Confederate Flag’s Meaning a Total Mystery to Southern Teens Fighting to Fly It
By Mary Elizabeth Williams / Salon
September 18, 2015
... Montgomery County Public Schools Spokeswoman Brenda Drake told a local NBC News affiliate that the school originally banned students from wearing the symbol after “a year’s worth of fights that occurred from 2001 to 2002.” Drake said, “The fights were racially charged and racially motivated, and the Confederate flag was used as a symbol of intimidation in that specific case.” She added that “smaller” incidents persisted for years and that “Continued racial friction suggests that lifting the ban of this particular symbol would cause significant disruption at the school.”
So this year, the school also implemented a ban on Confederate flags or “decals with the Confederate iconography” from student cars. Students who wish to park in the school parking lot are now required to sign a written agreement they won’t display the flag ...
Anecdotally, all of the students interviewed on camera are white ...
You can have pride in where you come from without perpetuating symbolism that is threatening and hateful. And these kids should know that. They should be learning that, and if they’re not, that’s a problem. It’s not sufficient for their schools to ban the Confederate flag, or to suspend those students who still flaunt it. They have to teach them why.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/confederate-flags-meaning-total-mystery-these-southern-teens-fighting-fly-it
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