According to RT:
A federal appeals court is considering whether administrators of a school marred by racial tension and gang activity went too far when they sent home students who arrived wearing American flag shirts on a Mexican holiday.
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Administrators said they told the students to hide their clothing because of heightened stress and shouting matches between students on Cinco de Mayo in 2009 at the school, which is located approximately 20 miles from San Jose in central California. The students claim there was no evidence that their clothing had incited any tension and that “American schools cannot logically ban the American flag for any duration or reason.”
Mexican students told KSBW.com that they felt disrespected by the students’ clear decision to coordinate their outfits. “We would never do that on the Fourth of July,” one student said.
“I did nothing wrong,” student Daniel Galli said in 2010. “I’m American and I’m proud to be American, so that’s why I wore it.”
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“Here, the school is saying on this day, in these circumstances, with racism floating around…we’re not going to risk having a blowup here. So one day only let’s defuse this,” Judge Margaret McKeown said. “What’s wrong with this?You have to wait until they duke it out in the courtyard?”
This is a tough one, while I truly would like to say something about public schools trying to subvert traditional American ideals. I also completely understand the view point of both the Hispanic students and the administration.
In this case I kind of side with the school. These students were obviously trying to stir something up with their garb, not being patriotic. While banning wearing an American Flag shirt outright would be insane, asking these kids to have some common decency during a specific ethnic holiday seems completely appropriate to me.
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