Dear Editor, The media coverage over the past couple of weeks
concerning the wearing of the American flag has been difficult on
students, faculty and staff of Live Oak High School, leaving the
impression to outsiders that the school is unpatriotic.
National media coverage painted unfair picture of LOHS
Dear Editor,
The media coverage over the past couple of weeks concerning the wearing of the American flag has been difficult on students, faculty and staff of Live Oak High School, leaving the impression to outsiders that the school is unpatriotic. This can be no farther from the truth.
Live Oak High School has had the privilege of supporting a very visible and popular club for the past eight years called the Patriot Club. As many Morgan Hill residents are aware, the Patriot Club has been active in the community supporting our troops deployed in two wars. Patriot Club members spend hours raising funds to send gifts, supplies and money to troops, as well as to the families of injured troops.
What is distressing about this situation is the short-term memory of our community. The very idea that the Patriot Club or any student, faculty and staff member would fall short of respecting the flag of the United States is preposterous. The events that occurred on Cinco de Mayo were unfortunate. Patriot Club representatives spoke with the electronic media Friday, May 7, to share the perspectives of students. Unfortunately, their perspectives were not aired because they did not fit the media spin of an unpatriotic high school. Consequentially, Live Oak’s reputation remained tarnished.
It is important for the students, faculty and staff of Live Oak High School as well as the community to recognize that this isolated incident does not reflect the anti-American sentiment that has been portrayed over the past week. We share a community of patriotism; the Morgan Hill Fourth of July celebration is one of the largest in the county; the Patriot Club is one of the most dedicated high school clubs that actively and selflessly supports the troops; and the racial mix of students and community are what collaboratively make America great.
Paula M. Haaser, English Teacher LOHS, Patriot Club Advisor
Officials made the correct, if not most popular decision
Dear Editor,
I am a native of Morgan Hill, an alumnus of Live Oak High School and am dismayed to see the acrimony, perhaps better described as the “Balkanization” of the campus and our town.
School officials were faced with a potentially violent situation and made the courageous, correct, if not the most popular decision. I understand that the previous Cinco De Mayo at Live Oak had been the scene of a potential melee between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students. To allow this dangerous situation to occur would have placed students at risk and would have interfered with the academic objectives of the school.
During my years at Live Oak, cultural and language differences were recognized, but they were rarely a basis for conflict. In fact, the social, academic and athletic programs enjoyed a close camaraderie regardless of background. What has changed?
My guess is that our current pack of hate-mongering and divisive politicians and the faux-news entertainment corporations enjoy the confusion, distraction and attention they get from creating storms of resentment, envy and fear.
The out-of-town Tea-baggers lining the main street of Morgan Hill must have blended well with our public art mushrooms; the same level of reasoning and the preferred medium in which to live.
Let’s come together and at least agree that outsiders are not welcome in a matter that concerns our schools and community, and then identify real leaders among the students who will do the hard work of reconciliation rather than reaction.
All things are possible!
Kim Moreno of Madison, Virg. and Coronado, Calif.
Through the eyes of the Constitution, boys were correct
Dear Editor,
In December of 1969, amidst the tense times of the Vietnam War, three students went to school wearing black arm bands adorned with peace symbols. They were subsequently suspended; their case went to all the way to the Supreme Court (Tinker v. Des Moines 1969) with its 7 to 2 ruling in favor of the students. The court said they were engaging in political speech, which was unpopular, but did not directly incite violence, nor did their actions significantly interfere with discipline inside the school. This ruling established the “Tinker Test,” and continues to be the standard by which freedom of speech issues in schools are judged.
The legal question we should ask is whether the four boys are different than the students in 1969. It seems that their intentions were non-violent, and there was no interference with discipline, only a fear of it. Thus, if we look at this case through the eyes of the Constitution, they were well within their First Amendment rights.
In light of the above precedence, the administrators clearly made the wrong decision. Being a teacher myself, I would have advised the five students that although within their rights, there could be an incident and possibly contacted their parents and informed them of the same, recommending, but not requiring, that for their children’s safety, they be picked up from school. The reality is that there was a history of violent activity at school on Cinco de Mayo, including verbal assaults in recent years and an all-out brawl about 13 years ago. Given this knowledge, you would think the administrators would have limited the celebration of the holiday altogether, or at least established more stringent guidelines for all.
The bigger question is why this story has become a national media sensation and why people on both sides are so angry. From the outside it looks like this is the case because there are two polarized groups of students. For years our nation has encouraged its citizens to identify with the ethnic heritage of whence they came, but have we forgotten about where we all live today?
The freedoms given to us through our Founding Fathers and represented through our flag are present for all Americans to enjoy. Sadly, the most troubling thought is that our nation’s flag, heralded as a symbol of freedom, has in this case been blamed as an instigator of violence. The irony of the issue is that it is our freedom of speech, symbolized in the U.S. flag, which allows Hispanics to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a public school.
