First, I'd like to say that the original story is inaccurate about the penalties for violations of dress code. This is taken directly from the CFISD Student Handbook and Code of Conduct:

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Students who come to school in violation of the district and/or campus dress code will have the option of correcting the violation or being placed in DMC or in-school suspension for the remainder of the day. School officials may use other appropriate consequences as designated in the Code of Conduct. Parents may be asked to bring appropriate attire to school to assist in correcting the violation. Students who have a question about the appropriateness of an item should discuss the specific issue with the appropriate staff member before wearing the item.

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School administrators, by this, are given the option of assigning additional punishment for dress code violations within reason. Dress code violations are considered Level I offenses, of which the maximum penalty assigned to them is either one-day of DMC or up to 3 days of after-school detention. The article is inaccurate in saying that this was not in compliance with district guidelines.

Next, we have the issue of why the assailants were not suspended. As per Texas law and CFISD policy, any and all students arrested for a crime or charged with a crime will be immediately suspended from school and reassigned to the Alternative Learning Center until such time as the issue is resolved. This article does not tell us if the students were arrested or charged. If they were, the school would be forced to act on it. If they were not, the school cannot legality seek disciplinary action against any student for an event not occuring during a school-sponsored activity or on school property.

Third, the Harris County District Attorney is a man by the name of Chuck Rosenthal. He has proven himself to be very active in pursuing justice for all victims of any crimes in his tenure as DA and during his extensive time at the Assistant DA. Mr. Rosenthal is not one to let himself to let "popular opinion" stand in the way of following the word of law. If he did not follow through on this incident, I must conclude that there is something missing from the article.

Now, for the conclusion of my post (you must all be thinking "thank god" by now). I do not think that the entire story is being reported here. I'm not denying that it didn't happen because I do not know for sure. I do know that this got no mention in any of the news stations or in the newspaper if it did happen, which is want the article says. However, from experience, if something like this had happened the local media would have been all over it. In late April, Cypress Creek High School was all over the local media for suspending a student from classes for wearing a shirt with the Confederate flag emblazzened on it. This particular incident is still undergoing review and investigation.

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The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

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Originally posted by TSN:
The fact of the matter is that the Confederate flag has been adopted as a symbol for racist groups. Certainly, that's not all the CSA stood for, but still... If someone went around wearing a black, diagonal, clockwise swastika in a white circle, surrounded by red, but claimed to be not racist, but just proud of their National Socialist heritage, that's fine. They're welcome to it. But I won't have any sympathy for them if a bunch of Jews beat the crap out of them.

That said, I don't agree that violence was warranted. The people who did it should be punished. But, the "victim" shouldn't be compensated, in my opinion. It was his own fault.

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[QUOTE]Back on 19 February, which was a Monday, Ryan's mother Melinda Hill was called to the school. Ms. Morrison met with Ryan's mom to tell her that Ryan was to start 3 days detention as punishment for his wearing of a Confederate flag patch on his shirt. The offending emblem measured all of one inch by one and one-half inches. Overruling the fact that the rulebook only calls for a one-day penalty for infractions of the school dress code, Ryan was to be made an example. You see, Ms. Morrison told Mrs. Hill, "We must make an example of Ryan. He is a racist."

Mrs. Hill was confused by this turn of events. Ryan had worn this shirt several times before without incident. He is proud to wear the Confederate flag because of his love for his Southern Confederate heritage. He is a good student with good grades. He is not a troublemaker nor is he a racist. In fact, he is half Lebanese. Ms. Morrison would only say that an "extreme example" must be made. Ryan would be given three days detention and then forced to apologize publicly to all the Black students for being a "racist." [END QUOTE]

Was it also his HIS fault that the fucking idiot currently known as Ms. Morrison FORCED this kid to speak to all of the black students in the school and pubically anounce that he is racist? Was it HIS fault that that Ms. Morrison made him a target for violence by forcing him to do that? HELL NO!!! He made a mistake by not following the dress code. ok fine. Ms. Morrison sould have just givin him his 3 days detention and be done with it. But to force him to tell the entire school that he is racist and a bigot is.....is.....I can't even think of a word to discribe it! IMO that school SHOULD be held responsible for the beatings and the death threats! And Ms. Morrison SHOULD be subjected to a VERY harsh judgment evaluation! PERIOD!

