High school suspends 21 students for wearing Confederate-flag clothing

Christiansburg High School is located in the county seat of Montgomery County, Virginia, and has a little bit of racial tension right there. Yeah, no it’s still there.

The school suspended 21 students today for wearing Confederate flag clothes on school property, according to WDBJ 7.

Last month, after a summer that saw a lot of debate about the general, let’s call it, appropriateness of displaying the Confederate flag (a symbol that openly refers to the desire to overthrow the United States government at its best and thinking it is OK to own a human being at is worst), Christiansburg High decided it would be best if students were prohibited from wearing Confederate flag clothing and displaying Confederate flag symbols on their cars in the form of bumper stickers or decals of Calvin urinating on the word “Reconstruction” or something. This did not go over well with a (white) subset rebellious (white) teens who attend the school.

24 students showed up for class on Wednesday in their finest rebel garb and were very quickly told to comply with the school’s dress code. Three changed clothes and the rest refused to do so and were given in-school suspensions for their blatant attire. However, after several “disruptions,” the students were given 1-3 day out-of-school suspensions according to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Brenda Drake.

Now, rather than take the free day or days off in the dog days of summer and go swimmin’ in the crick, the students doubled down by getting all their flags out and protesting across the street from the school because they’re all very mature.

“This is nothing about racism. This is about where we come from, what our ancestors did and what everybody here’s family has fought for, the right to do what we want,” Christiansburg High senior Andrew Love said.

Everyone’s really being smart with this.

Other students told us that they are standing up for their heritage, and will continue doing so. They said the school is going down a slippery slope.

One parent told WDBJ7 that they support their child.

And if you’re thinking that the school is going to be able to make a good point through all this, keep hoping because they missed a chance when they issued a statement that read, in part:

We value our students’ First Amendment rights, but we must maintain an orderly and safe environment for all students,” said Brenda Drake, public information officer. “Incidents of racial tension at CHS support the continued prohibition of the Confederate flag in the building.”

…

“We are not issuing a judgment on the flag, but know that not allowing it at CHS supports a peaceful educational environment in the building,” said Drake. “Continued racial friction suggests that lifting the ban of this particular symbol would cause significant disruption at the school.

Given the chance, a public school in the United States of America chose not to come down against the Confederate flag. Great work, everyone.

David Matthews operates the Wayback Machine on Fusion.net—hop on. Got a tip? Email him: [email protected]