JONATHAN TURLEY

Teachers Displays Union and Confederate Flags In Civil War History Class . . . School Forces Teacher To Retire

jonathanturley
  Woody Hart, 70, taught history at the Sutter Middle School in Folsom, California.  In a class on the civil war, Hart displayed the Confederate flag to middle schoolers in his history class along with the union flag.  That educational display reportedly led to Hart being forced into retirement.
 Folsom Cordova Unified School District treated the confederate flag effectively as hate speech and said
“We recognize that regardless of context, to many of our students, families, and staff, the Confederate flag is a racist symbol of hate. Although this matter is under investigation, it is important to reiterate: Any employee who is found to engage in behavior that creates an unsafe environment for students will face full consequences, including the possibility of initiating termination proceedings.”
In this case, the flag — which was found across the room from a Civil War Union flag, potentially in preparation of a history activity — was removed from the classroom before school began today. It is our schools’ responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for all children.”

“Regardless of the context”?  Context means a lot.  Listening to a speech of Adolph Hitler in a politics class is very different from listening to the same speech in a meeting on the “Jewish problem.”  It would seem obviously relevant to a discussion of the civil war to show the respective flags.

Hart was the subject of an earlier complaint over a comment that he made with regard to lynching.  Yet, the statement of the board seems to treat any showing of the confederate flag is a form of hate speech.  What do you think?