TresSugar

Student Punished for Wearing American Flag Shirt: Right Call?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:00:06 -0700

Students protested by wearing red, white, and blue duds to school after a fellow student was punished for wearing an American flag shirt. The sophomore wore the tee, which featured a tie-dyed flag motif and the words, "United States of America, Washington, DC" on the school's "hippie day," part of their homecoming festivities. The school's assistant principle deemed the shirt a violation of the school's dress code which forbids, "shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities."

For wearing the flag shirt, the student was forced to remove it and wear a bright yellow tee in its place that read, "DCV: Dress Code Violator." His sister said the punishment shirt was pretty traumatic, "It was really embarrassing and humiliating to have to wear that all day - and just for supporting your country." The school has since reversed its decision amid the protest and publicity. The superintendent says that the assistant principle felt it was in violation of the dress code, but they've now changed their interpretation of the clause. He says, "Certainly we are taking responsibility for it and it will not happen again. A shirt that has an American flag, a shirt that has a Chinese flag or a Mexican flag, is certainly not a violation of that part of the dress code." District officials have apologized to the student, and the student body turned out fully clad in red, white, and blue the following day.

Was the administrator right to interpret the clause as she did?

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Grads Tossed For Rebel Flag - Has the Meaning Changed?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:00:58 -0700

Three seniors in Bloomington, MN, missed walking in their graduation last night as punishment for displaying the Confederate flag on their trucks. For displaying the flag, the three were suspended from all school activities including their own graduation ceremony.

"The Confederate flag is a symbol of, in some cases, hatred, bigotry and it has the potential to create a very disruptive environment," said a spokesperson for the Bloomington School District, on the decision to punish the three. Officials say the Student Code of Conduct prohibits behavior that may provoke or offend other students.

The Confederate flag controversy isn't new, but this part caught my attention - to see how the students defend the actions and the flag, read more.

One of the students punished said, "I'm just a country type of person, country music, big trucks and everything, that's basically all it means to me . . . it has nothing to do with hate and racism, that's just what these parents are teaching their children today."

And then this from another, "We're all big fans of the Dukes of Hazard. It's just us showing we have our own style and we aren't going to conform to whatever anyone else thinks. . . I did not mean to offend anybody. I guess it's how you interpret it. And if I did offend somebody I'm sorry, it wasn't a shot at anyone." To them, the flag is a sign of rebellion, not racism. The student continues, "The confederate army was in rebellion to the US Army who were about money and power. We never took it as racial or anything like that."

And then there's this sticky part of the story: since the school principal is African-American, the students said that's why he was so offended and too harsh with their punishment. Ah.

Is it possible the Confederate flag now means country music, trucks, and non-conformity? Has a Dukes of Hazard modern sensibility erased the history of the symbol?

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Christina Wraps Her Kid in a Flag to Rock the Vote - Wrong?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:54 -0700

New mom Christina Aguilera is politically active - and getting her son involved early - by appearing with him in an ad for Rock the Vote due out this summer. The message of the ad is great - but is the image chosen to trumpet the cause reason to sound the alarm?
Aguilera's son appears in the ad, swaddled in the American flag.

Aguilera said of her decision to make the ad, "This election in particular is such an exciting and historical one, and so I was proud to have my son and I stand together for such a powerful moment and message in time." Rock the Vote, which turns 18 this year, isn't a stranger to controversial imagery. Madonna made a similar Get Out the Vote ad in 1990 showing the Material Girl wrapped in a flag of her own. Is this just what's required to get the young 'uns attention?

Though this rule from USFlag.org is quite clear, "The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything," does the fact that she possibly did it to bring attention to the cause of voting make it less outrageous? Rock the Vote has given out 850,000 voter registration cards this year. Is that a good trade off?

Thanks to kikidawn for the tip!

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Would You Be a Patriotic Bride?

CitizenSugar — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0700

I hear picking a dress is a kind of big part of the whole wedding phenomenon - and hey, the 4^th of July is coming up. . . . I'll cut to the chase. Would you be a patriotic bride and don a flag gown like this? A wedding is a kind of pledge, after all!

If the dress is more. . . overt than you'd wear, how about keeping a flash of old glory under your dress, garter style?

View 5 Photos ›

For all of our network wedding coverage, be sure to check out I Do Sugar!

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Where I'm Clicking Now: Flags Can Make a Statement

LibertySugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:00:14 -0700

If hearing about Angola's "Miss Landmine Survivor" contest didn't teach you enough about the civil war-surviving country, just check out an interpretation of its flag!

