Tennessee School District Bans All Flags, Including American Flag

originally posted by: Bedlam Students do not lose their right to expression when they step onto a campus.

Please read this post: www.abovetopsecret.com...

By a 7-2 vote, the Court held that school officials cannot censor student speech unless school officials reasonably forecast that the speech will cause a material and substantial disruption of school activities or collide with the rights of others.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t

originally posted by: introvert

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: jude11

Who didn't see this coming?

Next? A ban on all words, because some find some words offensive?

The US is becoming a nation of namby-pamby sissies.

I was about to agree with you, but come to find out this is complete BS,

Imagine that.

it's become a rule of thumb for me here on ATS. The more the story makes me mad if true, the more I want to fact check it.

So far, it looks like the county is stating that the flag is still flown at the schools. Which is technically true. What they are side-stepping is a new school mandate that restricts the students from having/flying flags on clothing or vehicles and the like.

That won't stand. It's something their legal counsel should have warned them against.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

By a 7-2 vote, the Court held that school officials cannot censor student speech unless school officials reasonably forecast that the speech will cause a material and substantial disruption of school activities or collide with the rights of others.

Tinker expressly deals with political speech, and the fact that the school cannot claim that such speech creates such a disruption. Have you ever read the case?

eta: see also:

Zamecnik
Nixon v Northern Local School District
Saxe v State College

originally posted by: Bedlam
So far, it looks like the county is stating that the flag is still flown at the schools. Which is technically true. What they are side-stepping is a new school mandate that restricts the students from having/flying flags on clothing or vehicles and the like.

You really should take a moment and read the rest of the thread. There's a statement by the school saying this news story isn't true at all. See my post on page 2.

Well looks like the story isn't exactly as it's made out to be. T-Shirts and all.

Still gonna stand by my OP statements tho as it is freedom of expression at the heart of it.

Jude

originally posted by: Bedlam
FWIW:

Information reported by news stations that the American Flag has been banned in the Dickson County school system is entirely inaccurate. The Flag is prominently displayed at every school in our county. It is also displayed in many of our classrooms. All students in Dickson County are allowed to voluntarily participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. We are very proud to have JROTC in both of our high schools, and we will continue to fly and respect the flag.

Linko, linkere, linkivi, linkitum:

So as usual a Sensationalist story posted online turns out to be utterly untrue??
And yet people still whine in the thread about how they're living in a China-esque country..... Surprised?

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic
See my post on page 2.

See mine on page 1. You're very behind. I was the first to post that.

And my post still stands - it's technically true. The school IS flying it. They're attempting to stop the students from doing so, which is likely a violation of their free speech given a lack of a definite cause for this to incite violence.

eta:

It's going to be quite difficult for the school district to prove that student flags can incite violence as they simultaneously admit to flying the same flags. Quite different from Damiano.

originally posted by: Bedlam
They're attempting to stop the students from doing so, which is likely a violation of their free speech given a lack of a definite cause for this to incite violence.

Where does this information come from?

originally posted by: blupblup
So as usual a Sensationalist story posted online turns out to be utterly untrue??

It's not utterly untrue, just partially. The school is claiming the only authority to have any flag at all. They are, no doubt, still flying a US flag. But no one else can. Any flag. Of any sort.

That's where the free speech violation comes in, and the Tinker violation. I've no doubt some lawyer's kid is going to show up wrapped in Old Glory and take the district for their band money.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: Bedlam
They're attempting to stop the students from doing so, which is likely a violation of their free speech given a lack of a definite cause for this to incite violence.

Where does this information come from?

There's a copy of the school notice floating about the intarwebs. You'll notice the school's statement carefully covers only the school's use of the flag. Nicely worded.

eta: Behold!

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: Indigo5

So they can bring the confederate flag to school?

Apologies, then.

I don't know? But that doesn't have to do with the OP being false??

"Tennessee School District Bans All Flags, Including American Flag"??

I have known you to have a lot of opinions Beez...but defending clearly debunked BS seems a new hobby?

originally posted by: Sublimecraft
a reply to: jude11

I foresee issues;

1. What if a kid has a pencil case, school bag or eraser with an American Flag on it?
2. What are the school sport teams going to fly on sports day - including the jocks footy team?
3. What if the teachers hands out an assignment on the history of flags?
4. What if a kid talks about the flag during lunchtime and a teacher overhears it?
5. What if the majority of the Tennessee School District pupils and parents want the flag(s) to be flown?
6. What is even one single individual student or parent wanted the flag to fly?

Many many first-world issues here - oh to be plagued with such burdens in attempting to maintain political correctness where none need exist.

