Henry Turner, the principal at Newton North, sent the following email regarding an incident that occurred at North yesterday morning. Here’s the text:
Dear North Families,
I am writing to you regarding a deeply troubling incident that took place at our school yesterday. As you may have heard or seen on social media, yesterday a car drove around the circle on Tiger Drive waving a large Confederate flag from the window. The incident was immediately reported to police and our Deans began to investigate. A small group of North students have now been identified as involved and we are taking appropriate action.
Please know that we take this incident very seriously. Newton North is committed to creating a school community that is welcoming and inclusive for all. There are members of the North community who are deeply upset and hurt by the actions of these individuals. At North we strive to celebrate our diversity and create safe and supportive learning environments for all. Therefore I look forward to working with our students and staff in working to repair and move forward from this incident.
We will be working with our faculty and student leaders to determine the most effective way to address this incident and move forward. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Henry J. Turner, Ed.D
Principal
Newton North High School
Yikes!
I just found this video on Facebook.
Was that an orange Dodge Charger with the confederate flag flying from the window?
I am glad the kid saw it, caught it on video and posted it. It is time for some consequences other than rhetoric. Somethings obviously not working.
Wicked Local has this update
This incident is primarily disturbing for its probable racial context. However, as the descendant of members of the Union Army who fought the Confederacy to preserve the Union and to free the slaves, I take personal offense for my ancestors and their hundreds of thousands of comrades. I suggest that the measures imposed on the perpetrators of this incident include a visit to the Newton Civil War Memorial which we rebuilt a few years to maintain the city’s show of gratitude for the residents of Newton and the rest of the country who gave years of their lives, appalling suffering, lifelong disabilities including the loss of limbs, and in all too many cases the loss of their lives. A lengthy report on one or more books describing the issues of the Civil War and the dreadful toll on the participants might be in order for the perpetrators of the incident who seem uninformed on this part of our history. A visit to the Jackson Homestead might be in be appropriate as well.
Councillor Brian Yates
So evidently the school wanted the student to take down the video. And thank goodness the student held his ground and will not take it down. This incident is terrible but NNHS administration asking for the student to remove the video from his Facebook page is not right.
“Probable racial context” What does someone have to do for it to be considered an overtly racial act? I am much more concerned with the effects incidents like these have on young people today.
The prinicipal asked that the video be taken down.
Fleishman commented, ” …. taking down the video would help the community move on?” How would removing it help anyone? The kid stuck to his convictions and refused to remove it. Racism won’t just go away by pretending it doesn’t happen.
Fleishman also said, ” … and hopefully they will learn from seriously and hurtful mistake.” Not a mistake. A planned incident.
For a community that is so welcoming, our youth really know how to exclude minorities. What is going on here? We teach our kids to include everyone, but yet, this is not the first time teenagers in our community have done something hateful, and this is not the first time the leaders of the school have not stood up and taken a real stand. It is time for our leaders (Superintendent) to take a day in both high schoolers and have kids listen to what it is like to be different and be excluded. Have outside speakers come in (and have our kids be respectful and have our parents, including me, support this time of program).
Hmm, at the risk of being lumped in with racists, I wonder about how quickly we want to shut down someones freedom of expression when it conflicts with our own personal values.
Councilor Yates wants “measures imposed on the perpetrators”. Why is that? As far as I know an individual waving the confederate flag is not a crime in this state.
So much for understanding our differences, huh.
A government building flying a confederate flag is a lot different than an individual.
I fly a US flag on certain holidays, not a confederate one. I would be uncomfortable with someone I know flying one. It does represent much hate and racism, to me. But, that doesn’t mean I have the right ( or should even want) to prevent them from doing it. Does it?
The NPS has an understanding our differences program that they have been doing for years. Maybe someone needs to re-evaluate that program. Obviously it isn’t working well.
Joanne, Understanding our Differences is a disabilities awareness program. It has nothing to do with the prevention of this kind of incident.