May I ask. If you were still in middle school and if you did something to earn a few days detention. Would you enjoy it if your teacher then forced you to announce to the entire school that you were a Nazi or a member of the KKK? No? I wouldn't either. He didn't deserve that.

Wow. The ironies of life.

MIB -- the teacher's actions were WAY out of line. She pretty much took some paint paintbrush and painted a big, red, bullseye on his back. The boy's parents could probably get her fired, if they want.

On the other hand, if you wear or display a Confederate flag, are you REALLY surprised when you get the tar kicked out of you? I've got one on my Jeep (a bumpersticker), but it's crossed over with a red "x" and the caption reads "You Lost, Get Over It."

First -- if your tie had a Nazi Swastika on it, would you be surprised if people considered you a Nazi? Just wondering.

Thus indicating that the modern political parties have little actual meaning.

I have a jersey from the Macedonian national soccer team, it clearly has the Macedonian crest, the gold lion on a yellow background emblazed in the front. If any albanian people are offended and choose to call me a racist....... I don't give a shit!!!!! They can do what they please and so can the school, I will not take it off for them!! I will buy another 6 and wear it every day of the week, they can suspend me all they please!!
A flag means NOTHING, a crest means NOTHING! What you SAY and DO means EVERYTHING!!

[ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: Isn't Infinity *G* ]

In all honesty I'm really not sure. IMO if a simple emblem coaxed those kids or anyone for that matter into extreme violence they really should get a psychological evaluation. I currently live in Georgia. If I went out and put somebody in the hospital every time I saw the Confederate battle flag my crime record would be so long it would take a month to read.

IMO, if all anyone can think about is how racist the Confederate battle flag is, they need to get a life. AND FAST!! To go out and beat the shit out of someone for reading a book that had the battle emblem on the cover; He/She needs to get help. AND FAST!!

I really don't care how racist the battle flag is precieved to be by anyone. (I personnally don't give a rats ass about it) Using this as an excuse for death threats and, later, putting someone in the hospital is wrong. The fact that the victem was reading a book that had the confederate emblem on it or anything similar to that is insignificant.

"I've got a tie I wear to work. It's got flags on it.
"It's got the flag of China. Do I support the Chinese government?
"It's got the flag of Canada. Does that make me um... a hockey player?
"It's got the flag of the UK. Do I eat tea and crumpets?
"It's got the flag of France. Am I rude and pushy and eat snails?
"It's got a LOT of flags, and the US one isn't drawn right. Am I a globalist UN US-hater?"

It has many flags on it. Thus, it's merely a display of divers flags. There's a big difference between wearing an amalgam of random flags, and wearing just one specific flag, especially one w/ the generally-recognized overtones that that one has.

"Was it also his HIS fault that the fucking idiot currently known as Ms. Morrison FORCED this kid to speak to all of the black students in the school and pubically anounce that he is racist?"

Perhaps you find this unwarranted, but I'm going to assume this Morrison character didn't threaten the kid w/ bodily harm if he didn't make that "announcement". Therefore, yes, it is his fault. The simple response would have been "I'm not a racist, so I'm not going to do that.". Possibly w/ a "Now kindly go and fuck yourself." added in for good measure. The article says the kid's mother was informed of all this right away, and the "confession" wasn't to take place until three days later. If nothing else, she should have told the kid not to do it.

"But to force him to tell the entire school that he is racist and a bigot is.....is.....I can't even think of a word to discribe it!"

Incompetence? Lunacy? Inappropriate retribution?

Sure, the woman's a complete fuckwit. But, just because she's wrong, that doesn't make the kid right. It's entirely possible for two people to be at odds w/ each other, but both be wrong. "The sky appears red" vs. "the sky appears yellow" when the sky actually appears blue, for example.

