Confederate flag ban challenged in court
Filed under: Teens, In The News, Day Care & Education
Depending upon your point of view, the Confederate flag is either a proud emblem of Southern heritage or an offensive display of racism. For 18-year-old Tommy DeFoe, it's the former. He says his great-great uncle served in the Confederate army and "died for the South" in the Civil War. For that reason, DeFoe feels he should have the right to display the Southern Cross on his clothes and belt buckle, even at Tennessee's Anderson High School, where it is in violation of the dress code.
Actually, the code doesn't specifically ban the Confederate flag, but up until 2001 it did. Today the policy is more general, but school board chairman John Burrell says it is understood that the Confederate flag symbol is not allowed. Which is why DeFoe was suspended more than 40 times for sporting the flag on his clothing while at school.
DeFoe feels his right to free speech was violated and is suing the Anderson County School Board. "I am fighting for my heritage and my rights as a Southerner and an American," said DeFoe.
Anderson County officials say the flag ban is in place to avoid stirring up racial tensions. Although Anderson High currently has only one black student, two years ago the arrival of two black students was met with racist graffiti and a Confederate flag raising. And at nearby Clinton High School, which happens to have been the first public school desegregated by court order in 1956, the student body is more racially mixed. "If he had worn at Clinton High what he wore at Anderson High it would have been a riot, somebody would have clobbered him," said Burrell.
DeFoe's lawsuit isn't the first to challenge the Confederate flag ban in school dress codes, but is one of the few to make it to trial. Most others have been settled with a payment to the plaintiff or thrown out by a judge. The jury in this case is on its third day of deliberations and has yet to reach a verdict.
Actually, the code doesn't specifically ban the Confederate flag, but up until 2001 it did. Today the policy is more general, but school board chairman John Burrell says it is understood that the Confederate flag symbol is not allowed. Which is why DeFoe was suspended more than 40 times for sporting the flag on his clothing while at school.
DeFoe feels his right to free speech was violated and is suing the Anderson County School Board. "I am fighting for my heritage and my rights as a Southerner and an American," said DeFoe.
Anderson County officials say the flag ban is in place to avoid stirring up racial tensions. Although Anderson High currently has only one black student, two years ago the arrival of two black students was met with racist graffiti and a Confederate flag raising. And at nearby Clinton High School, which happens to have been the first public school desegregated by court order in 1956, the student body is more racially mixed. "If he had worn at Clinton High what he wore at Anderson High it would have been a riot, somebody would have clobbered him," said Burrell.
DeFoe's lawsuit isn't the first to challenge the Confederate flag ban in school dress codes, but is one of the few to make it to trial. Most others have been settled with a payment to the plaintiff or thrown out by a judge. The jury in this case is on its third day of deliberations and has yet to reach a verdict.












ReaderComments (Page 5 of 13)
8-16-2008 @ 10:28PM
chamberhog said...Jacksonville, Florida has "Forrest High School", named after Confederate General and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest. I'm surprised that that honorary name still is used. I'd think that black person attending that school is comparable to (and as offensive as) a Jewish person attending "Adolph Hitler High". I'm not a fan of political correctness, but symbols are powerful... and the South needs to get over it already. They lost!
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8-17-2008 @ 12:42AM
rockincat68 said...While General Nathan Bedford Forrest was a founding member of the Ku Klux Klan and original Grand Wizard, at the time he'd joined, it was portrayed as a fraternity of Confederate veterans who just went around dressed in ghoulish halloween-inspired outfits, playing pranks and reminiscing with other veterans. However, Gen. Forrest soon found an influx of hate-filled, violent white supremacists joining the ranks, which he found to be dangerous at a time of reconstruction and martial law. He announced the Klan to be disbanded, and many of the original members heeded his advice. However, the more violent and racist members remained on, kept the name, and left a legacy of divisiveness and death that continues to this day.
8-16-2008 @ 10:29PM
Wayne said...I think our society has gone way looney on this subject, this flag did exsist during the civil war and did exsist in the South. The Swastica from Germany also did exsist and both have carried some terrible stories with them. If we allow the American Nazi party to protest with their flag, why do we not allow this person to wear the Southern flag???? Do I hear double standards??
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8-16-2008 @ 10:36PM
sammi said...Yes, Thank you Amy for saying what needs to be said.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:38PM
MD said...It is what it is. The school has a responsible to insure a safe environment for everyone to learn in. The flag is clearly controversial and may put a student wearing it in unnecessary danger. Therefore it should be banned. His case will hold no water. Search for Peace! Move on.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:37PM
Don Miller said...This is just a typical application of racism in reverse. One must not do anything that may upset the sensitive Negro citizen. And yet that same person could wear a shirt to school that says, "Black is beautiful" which is INTENDED to be IN YOUR FACE RACISIST and nothing would be said to them.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:37PM
ProudtobeAREPUBLICAN said...Nothing wrong w/ the confederate flag. Most people don't even know it's true significance. I' m a "northerner" and I have no problem with it.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:38PM
adammckithern said...i live in choudrant, louisiana which is a little town of 200 in north louisiana. this article makes me madder than an ole wet hen, but it also fills me with so much southern pride its comin out my ears! i wear a rebel flag ring to school every day and no one ever said nothin about it, ive even had teachers who asked me where i got it! if ur gonna ban the rebel flag then u gotta put and end to black history month and black entertainment television cuz i dont see no white history moth or white entertainment television...now tell me that aint racist! think about it... SOUTHERN PRIDE!!!