@Neal. While I’m sensitive to the school’s reaction I, too, get uneasy when curbs on free speech are initiated by any public or private authority. I remember when a Virginia town council ordered a supporter of George McGovern to remove a lawn sign during the 1972 campaign because it was unpatriotic and deeply disturbing to the good citizens of that village. On the other hand, I think Councilor Yates has a point. These kid probably wouldn’t have done this if they were better grounded in civics and history, but this isn’t something that just affects young people. Almost certainly, they have no knowledge or appreciation of that memorial in Newton Cemetery. The fact that millions of people would question President Obama’s place of birth or religious convictions speaks volumes about the appalling ignorance of much of our population. Somewhere along the line a lot of Americans stopped being citizens and were transformed into willing consumers of whatever was fed to them.
I think that Understanding Our Differences is a great program, and there will always be some kids that miss the boat. . . . and if racism is present at home. . . . that child has conflicting information.
I am all for free speech, until a student feels unwelcome in their own school/community. It is NOT a safe feeling and schools should be safe! I am going to stick my neck out – but white males have no idea what it like to live in the minority. NO IDEA, and this kids might have thought it was “fun” however their actions make others feel unsafe. White male students have NEVER walked into a school room in Newton and been in the minority. They have no idea what it is like to look around the room and see NO ONE (or one other person) that looks like them.
This is a serious issue that the school and the community can not sweep under the rug (by removing the post). Even if the post is removed, the after affects are still there. Non White Males feel at risk in their own school, and they should NOT!
Seems they claim they are tolerant and inclusive …. except when someone’s views don’t goose-step in time with their views …. then they must be punished ….
Bob: I would suggest those who want to trample upon the first amendment, stopped being citizens. Over a quarter of a million lost their lives during the civil war; that would be confederate soldiers- there are lots of cemeteries with memorials south of the mason-Dixon line, just like the one in Newton. The ancestors of those burial plots wept just as much.
I have no idea what motivated these individuals to wave the confederate flag, in Newton. I wouldn’t pretend to know what they do or don’t know about history. You seem to think we have the right to know their motivation- I’m not so sure we do. It is their right to do it, and if they choose to explain is their choice.
That is what those 300,000+ union soldiers, and all the other American soldiers in other wars died protecting. Perhaps others need the civics and history lesson too.
The chilling effect on free speech is appalling.
Society as a whole has become too sensitive and we are doing these children a grave disservice by making them feel entitled to world where there is no chance of a dissenting viewpoint and everyone needs to play the victim. You do not have the right to not be offended.
Also, I would expect someone with an doctorate in education to know the difference between a “Confederate Flag” (not shown in the video) and “The Battle Standard for the Army of Northern Virginia” (what was shown in the video)
If you aim to be inclusive and welcoming to all, please explain how you reconcile this with the First Amendment rights of the student to display a flag if he or she chooses to.
As a boy, I grew up in the south (the “South will rise again” Virginia, not northern Virginia), but we moved there from out west. I was hazed in elementary school because I knew the South didn’t win the “War of Northern Aggression”. So I speak with at least some personal experience about living in the shadow of the Confederate flag.
I understand the concern about intentional racism in this kind of case, and that needs to be investigated to see if there’s anything behind it. I am also not fond of the Confederate flag being a still-popular symbol of a bloody separatist movement with slavery as its heart. And I am happy we are making progress towards putting the Confederate flag in a more accurate light, rather than a romantic one, in our society.
But we aren’t there yet. To draw a direct analogy to the swastika is, in my view, inaccurate. It is just much more complicated than that. “The Dukes of Hazzard” might have been a crime against good TV, but it wasn’t a hate crime. Some day we might view things differently.
There is a danger of labeling people, particularly young people, as racists (or some other “ist”) when they are just being unthinking, or faux rebellious, or plain boneheaded. School should be a time and place to firmly but caringly educate and correct behavior that we’d like less of in our community, and move on. Unfortunately, that’s become much harder in the world where the Net never forgets, or forgives.
