes one or two eternally offended whiners to stomp their feet and it's supposed to represent what ALL BLACKS THINK?
The war against all things Confederate is nothing more than a way to keep blacks from thinking for themselves so that the leeches that proclaim to represent them like sharpton and jackson can continue to reep great ammounts of money keeping the races divided.
For all of you who find such "alleged" offense in Confederate symbols I ask you; should the NBA initiate quotas or affirmative action for whites because the NBA is 80% black and whites are under represented? How about the NFL? HUH? Would it be fair to boycot them because it is mostly black these days?
Your demands for the removal of Confederate traditions and symbols is childish, ignorant and misinformed.
Taking away the schools pride and flags and thus demonizing all those who do support them would be the same as going around the country demanding that all the things named after MLK be renamed because it doesnt include white culture.
Go get a life and leave these good folks alone. They are not hurting anyone who doesnt WANT to be hurt. Those of you who are perpetually offended are only trying to compensate for your own pitiful lives by castigating someone else. It's your version of the American way, to always blame someone else for your own insecurity.
I challenge any one of you historicaly inept crybabies to a debate on the meaning, history and use of the Confederate flag becauise you obviously dont or refuse to understand that it is as American as the Betsy Ross flag. If you can debate the issue with clarity, facts and civility come to the Southern Heritage News and Views forum. You may not change your minds about it but you shure will learn something that you are obviously NOT TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOL, except maybe at Allen.
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