Confederate Flag Bans in PA Schools
Three high schools within our Commonwealth have made the misguided decision to ban the Confederate flag. I encourage all members of the Pennsylvania Division, the SCV, the larger Southern heritage community and all lovers of the liberties and rights protected by the Constitution of the United States to contact these schools and encourage them to change their policy regarding our venerable symbols.
The issue of the display of Confederate symbols is often one that is emotionally charged. These venerable symbols of one side of the most defining struggles of this country's history have become abused by a tiny minority of crackpots who also defame the flag of this great nation and the symbols of Christianity. Those of us who revere Confederate symbols for the historical value and expression of heritage they represent, join with all good and decent Americans in the abhorrence of the actions and beliefs of those misguided people.
We would not ban our children from displaying 'Old Glory' or from being able to wear a cross while in school, despite the fact that those who spread hate do so under those symbols. We should also not ban Confederate symbols indiscriminately simply because they too are used by those same lunatics. Within our schools, we must make sure not only that our children are safe, but also that they learn to become good citizens of this nation.
The children of today are indeed the leaders of tomorrow and the educators of the next generation. We cannot allow them to become a new generation of bigots or excuse-makers nor can we teach them that silencing the free expression of ideas is the solution to avoiding or resolving conflict. The answer is not less speech, but rather more and better directed speech. Let them speak their minds and then correct their misconceptions. Let them express themselves, but then punish those who abuse that privilege on a case by case basis.
It is not really a matter of free speech, racial tension, methods of punishment or any of the other causes and outcomes. It is, above all, a matter of education. What lesson will you teach these children? Will it be a lesson that helps them learn how to work together to solve problems or a lesson that teaches them to ban free expression and bury their misconceptions in public, letting them fester into a new wave of bigotry?
Those few students who abuse these symbols to spread a message of hate should be dealt with firmly, as we cannot allow that behavior to stand in our schools. Equally, those who display these symbols for historical or heritage reasons should not be banned from that expression simply for the misdeeds and abuses of others. We would not ban Islamic children from displaying the Crescent simply because some deranged foreign terrorists abuse it for their purposes. We should not ban the Southern Cross simply because some deranged domestic terrorists abuse it for their purposes.
A school is a place of learning, not a place for the suppression of ideas. It is the duty of our educators to teach our children and not to enforce stereotypes of any kind against any group of people or any symbols. If we all work together and have free and open dialog, without prejudging anyone or anything, we can learn to overcome the lingering social problems of this nation; problems that often are left undealt with in the name of avoiding conflict. That is not the answer and all the lessons of history teach us that banning an idea, a symbol or a group does not eliminate the problem; it strengthens it. Education and equality are the solution. We should expect no less in our schools.
Please contact these schools and express your feelings about this issue:
Schuylkill Valley High School - Principal Mr. David J. Haughney - dhaughney@schuylkillvalley.org
Shippensburg Area High School - Principal Dr. Fred Shilling - Fred.Shilling@ship.k12.pa.us
Yough High School - Principal Mr. Earl Thompson - Thompsoe@yough.K12.PA.US
Below, you will find in the comments section, a collection of letters/posts I have submitted related to this issue.
3 Comments:
In response to the blog post by the Mayor of Reading regarding this issue:
Mr. Mayor,
I believe you are indeed correct that rights and responsibilities are like two sides of a coin; they are inextricably linked and equally important. The bans, be they on the one child's hair or the Confederate flags, are not teaching our children about either side of the coin. They are, in effect, tossing the coin into the storm sewer; throwing away both the rights and responsibilities that form the currency of freedom.
In our schools, we should expect that these types of events would be utilized as practical examples through which the lessons of the rights and responsibilities of citizens are taught. What type of citizens, future jurors and voters, are we raising when we take away both their rights and, in consequence of its linkage, their responsibility for those rights? Education, not suppression, is the answer.
Respectfully,
Mike Duminiak
Commander
Pennsylvania Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
In response to the blog post by Michael Case of "Reading Firsthand" regarding this issue:
It is amazing the logical acrobatics people are willing to perform in order to justify banning something. As soon as someone makes the point that if you ban one flag, then all flags should be banned equally, these censors start making all sorts of excuses why Freedom of Speech/Expression only applies sometimes. The author of this blog links the Confederate flag with hate and even makes it analogous to Nazism, yet at the same time he states that a kid who simply showed the Confederate flag would be potentially killed in Reading. Who then is committing hate-based violence? Why is he defending that behavior or at least advocating that it be appeased through the quashing of free expression?
The flag of Mexico could be considered offensive to anyone who was descendent from those who fought the Mexican War or those who settled Texas. The flag of Cuba still represents a Communist regime opposed to all American principals, yet it is seen regularly displayed proudly in this state. The flag of Great Britain could possibly be offensive and contrary to the American Revolution. The flag of the United States may still be offensive to Native Americans, the descendants of the slaves brought here under that flag (not the Confederate flag which flew over a nation that prohibited the importation of slaves) or perhaps the various wacko militias and foreign terrorists currently enjoying our freedoms and prosperity.
As asinine as it would be to ban the flag of Great Britain for the evils of the Revolution or War of 1812, the flag of Mexico because of the Alamo, the flag of Italy because of the mafia or the flag of Spain because of the Maine, it is equally asinine to ban the flags of the Confederacy because of the Civil War or slavery. Slavery existed in the United States long before the existence of the Confederacy and CONTINUED TO EXIST after the Confederacy was ashes. The Confederacy had racially integrated military units in 1861. The United States didn't have racially integrated military units until nearly a hundred years later. Does any of that negate the evils of slavery? Absolutely not, but it does demonstrate the specious nature of the argument made by those who would ban Confederate flags.
It is a red herring issue, distracting us from dealing with the true problems of social and economic disparity. To blame a piece of colored cloth from 135 years ago for the problems of our present society is ridiculous. To ban it is even more moronic than Prohibition. That at least was trying to eliminate a CAUSE of problems. Even then, its utter failure demonstrates the stupidity of trying to effect social change through the banning of anything. Our drug and firearms laws continue to prove the futility of such bans. Those problems, like the problems of alcohol during Prohibition, have only been made worse.
No, if anything is to be compared with Nazism in this situation, it should be the actions of those who support this ban. It is they who, through government authority, wish to suppress free expression, classify as undesirable a group of people, denigrate as degenerate a cultural heritage and justify all that in the name of preserving the general welfare of the populace. Who's next? What symbol, group of people or background will next be considered a threat to the security and general welfare? What do you care, as long as it isn't you and yours, right?
Not me, I'll stand by our Constitution. Otherwise, the flag of the United States would no longer symbolize freedom.
Respectfully,
Mike Duminiak
Commander
Pennsylvania Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
In response to the editorial blog posting of the editor of the Reading Eagle regarding this issue:
I posted the text of the main post above.
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