Two high school students at St. Anthony’s High School in Long Island have been suspended indefinitely after they walked into an after-hours sporting event wearing a Confederate flag draped over their shoulders. We recently discussed another suspension of a student involving a Confederate flag. I have the same free speech concerns in this case. The question is whether other flags would also be confiscated and the student suspended in my view. While I can certainly understand how this flag represents racism for many, others view the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage and heroism. I often see them in Virginia and recoil a bit due to the association with slavery. However, my concern is where the school is drawing the line on speech.
Brother Gary Cregan, principal of St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington, stated that “[t]he African-American students who immediately saw it really exercised heroic restraint and fortunately a teacher immediately confiscated the flag and took the students out of the gym.” They were initially suspended for 10 days and will now be barred from returning. Cregan explained to the parents that the flag is a symbol “designed to revive past injustices or to inflame discrimination or racial intolerance, [and] is completely unacceptable and profoundly offensive.” Cregan rejected any claims that the flag represents Southern history or heritage: “I find it just very hard to even imagine why any student in 2014 would even consider or think that a Confederate flag would be anything other than a symbol of hate.” Other students supported the school and said that what matters is that some people are offended by the flag.
I find Cregan’s motives laudable and I also believe that the other students should be commended for showing restraint. However, I am unclear as to the rule applied in this case? Would the school have reacted the same way with a Soviet flag or a Chinese flag or other flags that are viewed any many to represent oppressive histories? How about a rainbow flag viewed immoral by some or an Israeli or Palestinian flag that would inflame contemporary passions? I can understand a ban on any flags or posters at sporting events, but the selection of some symbols raises question of content-based censorship. The flag clearly (and understandably) represents slavery and racism to many. However, it also represents different things to different people. Respected scholars like Civil War historian Shelby Foote have noted that the flag traditionally represented the South’s resistance to Northern political dominance. As discussing in PBS interview, he was sensitive to how many of his friends viewed it as a symbol of racism but he did not share that view. Others view it as a symbol of state’s rights or Southern culture or opposition to speech codes or politically correct sentiments. The point is that, if some flags are allowed, there are a variety of symbols that are viewed as offensive by different groups.
The school is not a state school and thus not subject to the limitation of the First Amendment. Yet, that does not mean that it should engage in arbitrary limitations on speech. I went to the website and I could not find any published rules of conduct. The question is whether there is a rule addressing after-hours events. If the rule is not clear, the question is whether it should be made more explicit as to any and all such symbols — and whether it is fair to suspend the students indefinitely. Teenagers do stupid things and I would not be surprised if this was an effort to get a rise out of everyone. However, in the official statement below, the school does not quote or cite the rule used against the students.
What also concerns me is the reference to punish two students who “blatantly disregarded the principal’s request to discontinue the use of social media to inflame discrimination in the school community by displaying an inappropriate picture and comment.” The school simply states that “These students have been appropriately acted upon.” I fail to see why a school should attempt to censor or block students in discussing this controversy — and disagreeing with the school’s actions. Even if you are comfortable with suspending the boys with the flag, these students appear to be engaging in pure debate over the merits of the rule and the response of the school. The school states “As a Catholic and Franciscan school, Saint Anthony’s will always demand acceptance and respect for all races, religions and cultures.” However, the school should also demand tolerance for different views and the protection of free speech for both its students and faculty. Ordering students not to discuss a controversy (and perhaps not challenging the school’s actions) will do little to quell the controversy. What it will do is to force the debate into the shadows will it will fester and deepen. Declaring “thou shalt not disagree” will not produce agreement — only forced silence. [There are reports that two students may have worn black face in messages on the social media. While there remains the issue of the regulation of after-hours, out-of-school communications, that is obviously a very disturbing matter. However, the general order not to discuss the controversy on social media on the issue remains highly problematic.]
The Confederate flag has not been treated in the federal courts as a form of hate speech and continues to appear in a wide variety of public locations and private displays. Ironically, for some of those students on social media, this controversy may make the flag a symbol of self-expression or resisting compelled speech codes.
What do you think? Was indefinite suspension and the bar on social media discussions warranted in this case?
DATE: April 16, 2014
RE: Confederate flag incident
From: Brother Gary Cregan, OSF, principal,
Saint Anthony’s High School, Huntington, NY
On the evening of Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at Saint Anthony’s High School, Huntington, NY, during a supervised intramural European Handball game with multiple teams, a small number of students displayed a symbol of hate – the Confederate Flag. Upon entering the gym, the flag was confiscated by faculty moderators, and the students were told to leave the property.The two individuals who were responsible for bringing the flag to school, and for wearing it into the gym, were immediately given a long term suspension the next day. After further discussion and consultation, it became necessary to impose additional disciplinary action. In addition, two other students blatantly disregarded the principal’s request to discontinue the use of social media to inflame discrimination in the school community by displaying an inappropriate picture and comment. These students have been appropriately acted upon.
