So Ame

What if his POLO shirt had the Confederate Flag?

A great to do about nothing. Nitpicking by the school. If left alone he would have eventually wanted exhibit a shirt with another cause. Why should any one care? Young people have a right to express themselves unless it is done by physical violence. Be glad hes wearing clothes and not half exposed and many young girls are. Patiluciho

I am not from the South, though I have lived in Virginia, Maryland and Georgia for many years. I believe that the point is very simple. Follow the dress code, or work with the school board to have it changed. The answer isn't to fight it through an outward display of disobedience. The school is for education; being expelled detracts from the student's progress, and from the primary responsibilites of the teachers. The parents should be fined.

Dave

I BELIEVE THAT DRESS CODE COULD BE FIXED BY SCHOOL UNIFORM SO THAT ANY OFFENSIVE PICTURE ,STATEMENT,OR COLOR WOULD NEVER BE ISSUE IN SCHOOLS SCHOOL FOR LEARNING NOT FASHION OR POLITIC ISSUES IT PERSON IS DISRUPTIVE THEY SHOULD BE SENT HOME AND 3 STRIKES YOU ARE OUT SEND TO REFORM SCHOOL DONT SEND THE HEADACHE TO ANOTHER SCHOOL
THE FLAG IS TO EACH INDIVIDUAL A MEANING I'M FROM LOUISIANA AND REBEL FLAG WAS MOSTLY SYMBOL OFFOOTBALL TEAM OF ANOTHER SCHOOL,AS ADULT IT IS FLAG OF AN OLD WAR AND JUST A FLAG PEOPLE TRY TO MAKE MANY THINGS OUT OF IT ACCEPT IT AS A FLAG NOT ALLOW PEOPLE IDEAS OF IT MEANING A REASON TO CHANGE IT I BELIEVE LOTS OF BLACK SOLDIER FOUGHT FOR SOUTH AND NORTH I SURE SOMEBODY THINK OF IT IN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE BUT IT IS JUST A FLAG

I live in East Tennessee. At my high school no one cares about the REBAL FLAG. All it is here is a symbol of the south and the symbol of a rebal. Racism is not adressed when that symbol is shown in our school. Also we can wear t-shrits in the public schools in this part of Tennessee. We have like 20 black students and they wear the shirts to. I'm 100% be hind the kid for suing the school.

The problem I have is who is to determine what is offensive? I mean, I know that vulgar words or phrases, some advertising, and graphic pictures are offensive to just about everybody, but you know how school boards can be. All it would take is one bonehead to "decide" that something is offensive, and it's automatically banned. My high school had the Dixie Demon Marching Band and the flag corps was known as the Dixie Darlings. We played "Dixie" at every touchdown, but at some point after I graduated, that all changed. Now, they can no longer play "Dixie" (which was written by a black man who loved the South), and they changed the name of the band and I think the mascot of the school. All because someone thought it was offensive. Did anyone take a vote? NO. Did anyone even research or have a formal poll taken? NO. It was a sweeping decision by a Bible-thumping Board of Education (And, yes, for some reason religion came into this decision, though there is a supposed separation of Church and State.) who took what little power they had and ruined a very long tradition at a school I loved.

I don't see what the problem is with wearing a confederate flag on your shirt. The civil war was an important part of the history of the United States and while I agree that it isn't right to go and outwardly act like a confederate, you should be able to express your acknowledging of the fact that the civil war happened. You need to know about the past to prevent it from repeating itself.

I hate to say it because I am offended by the confederate flag, how3ever, we do live in America where free speech, unfortunately does not always agree with ours, is a tremdeous right that we all should live with. I give him credit for standing his ground, even thou I don't agree with him, it's his right to use his liberties of this country that are given to all of us citizens.

We need to teach our children that rules apply to every aspect of life. As parents, we also need to teach them that as an American, we have the choice to try to change those rules and regulations, through the proper channels.
If your child/student does not agree with the school rules, please school them on how to go through the proper channels to have their voice heard before it gets out of hand.

The Red field represents the Blood of Christ. The White border represents the Protection of God. The Blue "X" represents the Christian Cross of Saint Andrew, the first disciple of Jesus and patron Saint of Scotland and Russia. The 13 Stars represent the 13 Southern States of Secession. Is it not fair to ask, "Why would racists use this flag depicting a Jewish man's blood and a cross upon which a Jewish man was crucified?" - Where is the representation of racism.

I've heard the Confederate battle flag referred to as "the flag of slavery," but the US national flag, known as "Old Glory," was designed and adopted in 1777, however, slavery did not end until the enactment of the 13th Amendment in December 1865. The Confederate flag was used only from April 1861 to April 1865, so if slavery was in existence for only 4 years under the Confederate flag, but for 88 years under Old Glory, how is it the Confederate flag is the flag of slavery, and not Old Glory?