Virango has a bunch of other flags used as social commentary. Believe it or not, flags can offer a quick snapshot of a country's crises. Do you find the flags funny, or too close to truth to get a laugh?

As an extra bonus, to see what the American flag represents, read more.

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Flag Football Gets Girly

GiggleSugar — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:00:00 -0700

This is a tribute to Carly, the only female in a Florida flag football league. The year was 1991. Not only did this nine-year-old have the courage to tackle a widely held stereotype ("But girls can't play football!"), she had the talent to kick a little schoolboy tail on the field. One small touchdown for Carly, one giant leap for womankind...over and over and over again. You go, girl! (I'm such a sap for underdog success stories like this.)

Do You Know Your US Territories?

LibertySugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:00:51 -0700

Barack Obama will open a campaign office in Guam in the next few days. The island territory will hold a Democratic Party caucus on May 3rd. Like the five other United States territories, Guam has no votes in the Electoral College, and therefore has no say in electing the President. But it does get some influence-action by sending delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

Since the Presidential candidates are giving US territories unprecedented attention this year, how about you do too! Take this flag quiz, and see if you know which flag goes with which region under the jurisdiction of the US federal government.

Take the quiz

Henry Rollins: Standup Comedian (?!)

GiggleSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:00:00 -0700

Henry Rollins, former front man of hardcore punk band Black Flag and the Rollins Band, now appears to be a spoken word artist and a comedian. Um, okay. I'll go with that. In this rant, he talks about how much dating sucks and that he's just looking for a chick who reads a lot. Is there a match.com for punk rockers? Cuz I'm your girl right here, Henry.

Teacher Throws Kid's Mexican Flag in the Trash - Kid To Sue

CitizenSugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:00:08 -0700

Cinco de Mayo may have left more than a tequila hangover and a fridge full of leftover nachos for one teacher in Idaho. A simple act of confiscating a flag from a student might put him on the receiving end of a lawsuit from the ACLU.

The student in question said he was changing into gym clothes at his high school on Cinco de Mayo and holding the Mexican flag when his teacher told him, "Give me the flag." The student claims he asked what the problem was, and his teacher said, "'The problem is that we are in the United States and not in Mexico.' He grabbed it from me. He threw the flag in the garbage can." The trouble worsened after school when the student went to retrieve his flag - he says the teacher taunted him and refused to give it back.

The teacher remembers the event differently, to see how, and how the ACLU is getting involved, read more.

The teacher says the student was waving the flag around and that he "had to confiscate it so it wouldn't escalate any problems in class. We're worried about that stuff all the time. We always have kids saying stuff to each other, and we have a lot of fights between kids." He says he stored it in the trashcan because there was no other place to keep it.

The ACLU has contacted the student who's now considering a lawsuit against the teacher. The school superintendent said this of the incident, "We believe in nondiscriminatory practices and cultural sensitivity. We train for that and talk about that. If there is a teacher making derogatory comments we don't approve of that. We also don't approve of a student disrupting the classroom." About a third of the student body is Hispanic.

Was the teacher right? Is it easy to judge decisions well after the fact? Should the ACLU get involved, or could this be a case of being too sue happy?

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Front Page: Iraqi Flag, Stimulus, and Super Tuesday

CitizenSugar — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:06:53 -0800

A new Iraqi flag was raised over Baghdad today. In the new design, all vestiges of Saddam Hussein's rule are gone. The green writing in the center of the flag, which reads "God is Great," is no longer in Hussein's handwriting. Likewise, the three green stars, which stood for Hussein's Baathist Party motto of unity, freedom, and socialism, have been removed. The design dates to a coup in 1963, when at the time, the stars also stood for proposed unity between Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid put pressure on Senate Republicans yesterday to consider a different version of the economic stimulus plan. The Senate version calls for $159 billion in stimulus, including additional stimulus subsidies for home energy, and would replace the original package approved by the House last week. In response, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stated that he would seek to delay a vote on a permanent extension of the terrorist surveillance program Reid slated for today, when US attention is focused on the Super Tuesday primary.
Forty-three primaries in 24 states today make up the delegate-rich Super Tuesday. Polls in the biggest prize of the day, California, could still be open when eastern states start declaring winners. Candidates are expected to claim these victories early and often, hoping to fan momentum. With each state having different rules and voting populations, the outcomes are expected to vary wildly. Check back here as the polls close for winners and results.