Caramba!

[Trouble]

$tevie wrote:
I always found it rather amusing that people would proclaim their patriotism by violating that code. Personally, I don't care if you wear a flag t-shirt or not (although flag shoes does seem a bit disrespectful), but it is ironic.

Is there a difference between wearing an actual flag, which is the code someone pointed out, and wearing a shirt or article of clothing styled after the flag's appearance?

[kanesa]

Trouble wrote:
Is there a difference between wearing an actual flag, which is the code someone pointed out, and wearing a shirt or article of clothing styled after the flag's appearance?

Why don't you google it and get back to us with the information. I'm sure it is out there somewhere in cyberspace.

[Mac1337]

This thread is not about flag code, although some desperately want to make it that. Which other flag has been sent home? This is the real question that everyone is docking.

[Ted King]

cbelt3 wrote:


High school student speech is NOT free. As the offsensensetives who will try to sue the school district in the article in question will discover.

Most high schools here in California where I live have a ban on wearing certain colors on certain items of clothing. Wearing whatever color of clothing you want certainly is a freedom of expression thing. But, unfortunately, to a significant faction of students in many California high schools, certain colors on certain items of clothing are gang symbols and school administrators not prohibiting them could easily lead to problems of violence at the schools. I'm not an anthropologist (that's probably pretty obvious), but it seems to me that gang colors are related not only to the social connections within the gang but are also about territoriality. The high school administrators are in effect declaring that the gangs cannot have territorial claims on school grounds.

I think what happened at the high school cited in the OP springs from the same fundamental grouping inclination that becomes malignant in gangs, but manifests itself as the more tenuous cohesiveness amongst much larger and benign groupings of people. The school administrators had to decide whether or not the situation with the students wearing the shirts with American flags was an instance that might dredge up the dangerous side of group identification and lead to confrontation or not. They probably over-reacted and were not understanding enough of at least the strong perception of unfairness (and actually probably tilting toward being unfair) because of the lack of symmetry by singling out only students that wore American flags. Perhaps it is the moderately strong civil libertarian side of me, but I think schools do need to be allowed to risk some bad consequences that might come from letting students have more freedom of expression rather than less (unfortunately there will have to be some really severe constraints on some kinds of expression, though).

[davester]

I don't think there's enough info in the article to assess the situation properly. If the students made a pointed effort to wear american flags in as a protest against the celebration of a Mexican holiday, then they were jerks and were trying to incite negative reactions. In that case it was perfectly appropriate for the school administrators to nip it in the bud. If there was some other purpose, or if they typically wear those symbols on other days, then there shouldn't have been an issue.

[RgrF]

It's not about the flags, it's about a group of rabble-rousing immature high school kids provoking a confrontation for the sake of the confrontation.

[Mac1337]

It is rabble-rousing because you want to see it as such. What other flag do you want to send home? No answer yet.

[Bobby Dooley]

Everyone who cares about America needs to stand with these kids and their families. We are going
down the tubes fast. Most Mexicans came here to get away from a lot of things that are not so rosy
in Mexico, and a lot of them who really know nothing or very little about the history of Mexico are
building up this Stinko de Mayo holiday to rationalize and attempt to hide really what a lousy place
they ran away from.

[Mac1337]

I never figured out the immigrants who step over everything and everyone to get the hell out of their country then once they are over the bridge get misty eyed about "home".

[Black]

Bobby Dooley wrote:
Everyone who cares about America needs to stand with these kids and their families. We are going
down the tubes fast. Most Mexicans came here to get away from a lot of things that are not so rosy
in Mexico, and a lot of them who really know nothing or very little about the history of Mexico are
building up this Stinko de Mayo holiday to rationalize and attempt to hide really what a lousy place
they ran away from.

Hey Bobby,
You might appreciate this-- I was traveling this past week and somewhere just north of St. Louis I saw a bunch of guys on a roof, apparently doing a tear-off. Now get this-- they all appeared to be caucasian. What the hell do you suppose that was?