I know nothing about these kids, so I can’t say anything about them. But good kids do and say stupid thoughtless stuff all the time. The ones that become good adults are sensible, sensitive, and supported enough to learn and do those things at most once.
Let’s take a step back here. If these individuals had driven down Washington St. waving a confederate flag out the window, there would be no legal or school issues – they would availing themselves of their First Amendment rights (which allow you to identify yourself as an idiot by doing such things.) But that’s not what happened. They drove onto school property, during the school day (Tiger Drive – where they were guaranteed to be seen by the most students and staff, and where student vehicles are not supposed to be anyway) and drove around the circle three times – at a good clip – while waving the flag out the window. The NPS Rights and Responsibilities lists the discipline codes includes these:
D2. Discrimination against or harassment of another student or school personnel on the basis of,
but not limited to race, color, sex, gender identity, homelessness, national origin, religion,
handicap or sexual orientation (possible police notification).
D10. Behavior, which endangers persons or property or substantially disrupts the educational
process or school activity (possible police notification). (emphasis mine)
This was done by a couple of kids expressly to disrupt the educational process. Was the goal to send a racially intimidating message, an “anti-government” message, or were they just trying to be “edgy”? Almost doesn’t matter. That flag is a symbol of racist oppression, and waving it in that manner at a school DOES harass students and staff of color (and offend just about everyone) and it DOES disrupt the educational process.
Wasn’t everyone pretty upset about swastikas on school property last year? (Please don’t tell me that swastikas are different, because my head will explode.)
NewtonMom, following “I am all for free speech” with until negates your previous statement. Either you are or you are not. I wonder if you have had any of the experiences you mention and why you would single out non- white males to feel at risk? Non- white females wouldn’t feel that way?
Consequences and other measures, as called for above and on the Cambridge Black Lives Matter Facebook page, have to be carefully considered as to not violate civil liberties rights. NNHS Is a public school and is bound by federal law. Whatever choice is made has to include working with the entire student body on understanding racial injustices and their effects with the goal of achieving racial equality. As threatening or hateful as I think waving a confederate flag is, doing things that contribute to bad feelings without harming anyone are not illegal. In fact they are protected.
Interestingly, the ACLU was involved in an incident like this one in Ohio in 2015. Below is their press release:
FREE SPEECH PRESS RELEASE
09.16.15
“Kettering City School District’s decision to ban display of the Confederate flag after controversy arose surrounding students flying the flag from their vehicles” was a violation of Free Speech laws.
“As an organization that has fought for civil rights for almost 100 years, the ACLU recognizes that for many the Confederate Flag represents a painful history. At the same time, suppression of constitutionally protected expression goes against our founding principles as a nation. As the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear, students’ rights don’t end at the schoolhouse gate—they also don’t end in the school parking lot.
“The First Amendment protects the right to express any viewpoint, no matter how unpopular, and therein lies its strength. It is not up to the government—be it the local school district or Congress—to decide for us which speech is acceptable.”
“A number of court decisions protect students’ right to express themselves at school, even when their ideas are unpopular or controversial—most famously Tinker v. Des Moines, which allows censorship of student speech only if the administration can prove it would “materially and substantially” disrupt the operation of the school or interfere with another’s rights. Courts have since upheld that the potential to offend is not enough to constitute a material disruption.
In addition to defending the freedom of expression, the ACLU of Ohio fights doggedly for racial justice and equality in Ohio, including work to end racial disparities in our criminal justice and education systems.”
I would add that casting this incident in a free speech light is more likely to be projection by adults than any intentional action by kids.
The First Amendment is about legal limits on government, not the be all and end all of good citizenship.
The Golden Rule is by far a better social compact than “I’ll darn well say and do anything that won’t get me arrested”.