It’s hypocritical of Live Oak High School to assume that freedom of speech is one sided.
If in the future, Live Oak High School wants to continue Cinco de Mayo celebrations, perhaps they should preface the holiday with a lesson on free speech in their social studies courses. In fact I’d be glad to give the lesson myself.
Jonathan Brusco, a resident of Morgan Hill, a middle school history teacher and former philosophy professor at SJSU.
Excellence has been replaced with ignorance and apathy
Dear Editor,
For those of you who are wondering why the California Public School system has dropped from No. 1 in the USA, to No. 49, the Morgan Hill Unified School District has just demonstrated a classic example. Four students were tossed out of school for wearing American flag shirts, while at the same time the Hispanic students were decorated with Mexican colors and celebrating a non-American holiday on a school campus.
Who gave them permission to have such a celebration on public property? Why weren’t they all tossed out? Has the perpetrator of this anti-American scandal been fired? Has his boss been fired?
I am a taxpayer and am supporting the public school system and paying for the education of these students, and it is apparent that my money is being wasted. There should be no classes or recordings in any language other than English in California schools, or in any other state. Students that are raised in a foreign language, and then taught in a foreign language, will not fit into our competitive society, they are relegated to the bottom of the economic ladder, no thanks to the California Public School system. You get the credit for going from No. 1 to No. 49, and don’t try to tell us that the schools need more money!
Excellence has been replaced with ignorance and apathy and it has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with ethics, morality and academic standards, all of which have been waived. May God help us, the school system certainly isn’t.
W. R. Blakley, Morgan Hill
Freedom loving immigrants are good for America
Dear Editor,
I’m disappointed by the way students wearing patriotic apparel were treated by Live Oak administration May 5. All five of my children attended Morgan Hill public schools where they were compelled to endure the district’s politically correct agenda. Each evening around the dinner table we, as parents, attempted to undue the indoctrination of their mostly left-leaning unionized teachers. But the way school administration mishandled this situation came as a surprise even to me.
The Latino students that marched downtown demanded respect. I’d like to tell them how they can earn it: Embrace the laws, culture and traditions of America. Learn English. Love it. Cherish it. Honor it. Defend it. And assimilate. Freedom-loving immigrants are good for America – they remind us how lucky we are to be here. But stop trying to change it.
We are a nation of laws, built by the spilled blood of patriots. We have a Constitution that guarantees the right of individuals to speak their minds.
Dave Mounteer, Morgan Hill
Tea Party types don’t represent vast majority of Californians
Dear Editor,
My wife and I moved here 17 months ago. In that time we’ve been amazed and heartened by the phenomenal friendliness we’ve found. Last Saturday, we experienced something very different driving up Monterey Road past the Tea Party types out demonstrating. I have an Obama sticker on my back bumper which apparently increased their level of intensity and hatred. One middle-aged Caucasian male screamed “Go back to Russia, you … Commie.” I saw another report of a Latina female resident of Morgan Hill “shaken” by the hostility she encountered and left to wonder if she really wanted to reside here.
I hope she stays and I hope other fair-minded locals make her and all people of color feel welcome here. Those Tea Party types are false patriots who do not represent the vast majority of Californians.
Jerry Smith, Morgan Hill
What life lessons we all learned from LOHS incident
Dear Editor,
(Tuesday) night I attended the meeting of the Board of Education. There were lots of reporters, flag-wearing patriots, concerned parents and students. One after another views were expressed on the issue of the right to wear the flag to school. The needs for education, respect, acceptance and responsibility were mentioned.
This is more than a simple matter of a school administrator asking a student to change his shirt. It’s about rights. Of course there are dress codes at schools, so there are limits to First Amendment rights with respect to dress. But we are talking about the right of a student to wear his flag. I was surprised that no one took advantage of the teaching opportunity to educate about respecting the flag.
There are a few rules governing the use of the flag: United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1. Some of the rules we all know: it shouldn’t touch the ground, it should be hoisted briskly, it should not be displayed in bad whether. Evidently people are not aware of the rules that mention “the flag should never be used as wearing apparel” and “no part of the flag should ever be used as a costume.”
Some of the clothes worn by the students on May 5 were disrespectful to the flag. Since this is America, they have the right, according to the First Amendment. I’m sure the parents and kids didn’t realize they were being disrespectful. Just like I’m sure the school administrators never saw what the extreme consequences of their actions.
So what have we learned:
- the flag or portions of the flag should not be worn as clothing;
-
the right to wear the flag disrespectfully is protected under the 1st amendment;
-
school administrators have a rough job!
Given that we care so much about this issue, but know so little, perhaps we should cut the school administrators some slack: all they did was ask some students to change clothes that were disrespecting our flag.
Benjamin Reed, Morgan Hill