How sad to see America's social structure crumbling like this - truly worrying really.

What if a movement was started that declared "no flags" as their flag? Everyone should start saluting the invisible flag in front of them, pledging their allegiance and what not.
How could they stop us now?

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: blupblup
So as usual a Sensationalist story posted online turns out to be utterly untrue??

It's not utterly untrue, just partially. The school is claiming the only authority to have any flag at all. They are, no doubt, still flying a US flag. But no one else can. Any flag. Of any sort.

So they have not banned "all flags" or the American Flag...but rather flags brought to school by students?

OK...Let me see...

According to this page the School is 87% White..
www.greatschools.org...

87% white High School in Rural Tennessee?

Okay... Dickson County demographics? 92%, 4% African American...
en.wikipedia.org...

What kind of flags do you think those students are flying on the backs of their pick-up trucks that the District is trying to discourage?

Tennessee school district institutes gloriously weird flag ban
national.suntimes.com...

Probably just my imagination? Not much racism in tiny Dickson Tennessee, population 50k?

In Dickson, in central Tennessee, the so-called American Renaissance group held its annual conference over the weekend of April 5-7. The state of Tennessee denied anti-racists several permit applications to hold mass demonstrations outside the event.

Demonstrations took place anyway and denounced the messages put forward by the racists, who met at Montgomery Bell Park.

This was the second straight year that American Renaissance has gathered at the Dickson park. The list of speakers at the conference included Klan members, neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, anti-immigrant activists and other assorted fascists and racists.

www.workers.org...

originally posted by: Bedlam
There's a copy of the school notice floating about the intarwebs. You'll notice the school's statement carefully covers only the school's use of the flag. Nicely worded.

eta: Behold!

That's not the school's statement. According to that source, Dickson County Director of Student Services Steve Sorrells said:

"Based on some actions and behaviors of students displaying banners behind a vehicle,"
...
"While this was not necessarily an attack on the American flag, there were some other issues we're trying to address,"
...
"It's not an unpatriotic act by any means because we have a number of ways in which students do learn how to be patriotic and express American pride,"
...
"We do have a responsibility to help our students understand citizenship, proper respect for the flag and what that might look like,"

That doesn't say that they're trying to stop the students from flying the flag. It's a bunch of disjointed and unfinished quotes.

All going right according to plan.
Confederate flag is evil because of ties to slavery.
Next will be the founding fathers because they owned slaves.
Lastly it will be the Constitution because it was written by those same evil men.
I don't know how long it will take but trust me that is precisely where this is headed.
That single document is the biggest pain in the ass to the NWO and they want it gone or at least marginalized.

Jude, I don't know why you are criticizing the students for not protesting others things when they probably weren't even aware of those issues. This affects them directly and the LEAST we could do is applaud them for taking a stand on this issue.

Be proud to be American and and fly the flag while accepting the government subsidies. Kids need to learn what patriotism is.
It doesn't really matter if other flags are flying... just put the good ol' USA right in the middle above them all.

a reply to: Bedlam

*sigh*

there's always more to the story...

C'mon, folks, it isn't that hard to back check.

Having been burned by leaping before I looked, I would urge people to start doing it.

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
All going right according to plan.
Confederate flag is evil because of ties to slavery.

Ties to slavery???

The first time it was a symbol of slavery was right after the first stitch was sewn.

It was the banner that flew to preserve slavery and to succeed from the country that our founding father created and the constitution.

It flew above lynchings...it flew at KKK rallies...it flew above Strom Thurmond when he said "blood will run before we admit the N* race into schools"..Most recently that racist tard in NC took pictures of himself lovingly wrapped in that banner before he went into a black church and gunned downing 8 innocent people..

Ties to slavery?

If that flag symbolizes anything apart from hate and oppression, it symbolizes Americans short memories and capacity for denial.

Ya know who understood the meaning of that flag best? General Lee, who first flew the flag...and who expressly made it amongst his dying wishes that the Confederate flag not be flown at funeral..

"“I think it wiser moreover not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavoured to obliterate the marks of civil strife and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered,”





Ties to slavery??

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is how the panic micromanaging fails.

These educated administrators don't look so smart do they.

Big Fail.

Oh, no, this is working as intended.

This is how atheists remove faith from the public square, and now it's how people have removed the symbol of our country from the public square.

People think in order to be fair that we have to have the absence of all, but since when has "fair" become a national virtue?

originally posted by: ketsuko

This is how atheists remove faith from the public square, and now it's how people have removed the symbol of our country from the public square.

Really? Seriously?

You went there?