Tricia, outrage is certainly appropriate.
The police were notified.
I don’t know how much the school day was disrupted.
There is no way to know the actual motive.
What is your point? How would you like thus incident to be handled?
Tricia! Thank you!
I view this as harassment on school property which clearly is defined in the student handbook. Thank you.
Marti, I don’t view this as a student’s right to harass a group of students on school property. I view it as hate speech. Go ahead and drive down Walnut Street with the flag, and it is OFF school property but once you decide to do something on school property another set of rules apply.
Mike, those “legal limits on government” are why any consequences to these kids have to be considered carefully.
My comment pertains to calls for consequences not the kids’ motive. I suspect the reason but have no way of actually knowing why these kids chose to drive on campus with a confederate flag flying from their window. I agree with your Golden Rule comment.
Newton Mom, how we view it is irrelevant in the light of the law. I too think it was hateful. The school is government property so unless an investigation finds an egregious reason or plan waiting to be put in action, civil liberties laws protect a person’s right to offend. The police were notified. Harrassment and hate speech have legal definitions and if the investigation shows either of these present, there are legal actions that can be taken.
@Tricia Sorry if this makes your head explode, but context matters. Seeing a swastika on the wall in Newton, is upsetting, but doesn’t make me feel less safe, at least not yet. Walking down a narrow passage way in Granada Spain, and seeing the swastika and the words, =Israel, well that did give me pause for concern about my safety.
You want to get these kids for traveling too fast, well I guess they were.
But had the car been driving at a normal rate of speed through the parking lot of the school, and then parked(legally), and had a confederate flag bumper sticker (along with their up to date student parking sticker), would that still constitute the same issues to you?
Marti – You totally missed the point. My comment was directed at those who seem to be saying that there should be no consequences to the individuals involved because… “free speech.” I’ll try again: because this was done by students on school grounds during the school day, there are other issues involved beyond freedom of expression. Which is why the school is disciplining those involved (not the police, AFAIK.) I said nothing about the way the incident was handled, so how you managed to infer that I am somehow unhappy with the way it was handled is pretty strange. And as far as “disrupting the school day” – that’s not what the code says. It says “disrupting the educational process.” I’m assuming that you don’t have kids at North if you think this hasn’t disrupted the educational process. And for the record, I did say clearly that the motive doesn’t matter – it doesn’t matter whether it was INTENDED as a racist symbol, because it IS a racist symbol. Finally, I am not “outraged” -no pitchforks or torches here. People should consider that often, the kids who do this kind of stuff are not the ones wielding the power, academically, socially, or economically. This was just a couple of kids – there has to be consequences, and there also has to be help.
Tricia, you not only missed my point but put words in my mouth. Just because I have no kids at north doesn’t mean I haven’t been in similar situations. I have. I plainly said that I did not know how disruptive it was – not that “it hasn’t disrupted the school process.”
I never said, implied or otherwise intimated that you were unhappy with the way it is being handled. I simply asked how you think it should be handled.
Argue with someone who is actually doing those things not someone who basically agrees with you
Neil – yes, context matters. We’re not talking about a swastika on a random wall in Newton or a confederate flag on a random street. We are talking about these things intentionally being displayed on school grounds for a reason – whether those reasons were antisemitism, racism, or the standard “it’s just a prank, bro” doesn’t really matter. Again, the car didn’t pull into a parking lot – there are no student parking lots at North. They drove around the circle three times waving the flag TO BE SEEN BY AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. A legally parked car with a confederate flag bumper sticker does not constitute the same issue for me. It would serve the same purpose as a white supremacist bumper sticker with a swastika – an indication that the owner is a racist, an anti-Semite, or an idiot (and those are not mutually exclusive.)
I printed the NPS codes that explain why the administration is handling the incident the way they are. Why are you asking me how I would like it to be handled? I am sorry if I misunderstood, but I am not getting how you are basically agreeing. You seem to be stuck on legal consequences; I am talking about NPS consequences.
