US students kicked of school campus for wearing US flag t-shirts

[Kev]

"They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."

It's either OK to wear or it isn't. End of.

I don't know this is one of the few times where I might actually side with political correctness.


The school just behaved appropriately. Look at the shitstorm that was cooked up in the UK a few months back when the Muslims wanted a peaceful march through Wooten Basset, which just happened to be the town famous for honouring dead UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

There were so many protests that they actually rushed a new law in to outlaw this groups freedom of speech in order to protect against a riot they said.

What's the difference here exactly?

They obviously don't want to risk fighting at school so they sent them home.

I seem to remember all of you being opposed to the Muslim march so why the change of heart here?

The flag wearing brigade sound like a bunch of incendiary minded twats to me.

sorry bill but theyre both totally different

Cant compare a hate march that has the intention to incite violence and hate to somebody wearing the colours of their own nation which they just so happen to live in!!

Can you not see the flaw in your logic here? None of the marchers claimed it was a hate march. It was just a peaceful march that just happened to include Wooten Basset. It was those who took offence (i.e the British people) that decided it was a hate march and an incitement to violence.

This is the same here. The flag wearing students insist they did nothing wrong and just happened to choose to wear these particular t-shirts on this day, but the Mexicans clearly felt they were being disrespected and targeted.

And those muslims, (and the Mexicans) just happen to live in these countries too.

[HattonTheHammer]

I don't know this is one of the few times where I might actually side with political correctness.


The school just behaved appropriately. Look at the shitstorm that was cooked up in the UK a few months back when the Muslims wanted a peaceful march through Wooten Basset, which just happened to be the town famous for honouring dead UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

There were so many protests that they actually rushed a new law in to outlaw this groups freedom of speech in order to protect against a riot they said.

What's the difference here exactly?

They obviously don't want to risk fighting at school so they sent them home.

I seem to remember all of you being opposed to the Muslim march so why the change of heart here?

The flag wearing brigade sound like a bunch of incendiary minded twats to me.

sorry bill but theyre both totally different

Cant compare a hate march that has the intention to incite violence and hate to somebody wearing the colours of their own nation which they just so happen to live in!!

Can you not see the flaw in your logic here? None of the marchers claimed it was a hate march. It was just a peaceful march that just happened to include Wooten Basset. It was those who took offence (i.e the British people) that decided it was a hate march and an incitement to violence.

This is the same here. The flag wearing students insist they did nothing wrong and just happened to choose to wear these particular t-shirts on this day, but the Mexicans clearly felt they were being disrespected and targeted.

And those muslims, (and the Mexicans) just happen to live in these countries too.

Its a fundementalist march held on the very same day and in the very same place that dead soliders are being carried through the streets. If that isnt a hate march i dont know what is.

This is the equivelant of myself not being allowed to wear my england top on the day eid or whatever the hell they celebrate.

[Kev]

sorry bill but theyre both totally different

Cant compare a hate march that has the intention to incite violence and hate to somebody wearing the colours of their own nation which they just so happen to live in!!

Can you not see the flaw in your logic here? None of the marchers claimed it was a hate march. It was just a peaceful march that just happened to include Wooten Basset. It was those who took offence (i.e the British people) that decided it was a hate march and an incitement to violence.

This is the same here. The flag wearing students insist they did nothing wrong and just happened to choose to wear these particular t-shirts on this day, but the Mexicans clearly felt they were being disrespected and targeted.

And those muslims, (and the Mexicans) just happen to live in these countries too.

Its a fundementalist march held on the very same day and in the very same place that dead soliders are being carried through the streets. If that isnt a hate march i dont know what is.

This is the equivelant of myself not being allowed to wear my england top on the day eid or whatever the hell they celebrate.

It's the same principle here. On the very same day, and the very same place that the Mexican students are celebrating their national day a group of Americans turn up parading their own flag.

How can you not see that this could be an incitement to violence also?

It's not the principles job to allow his students to actively demonstrate their right to freedom of speech, it's his job to prevent the students from stabbing each other.

Given the levels of violence in American schools they clearly didn't want to take any chances in an American vs Mexican brawl taking place.

And all the principle did was tell them to either take the tshirts off or go home for the afternoon. There was no punishments or suspension. He just wanted to keep the peace, and these whiny cunts and their parents kick off just demonstrating the fact that they only wore them to antagonise in the first place.

Sorry, but they are just a bunch of racist knobheads imo.

[mattboxingfan]

There is no such thing as being free in this world to many rules! P.S they should have worn union jack shirts they go down well everywhere!

[Nameless]

The day I am getting told that I cannot wear a flag of my country in my own homeland if ever I feel to do so because some immigrants/sons of immigrants and the direction of an establishment from where I am from decide that it is wrong I am making a revolution. Everybody's welcome to celebrate their national holiday in my country if they feel so but they shall not forget that they have to respect the history of the country as well as the citizens around.