Saint Anthony’s is committed to addressing the issue of racial intolerance with faculty, students and parents through education, awareness and dialogue in an ongoing basis. The use of any symbol, either historic or current, which carries a meaning designed to revive past injustices, or to inflame discrimination or racial intolerance is completely unacceptable and profoundly offensive. As a Catholic and Franciscan school, Saint Anthony’s will always demand acceptance and respect for all races, religions and cultures.
# # #
Contact:
Christina Buehler
Director of Communications
E-mail: cbuehler@stanthonyshs.org
Source: CBS
I am just amazed….. Whose policy’s do you think have resulted in the increased incarceration of blacks….. Who has been in control….. Who was in control when crack cocaine possssion became greater than just cocaine for whites…..
Whose policy’s affectively shipped jobs overseas…. Atta boy…. I’m not buying……
AY, it is not completely partisan. For example, Democrat Daniel Moynihan saw it coming from a long way off, but the Democrats mocked Moynihan just like you are mocking me now. There is no doubt that the Democrat Nanny State policies are what has hurt the African American community and has led to the increased incarceration rate of blacks. The community is led to believe that government owes them housing, food, medical care, transportation, basically, government is expected to pay all their expenses in life. In contrast, the Republican message is one of self reliance where they have the opportunity to work hard and get ahead, supporting themselves. The Republican message is one of the value of family and two parent homes.
As for jobs being shipped overseas, that is a good thing for Americans. The jobs are shipped overseas because there are no minimum wage laws over there. Such allows for low skilled workers to produce products that come back to us which are much more affordable. It would be even better if we got rid of the minimum wage here which has also greatly hurt the black community which has more unskilled laborers. Minimum wage is a huge job killer for the black community, contributing to their higher unemployment rate. But if we can’t get rid of the minimum wage laws, the next best thing is shipping the work to be done overseas so that people here can receive higher paying jobs and afford products that are built using cheap labor. China’s economy is booming because they don’t have the wage control laws that we have. In contrast, we are in a state of decline because of the Democrat policies.
Dr. Carson may be able to change the paradigm that being a Republican makes a black person an Uncle Tom. We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. It was Jackie who warned his brothers and sisters to not be beholden to one party. Jackie was a wise and smart man. He could read white folk like a book. He met w/ JFK and saw he was just a limo liberal who cared little about black people and a lot about power. The epithets hurled @ black people who have the temerity to think for themselves is disgraceful. When it comes from white people it is racism pure and simple. A word I use sparingly.
Now that is funny David….. Almost as funny as Clarence Thomas saying we need finality in criminal convictions….. Even where evidence tends to exonerate the defendant……
AY, just consider how the black family has declined since the mid-1960’s. The social programs of the federal government has resulted in 72% of black families having single mom’s. Such a condition is correlated with higher crime among children in such households and a much higher percentage of blacks being incarcerated.
In contrast, the Republican policies on welfare would reverse this trend and bring it back to what it was before the great welfare state took a foothold in this country. It would lead to blacks having more job opportunities and being able to lift their families out of poverty.
I played football for a Catholic high school in Ct. We would play Weaver High in Hartford, an all black hs.. We would be called every epithet from the players and coaches. In one game, early in the season, it was in the 80’s. This was the 1960’s and water was a water bucket and ladle. Some little black kids were spitting in our water bucket near our bench so we couldn’t drink. We were under direct orders to not say anything but just play the game and beat them, which we did. I am not scarred by this. I like black folk, in some respects more than white folk. The world is nasty. Competition can be nasty. We shook hands w/ the Weaver team. Some wouldn’t shake hands. Some did grudgingly. Some did w/ respect in their eyes. They threw everything @ us and we beat them w/ class. White privilege I guess!!
Confederate flag, blackface photo get students expelled from Long Island Catholic school
By John Mariani
April 16, 2014
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/confederate_flag_blackface_photo_get_students_expelled_from_long_island_catholic_school.html
Excerpt:
Four Long Island teenagers have been expelled from their Catholic high school, two for wearing a Confederate flag at a sporting event and two for posting a photo of themselves in blackface on a social media site.
The incidents took place last week and involved students at St. Anthony’s High School in the Suffolk County hamlet of South Huntington, The Associated Press reported. The students’ identifies weren’t available.
St. Anthony’s principal, Brother Gary Cregan, said Wednesday he expelled two seniors who walked into an after-hours European handball match at the school with the Confederate flag draped over their shoulders. Cregan earlier had suspended them for 10 days.
The game was between two teams from the school, one composed mainly of white students, the other mainly of black students, WABC said.
“Everybody was kind of like, are you serious, did this actually just happen. The gym teachers took precautions. It was unbelievable how quickly they made sure the flag was away,” Aleksei Korobow told WABC.
davidm2575
Annie wrote: “Blacks and other minorities will continue to vote with the idea that they will be voting in their own best interests, which is a rational thing to do.”
Actually, it is the irrational thing to do. Blacks and other minorities do better under Republican policies.