It’s a flag. Nobody got hurt. WTF has happened to this country?
I agree with Neal and Bob. While I find this incident abhorrent, and clearly intended to provoke, I am also concerned about the response and its adverse impact on the constitutionally protected free speech rights of all students.
Public school students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door. Waving a Confederate flag, or a banner with a Swastika, or any other symbol of oppression, hatred and prejudice, is hurtful and intimidating to other students. But if our First Amendment right of free speech is to mean anything, we must acknowledge that students have a right to express their opinions, through speech as well as conduct, as long as the manner of doing so does not “materially and substantially” disrupt classes or other school activities.
Censoring or suppressing a student’s right to free expression is not right. Rather, the proper remedy for the expression of opinions or beliefs that we find despicable is more speech. Therefore, I hope that the Newton Public Schools will use this opportunity to provide a forum to educate students and their parents about how these kinds of incidents are hurtful and hateful to members of our community. No one should feel unsafe or unwelcome in the Newton Public Schools because of their color, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. But punishing students who engage in speech or other modes of expression we do not agree with can just as easily be used to discriminate against students who fly the Pride flag to show support for LGBTQ persons.
What I would love to see is for the Mayor and the Superintendent to provide such a forum and support the First Amendment at the same time. This incident has provided a teachable moment for us all. Let us seize the day and do the right thing.
Do you really think that if a car full of students raced around Tiger Drive three times in the middle of the school day (which is breaking a bunch of school rules already) waving a Pride flag (or an American flag, or a Chuckie Cheese flag) that they wouldn’t face some sort of discipline? People were pretty incensed last winter about swastikas on bathroom walls and in the snow. The swastika is no more illegal than the confederate flag – is it free expression to wave a flag with a swastika, but hate speech on a wall? If it’s only hate speech if it’s defacing property, what was the issue with the one in the snow? (I recognize that there was at least one thing written in addition to the swastikas that was generally threatening, but I find it hard to believe that people wouldn’t have been upset about the swastika in the snow in the absence of that.) My point is that in both of these cases, any punishment would not be for the beliefs that spurred the speech/expression, but the manner in which it was expressed. Someone going about their business during the school day wearing a t-shirt with the confederate flag? Not much you can do about that, even if it makes others uncomfortable. Someone racing around the entrance to the school or running down the hallways waving the flag? That’s INTENDED to disrupt the educational process, so there have to be consequences.
This is not a free speech issue. These dolts were not advocating any intelligible point. They are not confederate sympathizers hoping the South will rise again. My guess is that this was done to intimidate African American students an NNHS, and that’s what makes it intolerable.
If this car were parked in the lot with a confederate flag bumper sticker, these kids would be protected by the First Amendment, and rightfully so. But it’s the manner in which they used the flag [not the flag itself] that is the real issue here.
The constitutional arguments cuts both ways here. Students have a constitutional right to equal access to schooling. The Confederate flag is not an arbitrary symbol in the way those emphasizing free speech are in some ways suggesting; it is a symbol of hate that targets a specific population of students -black students – and makes them uncomfortable in the context of their public education. NPS needs to be pro-active to protect those student’s rights to equal access to education. This concern has to be weighed against students’ 1st Amendment right to free speech. For me, equal access to education across racial boundaries is a more significant issue than protecting students’ right to speech that is hateful. The student handbook is another good way to weigh the 14th vrs. the 1st amendment – it seems to suggest that protecting equal access outweighs free speech concerns when it comes to discriminatory harassment, which this incident clearly was.
Mayor Warren released this statement today:
Ted says:
No, but there are different limits for students than for the general public. Tinker was about peaceful and potentially unpopular, but non-threatening viewpoints. What does it take to cross the line? IANAL but it seems such a display is “materially and substantially disruptive,” especially given threatening nature and the violation of school code Tricia mentions (or are you saying that too is unconstitutional?)
