In a recent Federal Appeals court decision in which free speech came head to head

with the 'threat' of violence {AP: The Big Story Fe!" #$ #%&'( the )ourt decided that a
*igh School was right to +proceed as though the threat of a potentially violent
distur!ance was real+" The Associated Press reports that +administrators feared the
American,flag shirts would enflame -sic. the passions of /atino students cele!rating the
0e1ican holiday+"
The 2
th
)ircuit )ourt decided that the school acted appropriately when it !anned the
wearing of tee shirts with the American flag on them reasoning that +concerns of racial
violence outweighed students' freedom of e1pression rights+"
A !rief account:
In #%&% on the day that /ive 3a4 *igh School in the San 5ose su!ur! of 0organ *ill
)alifornia was cele!rating )inco de 0ayo a 0e1ican holiday that 6is considered a
!igger holiday in the 7"S" cele!rating 0e1ican heritage+ white students were as4ed to
remove Tee shirts with the American flag on them" The school feared violence from
0e1ican students who might !elieve the flag and the white students waving it to !e
racist" 8e learn from the )ourt9s decision that a year prior to this incident
:from the )ourt of Appeals decision:;
6There was an altercation on campus !etween a group of predominantly
)aucasian students and a
group of 0e1ican students" The groups e1changed profanities and threats" Some
students hung a ma4eshift American flag on one of the trees on campus and as
they did the group of )aucasian students !egan clapping and chanting 67SA"< A
group of 0e1ican students had !een wal4ing around with the 0e1ican flag and
in response to the white students9 flag,raising one 0e1ican student shouted 6f===
them white !oys f=== them white !oys"< 8hen Assistant Principal 0iguel
>odrigue? told the student to stop using profane language the student said 6But
>odrigue? they are racist" They are !eing racist" F=== them white !oys" /et9s
f=== them up"<
Based on that incident a year earlier in #%&% the school feared that on this )inco de
0ayo things might perhaps get out of hand if students were allowed to wear the
American flag"
As this column is a!out social issues to !egin we9ll deal with the more relevant @social
issue9 aspect of the story the pro!lem of government overreach"
/et's get this straight" Are we to assume that the school's 'concerns+ whatever they may
have !een -or whether those concerns were Austified. outweigh )onstitutional rightsB
Cote that these were merely 'concerns' rather than actual threats made as the incident
with the tee shirts involved no threats D merely the potential for harm"
It seems" !y this reasoning that the 'concerns' of a Federal Eovernment a State or a
community police force regarding say a newspaper article which challenges a
controversial policy , an article that might offend someone to the point of violence
, would theoretically outweigh an individuals right to spea4 his or her mind" The 'rights'
to one's sensi!ilities or 'passions' not !eing 'offended' or 'inflamed' o!viously trumping
another's right to e1press hisFher opinion" Today we have o!vious @social concern9 that
often arises regarding this those who spea4 out a!out the pro!lem of radical Islam"
Ta4ing the )ourt's reasoning to its logical conclusion the 'concerns' a government might
have over the 'threat' of political upheaval would per the )ourt9s thin4ing outweigh the
right of the people to a freely elected vote" Said government would then have the right
and o!ligation to step in to nullify the vote if the government in Guestion found the vote
worrisome"
Are our courts this !lind to the impact of their own reasoningB Are we really thereB
There is of course more than faulty reasoning ignored implications and dangerous
potential precedent at wor4 here"
Elaringly a!sent from the discussion of 'rights' v 'concerns' is the fact that the schools
decision ree4s of appeasement and racism at its most vile and deadly" Simply put the
school was scared s==tless that violent pissed off /atinos would run amo4 if they saw the
eyesore that is the American Flag"
In the decision the )ourt notes that +school officials anticipated violence or su!stantial
disruption of or material interference with school activities+ and that +!oth the specific
events of 0ay H #%&% and the pattern of which those events were a part made it
reasona!le for school officials to proceed as though the threat of a potentially violent
distur!ance was real+"
/et9s translate the )ourt9s description of events into everyday terms:
A group of /atino students who opposed the American flag tee shirts might attac4 white
students !ecause they were angry at them" School officials were concerned that on this
day -)inco de 0ayo. pissed off 0e1icans might attac4 these particular white students so
the school wished to protect the students from potential harm done !y angry 0e1icans
who9s @passions9 could be @inflamed9" Cever mind that the white students themselves
ac4nowledged that there could !e trou!le !ut were unconcerned" Cot only this they were
prepared to ta4e responsi!ility for their choices" The school wished to avoid inflaming the
anti,American sensi!ilities of potentially violent /atinos and forced the students to
remove the offending flag"
/et9s !e clear: the @passions9 the school did not wish to @inflame9 were of course Anti,
Americanism and anti,white" /et9s also !e clear the school assumed that these /atino
students upon seeing an American flag would !y their nature as 0e1icans !e una!le to
control said @passions9"
Sure the school put on a happy face of 'respecting the views of the /atino community'
etc" ad nauseam !ut racial assumptions are racial assumptions"
>acism is racism" Appeasement is appeasement"
So paternalistic" So not so su!tly racist"
*ere in a maAor precedent setting )ourt decision we see the harm done to culture
when actual racism is appeased"
In #%%2 the 0e1ican students in Guestion deemed the flying or the wearing of an
American flag !y white students to !e somehow racist" The )ourt chooses in #%&' to
ignore the racist tinges of @f==c4 them white !oys9 and does not address these or the
school's uncomforta!ility with the comments in their decision" In #%%2 the school failed
to respond appropriately to 6/et9s f=== them up< !y of course throwing the 0e1ican
students off campus or perhaps calling the police"
A year later students pay the price"
The school was less concerned !y threats made -and less !y the racist diatri!es of the
students who made the threats. then of !eing la!eled @racist9 if they threw the students out
or called the police" *ad they done the right thing !y tossing racist threatening students
out on their 4iesters for ma4ing racially tinged threats in the first place the case would
never have made it into )ourt"
A year later that incident would have !een long forgotten" 3n this particular )inco de
0ayo the flag would have !een ignored -or perhaps respected and understood a !it
more." Appeasement of racists in the past spread its tentacles into the future" A year
later students paid the price"
0eanwhile five years later the lesson taught !y the )ourt to the school9s students to
the community and to all of us is this: @f=== them white !oys9 is not necessarily racist !ut
rather pride in one9s heritage the intended victim of @let9s f=== them up9 is in fact a racist
@perpetrator9 with no rights and the flag of the nation that promotes freedom and ended
slavery throughout most of the world is offensive and a sym!ol of racism"
3nly in America"