The Civil War was about the North not wanting the South to secede from the Union because that would be an economic loss.
Slavery is wrong, but why was it not equally wrong that Northern registered ships imported slaves? (source: Appleton & Co. NY, 1866)

If the Civil War was about slavery, why were the last slaves in the US to be freed were in the state of New Jersey? (source: Property Records, State Capitol, Trenton, NJ) In addition, this happened seven months after the Civil War ended. So, if the North fought to free the slaves, why didn't they attack NJ first?

Only 4% of the 880,000 South's fielded men during the Civil War were slave owners. (source: Confederate Enlistment records compared to the slave owner rolls in 1860 US Census) So, I wonder what the other 96% of Southern men were fighting for? Answer: To prevent the 2.2 million Union soldiers sent by President Lincoln from invading our land, burning our homes, stealing our property, and killing our family members.

Seems as though if slavery was the main purpose of the war, many lives would have been saved if President Lincoln had just arrested all the slave owners, starting with the North.
How many fathers do you know that would give up their sons to die in a war to own slaves?

The Confederate flag is about Southern Pride and our Southern Heritage.

From,
Fefu77
Louisiana

No Mr. DeFoe... I am not sympathetic to your cause.
My issue is not whether DeFoe's rights were violated. Schoool is what it is... a place for our kids to get an education, not a public platform for DeFoe's causes. He disrespected the school's rights (rules) but yet expects the school to respect his? I sincerely hope that the other students education doesn't suffer because he choose to sue the school instead of following rules. The civil war is over... pick your battles or causes more carefully. Save the confederate flag t-shirt for after school. Wear a "Southern pride" t-shirt to school to show your support of the south, or better yet, wear an AMERICAN flag t-shirt and really show you are a proud American.

Nothing intices a child more than to say they CAN"T do something. It focuses their minds on the wonderful possibilites. I lived in the Knoxville area for many years. Why do the schools and parents resist uniforms? I now live in England. Every single school has a uniform and students are not allowed into the classrooms unless the uniform is worn properly. Uniforms consist of plain black, blue or grey pants, a white or blue collared shirt, a tie and a jacket. Sweaters are optional. Every store sells the basics (pants and shirts) at very cheap prices. A jacket is purchased once or twice for the duration of their time at school. So three pairs of pants and three shirts, one tie and one jacket lasts one whole school year. Every kid is as miserable as the next, everyone knows the rules, and there is no such thing as the 'right' of anyone to express themselves by dress, in a school where the focus should be on education rather than fashion or political statements. Everyone is absolutely equal and this is not left to the control of CHILDREN!!! Here, the ADULTS are in charge, not the other way around.

For people that say the confederate flag is a just symbol from history and therefore it's no big deal to wear on a T-shirt...is it equally meaningless to wear a swastika on a T-shirt because it is a symbol from history?

I'm just wondering.

When I see someone with a rebel flag on his shirt/clothes/whatever, I think this person is clueless. I know it may have become a symbol of southern pride devoid of association with its origin......but please. Think about what you're wearing and what it symbolizes. What it symbolizes also has to include oppression of slaves, because the war was about keeping slavery in place....was it not?

I agree with the idea of expanding the knowledge in regard to the Civil War and the Confederacy.
For the most part the Civil War was about economics. The southern plantantion owners could not afford the high tariffs the north needed to turn profit in the merchant trade.
For the record most of the "slaves" did not want to be free, but instead were concerned about how they would survive without the support of the large plantantions. The depiction of cruelty to all slaves is also a fallacy. While in the south black free labor was slavery, in the north black free labor was called something different.
Northerners had black butlers that were given room and board to work. Leaving a position wasn't acceptable unless it was an agreement between one white "butler" owner and another. Tell me truly, what's the difference? Considering that slavery in our country ended with the civil war, a century ago or so, black and whites need to move on. Right now we have a more pressing issue, the United States economy and what's happening to our children when they are grown.
Just so no one can whine about it .... my grandparents were bi-racial, their marriage wasn't considered legal until the California Supreme Court lifted the ban in bi-racial marriage in 1948.

Youare correct. The civil war was originally fought over the right of the south to succeed from the union. If this young man is proud of his heritage i see no reason he should be denied the right to show his patriotism for it. The school board should lose. There is much honor from the south that has been overlooked and denied thruout history. I hope this young man wins this case.

WOW. I would have never expected to hear an intelligent commet on this subject. I, too, was unaware of all of the elements leading up to the Civil War, but I did know that no one would declare a war just to free the slaves. That being said, I commend you for an un-biased, un-racial comment.

what the heck??? ur right in only one spot. the civil war wasn't COMPLETELY about slavery. that was just the one MAIN point in it.
and ur comment on black students... we understand the concepts of teh civil war b/c most teachers (in my skool system anyways) are white. if u wanna change how kids are taught, don't just talk about it. be about it. i personaly only have a problem with the confederate flag based on how it is used. if it is used in a racist way then yeah, i have a problem with it. but i also understand that people have the right to be proud of their heritage. people have family who died in that war and they have a right to remember them. BUT!! to use that as an excuse for racism is not right.

The confederate flag is unpatriotic and maybe even treason, because the North fought to keep the nation together, while the South(confederate) fought to be there own little country/nation.