Well, Mike and Tricia, a couple of things.
First, graffiti on school property is a violation of law in and of itself, so that can be punished for that reason alone.
Second, racing a car Tiger Path is also a violation of law if it presented a safety risk.
Third, let us assume that the driver of a car with a passenger waving a Confederate Flag was driving safely and legally on Tiger Path. Unless doing so creates a material and substantial disruption in the educational process, then, yes, it is constitutionally protected free speech. Intent is sort of beside the point. Did this incident cause a substantial disruption in the educational process is the question that should be addressed. It is not clear to me that it did. But that is a question for school officials to answer, not me. It is clear to me, however, that asking a student to remove a video of the incident from Facebook was totally out of bounds.
But let’s assume that a student merely wears a Confederate flag on the back of a T-Shirt. Or a Pride flag for that matter. Or a T-Shirt which says “Islam is of the Devil.” Would it be okay to discipline one but not the other if there are students who feel intimidated or oppressed by it? Because that is precisely what happens in school systems around the country when students wear the Pride flag in school districts where many people are morally opposed to LGBTQ rights on the basis of their religion.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said it best:
Mike Striar, you surprise me, since you are usually on the side of the First Amendment. When I was in high school, I was continually harassed by teachers and fellow students for having long hair (although I always got the last word in, even then). It wasn’t until a Supreme Judicial Court case struck down dress codes regulating hair length on First Amendment grounds that I could wear my hair long and walk into my high school without fear of unlawful punishment. They still called me a long hair, hippie, commie, pinko f****t, but at least I knew I wasn’t going to be suspended or expelled for letting my freak flag fly.
Ted,
You write “Would it be okay to discipline one but not the other if there are students who feel intimidated or oppressed by it?” Remaining ‘colorblind’ here, and pretending as though all students’ feelings and status at the school exist on a level plane so long as they are extended the same de jure protection is a controversial position to take up in the realm of constitutional law and finds its most notable allies in Roberts’s majority decision and Thomas’s concurring decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007). This sort of argument holds that the dissent in Plessy and the majority in Brown were against state sanctioned discrimination only on the ground that the state was engaged in de jure discrimination and used racial categories in the creation of laws.
The spirit of constitutional law I prefer is one that is more true to the spirit of Justice Warren when he wrote in the unanimous Brown decision that “it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.” Warren doesn’t differentiate in his decision between de jure discrimination and de facto discrimination: he simply says the federal government has a 14th amendment obligation to ensure equal access to education. I think students flying confederate flags on school property threatens equal access to education, and I also think black students, especially in the context of race relations in the country today, have a right to feel immediately threatened by a symbol that dehumanizes them.
Finally, the court has also established a constitutional procedure for the correct way for the federal government to use racial categories (and other types of categories) in legislation. While all such usage is subject to strict scrutiny, if the use of the category is directly and practically linked to the aim of the law (and if the aim is constitutional), the government may make use of the category. I’m not saying that the NNHS handbook is a federal law, but I am saying that it seems clear to me that NPS has an obligation to ensure equal access to education and that one step they can take to ensure equal access to is to classify certain, very specific types of hateful and discriminatory speech as harassment. Flying a Confederate flag is one such example.
@Ted– You’re correct, I’m very protective of Constitutional rights. Unlike some courts, I do not believe students should lose any of those rights when they are at school. I believe in equal protection for everyone, everywhere. But I don’t see this as a free speech issue anymore than I would view someone arrested brandishing a weapon for the purpose of intimidation to be a Second Amendment issue. I view this incident at North to be a cowardly act of intimidation. I base that on the totality of their actions, not just the flag. I would feel very differently if this were purely about a confederate symbol on a bumper sticker or tee shirt.
Ted – Why are you bringing up this t-shirt thing like that’s what this is about? I clearly stated that I saw this situation – a flag being waved out the window of a repeatedly circling car – as DIFFERENT from a t-shirt or bumper sticker (which, while it might be objectionable, is protected.)