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That is classic self-deception as a result of symbolic racism in your culture which you are molded by.
The blacks, hispanics, and women know exactly where the republican party officialdom is coming from, and they soundly reject it.
Ayn Rand, Patron Saint of the Plutocracy
This thread illustrates the reality that some bloggers are complicit in inciting violence by their blogging:
(Guardian). Got blood on your hands?
Racists suck.
How lab experiments reflect on internet searches:
(ibid, link to paper in my comment above). Exit polls in the last presidential election show that Obama won the female vote (55%), Romney won the male vote (52%); Romney won the white vote (59%), Obama won the Black (93%), Hispanic (71%), and Asian (73%) vote. In the age categories Obama won the 18-29 (60%), 30-44 (52%), while Romney won the 45-64 (51%) and 65+ (56%).
Additional statistics at that site can be viewed here.
The tea-leaves in those statistics indicate which way the wind is blowing.
Republicans know it, so they are doing unfair or unAmerican things like voter suppression and gerrymandering on a massive scale.
davidm2575
Dredd wrote: “The blacks have a nose for racism. There is a certain party they tend not to vote for.”
You think they see this on their own? I say it is because of propaganda and indoctrination by the public school system and constant political barrage from the Democratic party. Democrats have a penchant to speak evil of Republicans at every opportunity. They are mad at Republicans for fighting for the black man’s equality. So they have embraced the ideology themselves that Republicans successfully fought for, and now they falsely repeat the lie that Republicans are the enemy of blacks. Because Republicans know the values of self reliance and how to make money and become wealthy, the Democrats mix in their message a story about economics. They appeal to the jealousy and envy of black people, telling them that Republicans have unjustly acquired their wealth on the sweat of their backs. The false message has worked. To now claim that blacks are so smart that they have discerned racism for themselves in Republicans is fallacious. Educated people know better. They know that Republicans delivered this country from slavery and successfully beat back the Jim Crow laws and ushered in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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That is classic self-deception as a result of symbolic racism in your culture which you embrace.
The blacks, hispanics, and women know exactly where the republican party officialdom is coming from, and they soundly reject it.
How one applies self-deception concepts to a blog thread has been shown in lab experiments:
(ibid, my comment just above david2575’s). Like the people who do not want to wait to find out “bad truth,” bloggers will dismiss another’s comment or post without waiting to read it all.
Here is an interesting scientific paper on Self-Deception:
(page 4). I don’t agree with all of the hypothesis, but it does have some challenging perspectives.
Deception is an activity that even microbes take part in (On The Origin of Propaganda) and is probably, like symbolic racism, a result of damage inflicted during mass disturbances and mass extinctions.
Mike Appleton
The suspension was an inexcusably immature reaction to an admittedly immature display. The fact that this is a Franciscan school grants it legal protection, but the decision was foolish.
It is likely that the students brought the flag because they knew that it would attract attention. It is also likely that they do not understand the social and political significance of the Confederate flag to either African-Americans or southern traditionalists. And once again, an educational opportunity was promptly buried under a cloak of pure censorship posing as cultural sensitivity.
An honest commitment to both freedom of speech and pluralism makes two demands on society. The first is recognition that no views are subject to censorship. The second is that no views are entitled to preferential protection.
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These kids are already educated with symbolic racism.
What they need is to be uneducated of that.
The same techniques that educated them can’t be used to uneducate them.
My guess is that they need some shrink time.
Other footprints and fingerprints of Symbolic Racism:
These Haunting Photos Capture The Daily Reality Of A Dark Episode In U.S. History
Mississippi GOP shocked—shocked!—to find neo-Confederates in its ranks
Mike, God bless your intellect and integrity. Thanks for your consistently superb comments. “We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy.” Wayne and Garth
The suspension was an inexcusably immature reaction to an admittedly immature display. The fact that this is a Franciscan school grants it legal protection, but the decision was foolish.
It is likely that the students brought the flag because they knew that it would attract attention. It is also likely that they do not understand the social and political significance of the Confederate flag to either African-Americans or southern traditionalists. And once again, an educational opportunity was promptly buried under a cloak of pure censorship posing as cultural sensitivity.
An honest commitment to both freedom of speech and pluralism makes two demands on society. The first is recognition that no views are subject to censorship. The second is that no views are entitled to preferential protection.
Well said, Paul and Nick.
No, He just didn’t want to have to count his fingers afterward.
Karen, I grew up in a blue collar Dem family. But my parents and Jesuits taught me to make up my own mind. That’s why I could never be a member of any party. I have different thoughts and beliefs that do not conform to either the 2 choices we currently have. If I find a person w/ integrity I vote for them. That’s why Feingold always got my vote. I certainly did not abide all of his positions, but I trusted him.
Nick – That’s true.
I don’t hate any entire political party. We’ve got the whole spectrum in my family. I disagree with some family members on what approach has the best outcome, but I love and respect them all the same.