[ono]

The day I am getting told that I cannot wear a flag of my country in my own homeland if ever I feel to do so because some immigrants/sons of immigrants and the direction of an establishment from where I am from decide that it is wrong I am making a revolution. Everybody's welcome to celebrate their national holiday in my country if they feel so but they shall not forget that they have to respect the history of the country as well as the citizens around.

They weren't doing anything to disrespect the country though. It was the American kids that were wearing the t-shirts to provoke a reaction from the Mexicans. I'm not sure how only me and Bilbo are seeing this. Baffling.

[Kev]

The day I am getting told that I cannot wear a flag of my country in my own homeland if ever I feel to do so because some immigrants/sons of immigrants and the direction of an establishment from where I am from decide that it is wrong I am making a revolution. Everybody's welcome to celebrate their national holiday in my country if they feel so but they shall not forget that they have to respect the history of the country as well as the citizens around.

They weren't doing anything to disrespect the country though. It was the American kids that were wearing the t-shirts to provoke a reaction from the Mexicans. I'm not sure how only me and Bilbo are seeing this. Baffling.

Indeed. The flag wearing isn't even the issue. It's not about flags, patriotism or anything else.

It's a simple case of a school principle wanting to maintain order and not wanting to take any risks with any threat of violence and aggro.

Nobody was punished, nobody had their rights or freedoms taken away. It was just a bunch of antagonistic students who clearly wanted to show to send a message to the Mexicans at their school and the principle, in wanting to diffuse the situation asked them to get changed. They refused, (clearly they were dicks) and so he sent them home, where they then whined about how hard done they were.

It's no different to if there was a national Homosexual Day, and on that day a group of students turned up with tshirts saying that God hates fags. It's the right of the student to wear the t shirt, but if there are gay kids at that school who feel targeted as a result then the principle will likely make them take them off of send them home.

Again, nothing to do with denying people their rights to freedom, but everything to with the principles responsibility to maintain order.

[generalbulldog]

Can you not see the flaw in your logic here? None of the marchers claimed it was a hate march. It was just a peaceful march that just happened to include Wooten Basset. It was those who took offence (i.e the British people) that decided it was a hate march and an incitement to violence.

This is the same here. The flag wearing students insist they did nothing wrong and just happened to choose to wear these particular t-shirts on this day, but the Mexicans clearly felt they were being disrespected and targeted.

And those muslims, (and the Mexicans) just happen to live in these countries too.

Its a fundementalist march held on the very same day and in the very same place that dead soliders are being carried through the streets. If that isnt a hate march i dont know what is.

This is the equivelant of myself not being allowed to wear my england top on the day eid or whatever the hell they celebrate.

It's the same principle here. On the very same day, and the very same place that the Mexican students are celebrating their national day a group of Americans turn up parading their own flag.

How can you not see that this could be an incitement to violence also?

It's not the principles job to allow his students to actively demonstrate their right to freedom of speech, it's his job to prevent the students from stabbing each other.

Given the levels of violence in American schools they clearly didn't want to take any chances in an American vs Mexican brawl taking place.

And all the principle did was tell them to either take the tshirts off or go home for the afternoon. There was no punishments or suspension. He just wanted to keep the peace, and these whiny cunts and their parents kick off just demonstrating the fact that they only wore them to antagonise in the first place.

Sorry, but they are just a bunch of racist knobheads imo.

Observe people. This is how you play the race card. BTW 1 of the kids wanting to wear the American flags and colors is half Mexican.

[ono]

Its a fundementalist march held on the very same day and in the very same place that dead soliders are being carried through the streets. If that isnt a hate march i dont know what is.

This is the equivelant of myself not being allowed to wear my england top on the day eid or whatever the hell they celebrate.

It's the same principle here. On the very same day, and the very same place that the Mexican students are celebrating their national day a group of Americans turn up parading their own flag.

How can you not see that this could be an incitement to violence also?

It's not the principles job to allow his students to actively demonstrate their right to freedom of speech, it's his job to prevent the students from stabbing each other.

Given the levels of violence in American schools they clearly didn't want to take any chances in an American vs Mexican brawl taking place.

And all the principle did was tell them to either take the tshirts off or go home for the afternoon. There was no punishments or suspension. He just wanted to keep the peace, and these whiny cunts and their parents kick off just demonstrating the fact that they only wore them to antagonise in the first place.

Sorry, but they are just a bunch of racist knobheads imo.

Observe people. This is how you play the race card. BTW 1 of the kids wanting to wear the American flags and colors is half Mexican.

That makes him an even bigger idiot then.

I love how when something can seen as being potentially racist, somebody jumps in to point out such a minor detail that obviously excludes them from being racist.

It's up there with 'I'm not racist, i've got a black friend', and 'I'm not racist, i don't care if they're yellow, blue, purple, orange or black....they shouldn't be here'

The kids might have legally been within their rights to do what they did, but anybody who isn't a twat can see that they did it to provoke a reaction. If you can't see this, then i can only guess you have very similar issues to the kids in question.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

You have to question the mindset of the kids wanting to wear the flag on THIS day of all days.

I hate political correctness but I actually agree with it here. Those kids were up to no good.

