David Crockett Students Are Upset Over Confederate Flag Issue
AP
Students and parents at one Tri-Cities school don’t agree with a decision by the school to not allow any t-shirts, flags or other items with the rebel flag symbol on it. SOUND OFF: Is this infringing on students’ freedom of speech? Were the flags being used to pay tribute or intimidate fellow students?
Published: November 14, 2008
Updated: November 14, 2008
Controversy is swirling at one high school in the Tri-Cities. Several viewers contacted News Channel 11 asking why the rebel flag had been from David Crockett High School.
“They are trying to make them take the stickers off their cars and everything,“
said Devon Lewis, student.
Parents also have issue with the new rule.
“I believe that people should be able to fly the flags they like to fly without everybody getting their feelings hurt,“ said Shawn Berry, parent.
Students said they were told by the school on Wednesday that the rebel flag or t-shirts and other items with the rebel flag on it will not be allowed at the school. Lewis said that students were bringing the rebel flag to school in honor of fellow student Michael Payne who recently died after an ATV accident.
Lewis also told us that several fights broke out at the school between white and Hispanic students, and then the announcement was made to not allow the rebel flag.
“I don’t believe it’s a racial issue at all, it’s just a tribute to Michael,“ Lewis said.
Officials with Washington County Schools did acknowledge Crockett’s principal is not allowing the rebel flag symbol at school.
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Your rights may end at the tip of your nose but mine do not.
Heritage
Quaker settlers Thomas Embree and his son Elihu became well-known advocates of the abolition of slavery. In 1819, while living in Jonesborough, Elihu Embree published the first abolitionist journal in the United States. First called the Manumission Intelligencer, its name was changed to the Emancipator in 1820.
Like other northeastern counties in Civil War Tennessee, Washington County was Unionist. People in East Tennessee, the only area of the state that did not practice slavery on a wide scale, was firmly against Tennessee’s move to leave the Union. Tennesseans representing twenty-six East Tennessee counties met twice in Greeneville and Knoxville and agreed to secede from Tennessee. They petitioned the state legislature in Nashville, which denied their request to secede and sent Confederate troops under Felix Zollicoffer to occupy East Tennessee and prevent secession. East Tennessee supplied significant quantities of troops for the Federal army, while the rest of Tennessee was a prime recruiting area for the Confederate army. Many East Tennesseans engaged in guerrilla warfare against state authorities by burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and spying. East Tennessee became an early base for the Republican Party and still is today.
Also the Confederate battle flag never had the word “redneck” printed on it. Your rights end at the tip of your nose, you have no right to disrupt school, you have no right to bully students. You can “DEMONSTRATE” IN OUR STREETS with your flag, fly it at home, but it has no place at school.
In response to ccsunflower. First off, your history teacher gets an F. The American Civil War was not fought over slavery. It was fought for several reasons and I will share a few of them as to educate you. First and foremost was “States Rights”. The two sides disagreed on how the Constitution of the United States should be interpreted concerning how much rights states had to govern themselves and how much power the federal government had over the states. The Confederate government felt that they could govern the seceded states according to what the founding fathers of this country meant when they wrote the Constitution.
Another issue that led to the American Civil War was economics. The industrial North demanded a high tariff so as to monopolize the domestic markets, especially the Southern market. It was an exploitative principle, originated at the expense of the South and for the benefit of the North.
It was not Lincoln’s intent to end slavery when the war broke out. His stance was that there would be no NEW slave states. The slave states that existed, both in the north and the south, would not be effected and would continue to use slave labor.
For you to compare the Confederate flag to a Nazi flag is pure stupidity on your part. The Nazi party was led by a tyrant that committed genocide with the intent of having one race.
Yes, the Confederate flag is about heritage. It is what my ancestors and many other people’s ancestors fought and died for. You say celebrate the American flag. FYI there was slavery in America as the American flag flew over this country, all be it with fewer stars than we have today, but I bet nobody would be offended if I wore one of those flags, I’ll even bet they would say i have that right because this is America and that is my heritage. Try opening a book once in a while and educate yourself.
sunflower is thae racist
hey if the hispanic students dont like the rebel flag send them back to mexico
This is a little off subject, but VA doesn’t have a state song now!!!! The song used to be,“Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,“ but it is now inappropriate to sing it. And, it was written by an elderly black man.
Also, “Way Down Upon the Swanee River,“ or “Old Folks At Home,“ written by Stephen Foster, has been banned in FL. What next?
Are foreign flags not carried when people from other countries “DEMONSTRATE” IN OUR STREETS? SEEMS TO BE A BIT LOP-SIDED TO ME.
We should not have to sacrifice our heritage because it displeases some. Too, everyone in the Confederate States DID NOT FIGHT IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, SOME FOUGHT WITH THE YANKEES.
Mr. Marable isn’t taking anyone’s right to grieve or pay tribute to Michael Payne. He’s just saying that doing so with a symbol that is deeply offensive to many people is inappropriate. And Evaningstar, about those freedoms, that particular flag represents repression to namely, African Americans. After all, what was the civil war about? Slavery, states rights and taxes; the emphasis being slavery. It is more than fair to say that in this case, the civil war was not about freedom of the thousands of folks that were crammed into a luggage compartment of a ship and forced to work under oftentimes miserable conditions for Europeans and their descendants. Those people were denied basic humans rights for next 50-60 years even after they were promised things like land and opportunity. So, that flag should not be glorified, it represents division. Yes the southern states are beautifully rich in history and should be celebrated, just not with that damn flag. What is the significance of the confederate flag among these young people and why does it symbolize the remembrance of their friend? Celebrate the American flag, celebrate the state flag. Those at least represent unity.
PS.
I knew michael payne and im not saying that his friends shouldnt have the right to pay tribute to them. His death is a loss that the students and the community will be remembering for a long time.I also had descendents that fought and died on the confederate side in the civil war, but the civil war is over, i dont think the confederate flag should be disrespected by being worn an T-shirts or being improperly flied on the back of a truck. When you talk about being proud of our ancestors and the sacrifice they took, do you think its right to display the flag they fought for in such a disrespectful manner? I find it hypocritical.Its just, i think crockett is a great school and they dont get the credit they deserve. The music depatrment is wonderfully talented, going to All- State in Nashville every year and so is the art and drama department. Also our science department is wonderful along with the English, history, and math departments. It upsets me that none of the great things students at Crockett do in these departments and others don’t make it on the news.
i went to crockett back in the day and we had all races attending that school. we all wore what we wanted to and there was no problem then. honestly if everybody tried to please everybody we wouldnt get anywhere. we all get offended in one way or another thats called life. get over it. kids deserve the right to mourn their friend and if the flag is their way of mourning then so be it.
Is this the United States Of The Offended? The Confederate flag is part of our history—like it or not. What about putting a sign on a public transportation bus (with our tax dollars, for those of us who pay taxes) that reads—There is probably no God but still be good.
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