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8-16-2008 @ 11:20PM
proud rebel said...lol you sound really awesome!!! it's so true!!! blacks keep sayin they are so wronged yet we NEVER get anything put in honor of us or they get MAD!!!!!!
8-16-2008 @ 10:38PM
Elizabeth said...There is a difference in being racist and being proud. Yes the Confederate flag does represent the Civil War but people need history lessons on what the war was really fought over. The KKK has helped give the Confederate flag its "bad name" b/c of the hateful reasons that they use it, which wasnt the basis of the flag at all. Being proud of where you and your family comes from should not be denied to any American.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:46PM
undrgrndgirl said...uhh...the southern cross is a constellation in the southern hemisphere...duh.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:48PM
Andrew said...I am an Upcoming Junior at Nelson County High School and we have a similar instance. Many students wear the confederate flag on their clothes but another symbol is used and kids are bein tossed out left and right. I see more and more Anarchy signs everywhere I go. If i was to wear a shirt with that logo i would be reprimanded andkicked out of school. Its not the kids who need a history lesson. Its the faculty at these schools. Most have no clue what they are doing.
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8-16-2008 @ 10:49PM
johnny said...I was born and raised in Texas and now live in North Carolina. I've been around Confederate Flags all of my life. My employer now bans any attire with the "Battle Flag" on it. But "Black Pride" and the like are OK. I guess I can't be openly proud of my heritage
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8-16-2008 @ 10:50PM
wonderland said...stupid buffoons! the confederate flag merely represents the south, and, for the purposes of the war between the states (civil war), the desire of the south to secede from the union.
at NO POINT was the civil war fought to free slaves, so it is NOT a symbol of racism, nor should the ignorant of this country be allowed to make it a symbol of that.
LEARN YOUR HISTORY AND RESPECT HISTORICAL SYMBOLS!
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8-16-2008 @ 10:49PM
Bgerbec said...Would he be suspended from school if his car happened to be the General Lee from the dukes of hazzard? It had a confederate flag on it.
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8-17-2008 @ 2:07PM
Neighbor said...Outside of the fact that school systems are paranoid about every little move made on their campuses...well since Madeline O'Hare took about every constituional right away from parents, teachers and schools systems...schools systems are now even more screwed up as ever.
Life is what you make of it...period. Even if every confederate flag,shirt,belt buckle, swastiska emblem, gang signs, FUBU clothing, Shawn John apparel, Malcom X hats and shirts, etc...were gathered up and burned in one great big world wide specticle. Yep you guessed it...racism would still exist! And racism will always exist. Now if that is the case, let's go beyond the obvious, no amount of expulsion will fix our society. No amount of fighting will fix our society. Hand outs will not fix our society, and living with hatred for your neighbor will not fix anything. What our country needs to understand is the more you run to the Government and ask them to get involved, then eventually none of us has any control of anything we do.
The bottom line is this, and everyone listen...history tends to repeat itself. Another civil war in America would be the most embarrassing thing that could happen for all races. Do we strive to teach our young to resent, hold grudges, and hate everyone who is not of their own race? Or do we strive to do anything other than pass down to our children the same destrought visions of hope for humanity, that never came to your grandparents? Like I said in the beginning, life is what you make of it. Fixing the past is impossible, but learning from it we can do. I can find something offensive with about every tenth person I see out in public. But I choose to not be opressed by it and I choose to make sure that my children strive to get a minimum college education. Over 80% percent of the people in America don't have a college education. Opression....you say...or is it the simple fact that life is easier when you can complain about everybody else when the truth is many haven't even made the first move in their own life to make a difference. Your choice, complain complain complain or
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8-16-2008 @ 10:54PM
Donnie said...Did the BASTARD even know his uncle
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8-16-2008 @ 11:00PM
fighterprince47 said...AMEN!!!!!! i bet he didn't.
8-16-2008 @ 10:49PM
SMC said...My son had the same problem wearing the Confederate Flag logo on T-shirts here in the North, PA to public school. He was never suspended for wearing it but always reminded that it was not allowed. The school had a dress code but it did not specify a ban on the Confederate Flag. My son liked the Confederate Flag from the time he was little. He has a artistic ability and saw the flag as a piece of art.
I am not knocking the public schools in our country because I work in the public schools. If things were taught properly about our history, there would be a better understanding of these things.
We do not tell Indian women not to wear their fancy dress and pants, we print government papers and product directions in Spanish and other languages, we put up Spanish signs in public areas such as "Rest Rooms" etc.
The Confederate flag was a battle flag representing the South just as the North had their battle flags. Today's society has made the Confederate Flag represent something that it never was intended to represent. Today's society has turned the flag into a representation of racism.
When is this country going to appreciate it's past and heritage, good or bad, right or wrong, and stop trying to bury it? When is this country going to appreciate the differences in us?
If I am white, then you are black, not African American. Just as the Stars and Stripes is flown higher than any other flag, then no other country or continent should represent your title before American.
I am tired of the Political Correctness!
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8-16-2008 @ 10:53PM
Alex said...The funny thing is the controversy wouldn't exist if the school officials weren't pressing the issue.
And the schools must be *awesome* in Tennessee if the school administrators can afford to spend their time worrying at this kid.
I'd be more concerned if he was coming to school wearing the sheets-and-hood and practicing tying nooses, but he seems to take the stars-and-bars as a symbol of his heritage, and, well, who are we to tell him how he should interpret it?
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