[Nameless]

Actually, I disagree with the kids being kicked out from school. Sure maybe it was provocation, which is not correct, however, it wasn't like if they did burn a Mexican flag or something, they were wearing the flag of their country in their country! In Canada for those who might not know it, we have 2 national holiday, June 24 and July 1st. July 24 is the national day for French part of Canada, la "St-Jean Baptiste", VERY popular here and I would even say by far far more than July first, you can't even compare it. How often do you think we've seen peoples in Montreal walking with Canadian flags when the whole rest of the province is walking with our blue and white on it only to provoke and ruin things? How many English native are doing so in the countryside where 95% of the kids speak french only to provoke things? It happens often. IT is not especially nice but it is the flag of our country as much as some might dislike it and till the opposite is proven, Quebec isn't independent yet from Canada. It is perhaps unnecessary provocation but you cannot throw a kid from school for that and I think that the same example is also valid for the Cinco de Mayo thing.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I'd love to research Canadian History because I know nothing about this country except it has some breathtaking scenery and that it's a bit like the USA only less violent and possibly a bit more articulated

[Nameless]

I'd love to research Canadian History because I know nothing about this country except it has some breathtaking scenery and that it's a bit like the USA only less violent and possibly a bit more articulated

I don't know about articulation but it is definitely less violent, we have nothing that comes close to the Bronx, the hot spots of L.A or Detroit. We have our load of things not to be proud of though, starting by how the natives file has been dealt with how we're dealing our drinkable water sources but there is definitely a lot of places that are worth to be seen, especially for the nature lovers.

[CFH]

I'd love to research Canadian History because I know nothing about this country except it has some breathtaking scenery and that it's a bit like the USA only less violent and possibly a bit more articulated

I know it wasn't your intention to be funny, but that made me grin a bit. Canada is just another country, no better or worse than any other (including the United States), we're just less significant.

Canada has some terrible things in it's history, the worst probably being the Residential School system.

[Kev]

Actually, I disagree with the kids being kicked out from school. Sure maybe it was provocation, which is not correct, however, it wasn't like if they did burn a Mexican flag or something, they were wearing the flag of their country in their country! In Canada for those who might not know it, we have 2 national holiday, June 24 and July 1st. July 24 is the national day for French part of Canada, la "St-Jean Baptiste", VERY popular here and I would even say by far far more than July first, you can't even compare it. How often do you think we've seen peoples in Montreal walking with Canadian flags when the whole rest of the province is walking with our blue and white on it only to provoke and ruin things? How many English native are doing so in the countryside where 95% of the kids speak french only to provoke things? It happens often. IT is not especially nice but it is the flag of our country as much as some might dislike it and till the opposite is proven, Quebec isn't independent yet from Canada. It is perhaps unnecessary provocation but you cannot throw a kid from school for that and I think that the same example is also valid for the Cinco de Mayo thing.

The principle's role isn't to stand up for freedom of speech or do what is politically correct. His job is simply to preserve order and good feeling amongst students at school.

A school is no test bed for legal matters. He just wanted to make sure some idiots didn't ruin the day for the rest of the students.

Why are people getting so worked up about this? Nobody was suspended, nobody had their liberties taken away.

When you consider how so many thousands of people have lain down their lives to provide basic human freedoms for others, and the struggles that some have endured, it's so pathetically trivial that people would moan about this.

'Oh no I'm having MY RIGHTS to adorn myself in my national flag apparel taken away from me for the hours whilst I'm at school on one day of the year!'

It's really not a big deal, and to protest it so strongly (I'm not saying you here Nameless) can't really be seen as anything other than an underlying hostility or racist sentiment.

There is a time and a place to express your freedom of speech and this wasn't it.

It's no different to someone cursing and using foul language on live tv before the watershed because it's their 'right' to use adult language.

Unless you're Chris Arreola you just don't do it because it's considered disrespectful to those watching, many of whom are young, and many of whom are whiny old pedants who might be offended.

Everyone has the right to curse, but most are happy to waive that right when it might be seen as appropriate to refrain from cursing.

If people want to say their reasons for objecting to the afternoon exclusion of these students are nothing to do with racism, then at least be honest enough to say it's also nothing to do with freedom of speech and human rights either.

I don't think Miles for example is a racist. But he is trying to argue a very petty point imo, arguing for the rights and freedoms to do something which is utterly meaningless in the big scheme of things. The right to drape the American flag around your body on Cinci de Mayo day is not really a fundamental human right imo. And clearly the reason he feels this way is becuase of some antagonism towards the way he believes ethnic minorites should behave in somebody else's country.

So there IS clearly a feeling of some hostility present towards minorites in general and that they should in his own words ' consider deportation' if they don't like being made to feel unwelcome.

And in the case of the school celebrations, the principle obviously felt that this was a day for the school to come together and celebrate unity and that such hostile, negative attitudes were not welcome so he gave them the choice of either changing into some other clothing or else taking the afternoon off.

It's really not a big deal, just like telling someone that if they don't stop swearing at the Town Hall meeting that they will be removed.