"If you were still in middle school and if you did something to earn a few days detention. Would you enjoy it if your teacher then forced you to announce to the entire school that you were a Nazi or a member of the KKK?"

Certainly not. That's why I wouldn't do it.

"I have a jersey from the Macedonian national soccer team, it clearly has the Macedonian crest, the gold lion on a yellow background emblazed in the front. If any albanian people are offended and choose to call me a racist....... I don't give a shit!!!!! They can do what they please and so can the school, I will not take it off for them!! I will buy another 6 and wear it every day of the week, they can suspend me all they please!!"

Personally, I have no idea how Albanians in general feel about symbols of Macedonia. Honestly, I was under the impression that Macedonia was a rather inconsequential country that merely gained independence from Yugoslavia because everyone else was doing the same, and that no-one really pays attention to them. But I could easily be misinformed.

Anyway, if a good majority of Albanians find that particular symbol offensive, and you knowingly walk into a group of such Albanians, wearing it, and they interpret it as a racist symbol and beat the shit out of you, do you think my response should be "Wow, what a guy! He let those people kick his ass, and he didn't even care..."? It wouldn't. My response would be "Wow, what an idiot! He was just asking for that to happen...".

"I really don't care how racist the battle flag is precieved to be by anyone. (I personnally don't give a rats ass about it) Using this as an excuse for death threats and, later, putting someone in the hospital is wrong. The fact that the victem was reading a book that had the confederate emblem on it or anything similar to that is insignificant."

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Perhaps you find this unwarranted, but I'm going to assume this Morrison character didn't threaten the kid w/ bodily harm if he didn't make that "announcement". Therefore, yes, it is his fault. The simple response would have been "I'm not a racist, so I'm not going to do that.". Possibly w/ a "Now kindly go and fuck yourself." added in for good measure. The article says the kid's mother was informed of all this right away, and the "confession" wasn't to take place until three days later. If nothing else, she should have told the kid not to do it."

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Yeah, just TRY saying that to a teacher/adminstrator (ESPECIALLY adminsitrator) and see how long you last. You'll be expelled so fast it'll make your head spin.. and they'll TELL everyone you're a racist anyway. And if the mother had prevented him, it would have gone down the same way.

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But, just because she's wrong, that doesn't make the kid right.

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Yes, but she's an ADULT. She's supposed to know better.

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My response would be "Wow, what an idiot! He was just asking for that to happen..."

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I reject this argument in all its forms because of its 'blame the victim' connotations. As sentient beings, we are responsible for our own actions, despite all provocation to the contrary. Those kids were not FORCED to attack that other kid, nor is there any indication that they were 'compelled' to do it. They simply felt like doing it, and neglected to bother to show a little self-discipline.

"Asking for it" does not exist in anything less than the form of direct action. To believe otherwise is to leave the door open to accepting "she was asking for it" when a woman wearing a slinky dress is raped.

"Yeah, just TRY saying that to a teacher/adminstrator (ESPECIALLY adminsitrator) and see how long you last. You'll be expelled so fast it'll make your head spin.. and they'll TELL everyone you're a racist anyway. And if the mother had prevented him, it would have gone down the same way."

That's true. What's your point?

"I reject this argument in all its forms because of its 'blame the victim' connotations. As sentient beings, we are responsible for our own actions, despite all provocation to the contrary. Those kids were not FORCED to attack that other kid, nor is there any indication that they were 'compelled' to do it. They simply felt like doing it, and neglected to bother to show a little self-discipline.

"'Asking for it' does not exist in anything less than the form of direct action. To believe otherwise is to leave the door open to accepting 'she was asking for it' when a woman wearing a slinky dress is raped."

A request to the student to not wear the offending item of clothing was good enough. (heck, I don't really think that article was offensive in the first place. Not like he wore a shirt saying "BLACKS MUST DIE" or anything like that.) Not the "punishment by example" he received.

So I am a very liberal ultra-left loony. Sue me.