And you didn’t answer my question – is a swastika in the snow on school grounds protected speech?
We need to question why the school would want the student who took the video to take it down. I think is being overlooked in all of this and personally is as upsetting as the student driving around with the flag.
Wow, I agree with Ted!
I think it’s a dangerous line to walk to say that waving the stars and bars out the window of a car is instantly equal to and assumed to be an act of intimidation. It could very easily be an act of “rebellion” against the overly “PC” and “sensitive” culture we have seen take shape in recent years, especially considering it’s just kids (and kid’s from New England) at that.
It’s safe to assume that a incident that’s reported in the Boston Globe, the Newton Tab, and is being widely discussed in the community will substantially disrupt the educational process of a high school.
The mission statement of the NPS includes the following:
“We will:
Create an environment where everyone feels known, safe, and valued
Recognize the uniqueness and dignity of individuals of differing races, religions, classes, ethnicities, sexual orientations, learning styles and abilities.”
“We will:
Foster an environment in which all students and adults take responsibility for their individual and collective behavior”
The key words: ALL students will feel safe and valued.
“an incident…”
Folks, the law concerning hate speech codes (and waving a flag is symbolic speech under the First Amendment just as burning a flag is speech) continues to evolve. I have no doubt that the public schools can assert greater control over speech in order to promote education (and free access to education) than in any exclusively adult public forum. And I agree that the school district, in the first instance, must determine whether a particular manner of speech is materially and substantially disruptive to its educational mission. I further agree that the waving of a Confederate flag on school grounds is intimidating to some or all of the other students.
My concern about the constitutionally protected rights to free expression of all students arises because, all too often, students asserting their rights to express support of LGBTQ persons or transgender students using bathrooms according to their gender identity and not their birth certificate have been punished. I find the actions of these students who waved a Confederate flag at NNHS despicable and morally reprehensible. And I think they deserve the opprobrium of the entire students body and faculty as well as our community. But I still believe that education rather than punishment is by far the more constitutionally sound remedy. And there is no more challenging First Amendment question than hate speech in the public schools.
The courts may or may not agree with the school district that this Confederate flag waving incident was substantially and materially disruptive to education at NNHS. Where I think the school district is on less solid ground is in its attempts to influence or punish out-of-school expression, that is, posting a video of the incident on Facebook. If the schools are going to teach about First Amendment rights, they should also protect them for all students. And protecting the freedom to express unpopular, even morally reprehensible points of view, is what the First Amendment was intended to protect. It is also a freedom with which my family has a very personal connection.
There is some value for learning how to push back and stand up for yourself in high school. I’m in grad school now, and I’ve seen at least one instance of an offended student at a non-school event outside of school then take his complaint about a fellow student back to the administration. People need to learn how to handle their problems like adults. Almost everyone will face adversity at one point or another, learning how to be confident and stand up for yourself, have a dialogue, etc, is more important than “telling a grownup,” especially as these kids are going to be in the real world in a matter of months to a few years.
Ted, I wouldn’t be so quick to call something like this despicable or morally reprehensible. Ignorant, dumb kid-stuff, sure… but at this point there seems to be no indication it was meant to intimidate or insult. As someone who understands that there is a lot of bad history correlated with the flag in question, I also understand that as a kid I certainly didn’t get that, and as an adult I still think things like pulling the dukes of hazard for the General Lee is still stupid. I can see why societies hyper-sensitivity is generating push-back, and this is the classic way you will see that manifested in kids.
Mike (nope, not Striar), I found it despicable and morally reprehensible, but I know not everyone does. Indeed, for some people the Confederate flag is a symbol of pride. I also know that some people are highly offended by Black Lives Matter banners and signs. The police officers’ union in Somerville has actively opposed the BLM banner that Mayor Curtatone hung on Somerville City Hall. The Arlington UU Parish has had their BLM banner vandalized several times, and neighbors who have BLM signs in their yards have also had them vandalized or stolen.
