Heads should be rolling over this:
Officials at the Merced County school confirmed Thursday that Jake Shelly was forced to take off a red, white and blue tie-dyed American flag T-shirt on Tuesday. The shirt said nothing offensive, just: “United States of America, Washington, D.C.”
The school’s assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read “DCV: Dress Code Violator” to wear for the rest of the day. He was given his shirt back after classes ended.
“It was really embarrassing and humiliating to have to wear that all day — and just for supporting your country,” his sister Kaycee Shelly said.
Kaycee Shelly told members of the media at lunchtime that her brother was overwhelmed and did not want to do any more interviews.
Earlier in the day, he was speaking with a local news station when an unidentified teacher walked up to him, ripped off the microphone clipped to his shirt and told him he was not allowed to talk to the media.
How was this travesty allowed to happen?
“In reviewing the dress code at the time, an administrator felt the shirt was in violation of that section of the dress code,” said Superintendent Brian Walker. “She asked him to remove it and he did.”
You know what should be removed? The administrator who did this:
The assistant principal initially thought Shelly’s T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow “shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities.”
Uh huh. One can’t help but wonder if the dress code was only an excuse to satisfy her anti-American bias. That’s how it looks from here.
The school ended up apologizing for the outrage the next day, and has vowed to interpret that clause in the dress code —- “differently” from now on.
Here’s the part I love:
Students on campus started a campaign to wear as much red, white or blue clothing and carry as many flags as possible Thursday in protest of Tuesday’s decision, despite the apology. Jake Shelly wore the same shirt he wore Tuesday and was not disciplined.
“I am glad so many people are supporting this and wearing red, white and blue,” his sister said. She believes the swift change in rules was because of the overwhelming student action.
A.J. Galindo is one student who wore a patriotic shirt to school.
Galindo’s shirt honored Marine Cpl. Joshua Pickard, a family member who died in Iraq in 2006. Pickard’s two brothers remain active in the Marines.
“I think it is horrible that you can’t wear an American flag to school without something like this happening,” he said, referring to the flurry of activities during the school’s lunch hour. “We have people fighting for our country and dying every day, but we can’t wear an American flag at a public school?”
A.J. said he was proud of the patriotism displayed by his classmates.
If you want to be hip, and counter-cultural in today’s America….just wear a patriotic tee-shirt, maaaan, and stick it to those aging hippies.
Hat tip: STACLU
RELATED:
Michelle Malkin has a story out of Aurora, CO. about an 11 year old boy who was SUSPENDED for his red white and blue tee-shirt.
Granted, this one was a little edgier…
UPDATE on the Merced County school story:
A commenter, Suzie provides some additional info about the school:
The Vice Principal, Mrs. Heather Ruiz knew what she was doing. She was outraged, to see a white U.S. student wearing a U.S. patriotic shirt.
Jake was not humiliated just once, but twice, on national television. While Jake, was being interviewed by a reporter, his microphone was yanked from his shirt, by a teacher. She screamed at him, that he had no right to talk to the media. How many times, is it okay to humiliate and to violate the civil and constitutional rights of a U.S. citizen youth.
Gee, I wonder if either the V.P. or the teacher were fired.
Dos Palos High School is 69% hispanic’ and 30% white. Mrs. Ruiz was afraid, the Mexican children would be offended, by Jake’s shirt. Our children had to stand back in 2006 and 2007 and watch illegal Mexican children, march and wave the Mexican flag in their faces. In some cases, the American flag was taken down and a Mexican flag was put in it’s place in front of the school. These are not American children of Mexican descent. These are Mexican children, here illegally. It is not the fault of the Mexican children, but that of the adults in charge. The adults are behind this new bigotry, against our U.S. children. Our children are being taught, they do not have a country. It belongs to the world and they have to stand back and take it.
I say, ” The heck we will and neither will our children.”
I suspected as much.
September, 23, 2008 at 11:06 am
I hate to say it, but the kid in Aurora shouldn’t have worn that shirt to school. Kids shouldn’t be wearing clothing to school that can be offensive or disruptive, and there’s no way that shirt was meant to be anything other than offensive or disruptive. Why this kid’s dad thought that sending his kid to school in a shirt like this would contribute to a positive learning environment is beyond me.
There was a case in Jefferson County a couple of years back where a girl was sent home for wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red sweater, the day after she was told to turn a USMC shirt inside-out (her brother is a Marine). I think it’s a better idea to focus on those sort of cases rather than defending people who are obviously trying to use their kids to get a reaction. There’s no confirmation that the shirt was what the kid was actually suspended for – the district says it was for willful disobedience and defiance, which could mean that it was tied to the shirt, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the kid had an attitude, learned from his dad who thought it was a good idea to encourage his kid to wear something incendiary to school.
September, 23, 2008 at 11:40 am
Yeah, I refrained from offering an opinion on that one, (other than “it was edgier”) but I agree with you. As a rule, there should be no political messages on tee-shirts allowed in schools.
But in case of the boy in my main post, the school went way overboard.
September, 23, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I disagree. At 11, most, if not all, of his classmates could probably care less. Most of them probably wouldn’t even care in High School. The problem was he basically stuck his finger in the eyes of his teachers.
September, 23, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Any wonder the NEA is so utterly opposed to home schooling and charter schools? They would lose their ability to brainwash yet another generation with their leftist, “the Constitution is a LIVING document” crapolla.
That “teacher” who ripped the mike off the kid should be sued, AND – depending on the states penal laws (in NY it would be a felony) arrested for Robbery.
“The taking or private property by force of an individual”
This is utter BS.
September, 23, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Unless she KEPT the mike, it wasn’t theft. Sounds more like assault and battery — i.e., violative contact.
September, 23, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Didn’t say it was “theft” – which in most states is simple Larceny. I said “Robbery” – which as I said is taking property by force. Entirely different thing, and it doesn’t require thatthe property be kept.
“Assault”, or in some states “Assault and Battery” requires that an injury be inflicted.
25 years as a cop, I think I know the difference:)
September, 23, 2008 at 10:45 pm
>The school’s assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read “DCV: Dress Code Violator”
And decades ago, some people were forced to wear signs that said ‘jude’.
Yeah, it’s a stretch. But this campaign will be like a knife fight in a phone booth come late October.
September, 24, 2008 at 10:56 am
The Vice Principal, Mrs. Heather Ruiz knew what she was doing. She was outraged, to see a white U.S. student wearing a U.S. patriotic shirt.
Jake was not humiliated just once, but twice, on national television. While Jake, was being interviewed by a reporter, his microphone was yanked from his shirt, by a teacher. She screamed at him, that he had no right to talk to the media. How many times, is it okay to humiliate and to violate the civil and constitutional rights of a U.S. citizen youth.
Gee, I wonder if either the V.P. or the teacher were fired.
Dos Palos High School is 69% hispanic’ and 30% white. Mrs. Ruiz was afraid, the Mexican children would be offended, by Jake’s shirt. Our children had to stand back in 2006 and 2007 and watch illegal Mexican children, march and wave the Mexican flag in their faces. In some cases, the American flag was taken down and a Mexican flag was put in it’s place in front of the school. These are not American children of Mexican descent. These are Mexican children, here illegally. It is not the fault of the Mexican children, but that of the adults in charge. The adults are behind this new bigotry, against our U.S. children. Our children are being taught, they do not have a country. It belongs to the world and they have to stand back and take it.
I say, ” The heck we will and neither will our children.”
September, 24, 2008 at 10:59 am
As I suspected.
Thanks for the info, Suzie. I’m going to update my post with it if you don’t mind.