Confederate Flag T-Shirts

Scott Hardie | January 3, 2003
According to the Washington Post, there's a controversy going on in several Georgia schools who have banned the Confederate flag on T-shirts. (link) Those against the shirts say that they generate complaints (albeit few) and disrupt order in the school, and thus are consistent with other banned items like gang colors. Those for the shirts say that they celebrate heritage, and that white heritage should be celebrated in the school just as much as black and Hispanic heritage because of the sizeable proportion of white students in the school. It's obvious which one is a more compelling legal argument, but what about an ethical one? I have to admit, I can't tell which one's right. What do you think?

Anna Gregoline | January 4, 2003
Schools are going to have their rules, and pretending that school students have the same rights as those of us walking around outside in the real world will never work.However. I think any time that a cultural/racial history/symbol is in any way connected the hatred of another culture/race, no matter what the original intent of the symbol (look at the swastika as an example - Hitler turned it the wrong way, but it is an ancient symbol), many people will be uncomfortable with it.

Jackie Mason | January 6, 2003
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | January 6, 2003
Anna - I agree with you about school students not having the same rights as the rest of us. And this controversy reminds me of that ugly phenomenon at my high school and most others, where the students blow little situations way out of proportion, as though they're the most important thing in the world.

Jackie - I can imagine the kids hating to wear uniforms (high school is one of the times in life when self-expression is very important), but if it works... It would be cool if the students figured out that the school bans any clothing that causes a disruption, and they involved their uniforms in a disruption. :-)

Anna Gregoline | January 7, 2003
Yeah, but when you are that age, those things ARE the most important things in the world. Injustice teenage style.

David Price | December 20, 2004
its just a buncha liberals parents getting angry.

David Price | December 20, 2004
and niggers. i forgot niggers.

Scott Horowitz | December 20, 2004
don't have anything to contribute to this conversation, just wanted something more pleasant to show on the current discussions page.

Anna Gregoline | December 20, 2004
That was precisely why I didn't comment on the "and niggers. i forgot niggers." statement - to allow everyone to see it. Who is this new poster? No info - do we have a troll in our midst?

Kris Weberg | December 21, 2004
It looks like he's trying to be extremely sarcastic. Ventriloquizing the bigot's "voice" to show that he feels support for the Confederate flag is racist.

Could've been said far more civilly, though.

Anna Gregoline | December 21, 2004
I will wait until I see more from the poster before expressing judgment. It's hard when you don't know anyone, but first posts that are this brutal are usually the work of a troll, in my experience.

Robert Phillips | December 23, 2004
It is true that it is unfair to have black studies and hispanic studies, but not white studies? Is it because the study of history and social studies is ALL about white culture.

Anna Gregoline | December 23, 2004
Pretty much, yes.

Jackie Mason | December 23, 2004
[hidden by request]

Amy Austin | December 28, 2004
I caught just a glimpse of this thread before I left town for the weekend again, and I didn't realize that it was an old thread from last year (almost *two* years ago now!)! I would have sworn that it was started because of something I heard on the radio in the car last week... here is a link, if you're interested in a current event regarding the topic:

(link)

There are plenty others on the story to choose from -- this was just the first one after a search. I heard the girl's lawyer on the radio around the same time, which I think was much more interesting, but...

Todd Brotsch | December 28, 2004
I want a shirt that plays dixie when I jump over a pot hole!