I know most people in Newton probably want to punish the students who waved the Confederate flag but would likely support students who might wave the BLM flag. And that is sort of my whole point. First Amendment protections are content neutral. Both symbols are protected forms of expression. And to protect freedom of expression, the remedy for the speech we abhor should be more speech, not less.
I assumed that the School Administration had some right to respond to conduct on school property. Driving a car dangling a Confederate flag onto school property and doing wheelies around the driveway is different from driving past the building on the street and school authorities have a legitimate reason and right to respond appropriately.
My major point was that using the Confederate flag shows a lack of concern or knowledge of what it represented: the right to secede from the Union to protect the right to own other human beings as slaves. Either would reflect a lack of effective education. You can have an opinion on the Confederacy, but you should know the facts about it and that most people would see it as vile. The School Department is in charge of educating the enrollees in our schools on basic facts like this and if some students reflect a lack of this knowledge, the Department should act appropriately.
The perpetrators of this incident if they are Newton students should be educated on the facts of the Civil War (including the number of injuries and deaths on the part of Union solders. including residents of Newton and on the number of Confederates who didn’t own slaves themselves but suffered for the rights of others to do it.)
If the School Department is convinced that ignorance about the Civil War is widespread in the student body of the city, they should strengthen the curriculum in this regard.
For either group, the means of education might include showings of “Glory” and “The Red Badge of Course” , and other accurate depictions of the War and its causes, readings on the conditions of Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement, and the Underground Railroad , reading and book reports on “Boston’s Civil War”, visits to the Jackson Homestead and the Historic Burying Grounds and the Civil War Monument in the Newton Cemetery.( I bet none of the school children who donated to its construction to honor their dead and maimed relatives were big fans of the Confederate Flag.) In short, this incident seems to be major Teachable Moment for the students of Newton. I leave the details to the elements of our government elected and hired to educate our schoolchildren.
City Councilor Brian Yates
As I was leaving a meeting with the Mayor this afternoon, a large group of NNHS students came into his office for a meeting. The Mayor and the students were meeting to plan how to respond to this hurtful incident, and to try to enlighten their classmates and teach greater empathy and compassion within the school community. Having spoken briefly to these highly intelligent, thoughtful and articulate students, I am certain that they will serve as role models and show us all how to uphold the high standards and values of a welcoming, inclusive community.
What I’ve learned: they were NNHS students, one senior and one junior. They drove around the circle three times honking the horn as they drove. Both students, as far as I’m aware, received a two-day in-house suspension. There was a student-led rally response held on campus today, but it was fairly short (20 minutes?) and if students chose to skip class to attend they would be marked as an unexcused absence. Some teachers did end class early to allow students to attend the rally without that consequence (however, apparently the rally was finished by that point).
Whether or not the students know/understand the true history of the flag — clearly they were attempting to be disruptive and inflammatory. There was enough public controversy surrounding the flag this year to assume they have an inkling that some people find it reprehensible. I think it’s likely they knew how it would be viewed. In addition, the speed of the car and honking of the horn indicates that they intended to disrupt the school day to draw attention to themselves.
I feel the school is within its rights to punish based on the fact that student cars are not allowed on Tiger Drive and disruption of the school day is in the Rules & Regulations. I’m not sure how much they can do about the flag itself.
Scuttlebutt around the school (and on social media) is that the two teens responsible show no indication of remorse for their actions?
I would like to see the school respond with workshops on empathy, racism, inclusiveness. I would like to see an emphasis education about true history, no white-washed versions please! I’m aghast at the number of people I encounter who currently believe there is no longer any need for Affirmative Action (or Black Lives Matter)! The ignorance in this country is astounding. Let’s make sure our kids are educated about the facts and understand the statistics! Unfortunately it seems we are still many generations away from eradicating racism.