re: #741 changomo

andres: thanks for your thoughtful response.

I agree with you that it is rash to make a judgement on incomplete pictures. However, everything I have read so far has stated that the 4 teenagers were not acting hostile - the only thing was they were wearing american flags.

You don’t have to act hostile to be incendiary. The current political environment takes care of the rest.

You had asked me why I use UK teenagers versus American (and I moved the scenario to London). The reason is because this situation involves 4 students displaying the flag of the native country. That is why I say your analogy is backwards. Your situation involves 4 expats displaying the flag of an exterior country - this is the exact opposite of what happen here - you have 4 people displaying the flag of their home (this) country.

Again, it doesn’t equal the situation because you are putting everyone in a political vacuum. There is an unstable political environment, due to the rampant Nativism, which I’ve been linking for quite a while now.

Again, I assert a more appropriate analogy is 4 students being banned in London for wearing British Flag shirts on the 4th of July.

Unless you replicate the current political environment on your UK example, it’s not the same thing. You just want to pull their actions into a vacuum to excuse them. Do I really have to link again to the “Report an Illegal day” campaign again?

As for the politically charge atmosphere - My argument has always been consistent - if the 4 boys (one of which is half Hispanic according to Charles’ article) were hurling racial slurs, making derogatory comments/gestures - then of course they should be suspended. But if their only crime is wearing an Old Navy shirt with a Flag on it (watch the video on Charles’ link) - then I think the outrage is appropriate.

1) They were never suspended. They were asked to reverse the clothing, remove where possible or leave.

2) Due to the political atmosphere, I don’t believe in coincidence.

3) Their actions are perfectly acceptable outside school. Inside a school is up to the principal to make the call. And in this case, the principal made the call he thought was correct. Whether it was or not (as I’ve stated, he’s both right and wrong), he made the decision on what he thought was best for the school.