Teacher compares Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan to swastikas

The teacher had no right to make her own rules over and above the school's dress code, nor to chastise kids purely for their political beliefs.

In addition, Trump is the President of the United States, and supporting him, or his campaign sloganeering, is freedom of speech in this case, as the school and the teacher are government entities.

Clear cut. Disciplinary action and job counseling as appropriate.

a reply to: kaylaluv

You do realize it's just a political slogan, right? Because the amount of energy you and others seem to put into trying to make this some sort of negative dog whistle is just nauseating.

Maybe it was great for some when the Founding Father's endeavored to create this Republic, or when the Slaves were freed, or when the Civil Rights Act was enacted, or when Women's suffrage was promulgated, or when we reached the moon, or when my Grandparents emigrated to this country and were able to build a better life for themselves, or when we discovered a polio vaccine, or when whatever...

It's obviously an aspirational phrase. Was America ever great for some? Obviously not. But converting it into a call for oppression or equating it to a swastika is nothing more than a political cheap shot designed to imply that those who believe that America can achieve other great things are somehow out to get you.

Let's be honest. If HRC had adopted the slogan before Trump, none on the left would be convulsing about it now.

Returning to the topic of the OP. This teacher should be fired. I'd be just as outraged if the T-shirts had been BLM or Obama's image.

Free speech haters need to get over themselves....or stay home.

a reply to: loam

That was Brilliant man!!

a reply to: loam

I do realize it's a political slogan used during an election, but for people to continue to advertise it 9 months after the election signifies it has more meaning to them than just a political slogan.

I am not trying to do anything other than to ascertain what that meaning is.

I haven't claimed anything regarding what happened in that classroom. For the record, I agree that the teacher should follow the school's dress code policy. If the school allows political slogans, then all political slogans should be allowed.

I would like to know the larger context that we may be missing in this particular situation, however. The teacher may be privy to a situation at that school that the rest of us aren't aware of. It may be a little more complicated than just supporting a political campaign slogan. That's not to say she had any right to ban the shirt - that wasn't her call. The school, however, can impose whatever dress code they want.

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: loam

I do realize it's a political slogan used during an election, but for people to continue to advertise it 9 months after the election signifies it has more meaning to them than just a political slogan.

I am not trying to do anything other than to ascertain what that meaning is.

I haven't claimed anything regarding what happened in that classroom. For the record, I agree that the teacher should follow the school's dress code policy. If the school allows political slogans, then all political slogans should be allowed.

I would like to know the larger context that we may be missing in this particular situation, however.

What context in your view would make it acceptable to tell a child that their political support of the current President of the United States equates to Nazism? And beyond that, punish them for it?

Note SHE didn't want it in HER classroom. Whatever the context, she didn't care if they wore it in OTHER classrooms.

The context that is clear in the video shows this woman decided to foist her political views on these kids and punish them for it.

a reply to: loam

I did hear her say that it wasn't about Trump.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Wonder what class she taught? It would be ironic if it were Civics.

School district apologizes after students told ‘Make America Great Again’ shirts not allowed in class

The principal at River Ridge “immediately met with and apologized to these students and their families,” Jacoby said. She added district superintendent Brian V. Hightower was “deeply sorry that this incident happened in one of our schools; it does not reflect his expectation that all students be treated equally and respectfully by our employees.”

I'm still trying to figure out why it's bad to strive to make the country you live in, great.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Depends on what you mean by "great".

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: DBCowboy

Depends on what you mean by "great".

If we can't even agree on the definition of "great" then I don't see much of a positive future for the US.

a reply to: kaylaluv

What do you think most people mean by it?

a reply to: DBCowboy

As loam so wisely said, it never has been (and never will be) great for everyone at the same time.

a reply to: kaylaluv
Isn't that the entire point of the slogan??
Make America Great Again (however you interpret great).

For some it might be to reinvest in the U.S. space program to be great at manned space exploration again (the manned moon landing in 1969 was great)

For some it might be to return to the time after WWII when the U. S. was an economic powerhouse around the world (it was great that we had the intact infrastructure to help reconstruct Japan and Europe)

For some it was great when we repealed prohibition (a failed moral experiment we are seeing reflected today with Marijuana I would say)

For some it might be the days prior to the Civil War when plantation owners had free work by slave they owned (for some that was a great time - not me, I think it was horrific, but part of our checkered past)

For you, what would be a time that America was great??

The slogan intentionally leaves it open to your own interpretations of making America great. Working locally to improve your own life and the lives in your own small community. If each small community did that, improving their own little word, eventually more and more of America would be great.

Isn't that something to strive for, being great at whatever we do?

a reply to: Krakatoa

That is exactly my point. What did these kids mean by wearing the shirts? Did they mean make America "white" again by putting darkies and injuns and wetbacks in their correct place behind the superior race? I don't know. That's why I'm asking.

a reply to: kaylaluv

What an impossible standard...and frankly, a very sad world view.

When did we move from addressing people's ACTIONS to investigating people's possible motivations by assuming the worst possible outcomes? It's like saying that every time you pick up a steak knife, should I be asking if you intend to kill someone???

Despite what the MSM might have you believe, there is not a white supremacist lurking behind every corner.

If these kids had said any of those things, I'd have booted them out myself. But that isn't what happened here, is it?

Spooky.

a reply to: loam

I'm not talking about possible motivations. I'm talking about what is the environment like at that particular school? Have there been problems in the past with certain white kids regarding the black students? Is there an ongoing issue that we aren't privy to?

There may be something more to the story is all I am saying. Is that a total impossibility?

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: loam

Is that a total impossibility?

Do you have any evidence that suggests that is the case in this school? The school principal and school district said what this teacher did was wrong. Are you suspicious of their judgement now too?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: loam

I'm not talking about possible motivations. I'm talking about what is the environment like at that particular school? Have there been problems in the past with certain white kids regarding the black students? Is there an ongoing issue that we aren't privy to?

There may be something more to the story is all I am saying. Is that a total impossibility?

There usually is more to any given story but the teacher overstepped her bounds and should be disciplined.

a reply to: loam

I also agreed that the teacher was wrong. She had no right to go outside current policy. That doesn't mean there isn't a problem that the school might not want to publicly admit to.