Several high school seniors wore white t shirts to their class's group picture last Wednesday and were suspended for doing so. The reason: the school administrators suspect that white t shirts are a sign of "white supremacists." This was a surprise to student David Mine, who is Asian. He isn't sure how he could be a "white supremacist" because he's not white.
That doesn't seem to matter to the Soquel school administrators, who apparently can read students' minds and intentions. High school senior Mike Donnelly explained the situation:
"All the girls wore pink, all the sports guys wore tank tops," says Soquel High Senior Mikey Donnelly. "We were all going to wear white so that was the plan. Just wear white t-shirts to identify ourselves and look back and say that was our group of friends right there."The school principal, Ken Lawrence-Emanuel explained the school's position:
Soquel High Senior Mikey Donnelly wore a white t-shirt for his senior class photo Tuesday. About 10 of his friends did the same. That decision may seem harmless. But Soquel High suspended Donnelly for three days because of it.
Donnelly said the school told him people were offended and intimidated by his group, claiming they're a white supremacist gang.
"Safety is always first at Soquel High," says Lawrence-Emanuel. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to keep people from feeling and being safe on campus."Personally, I am at a loss as to how a white t shirt can endanger anyone's safety. It is absurd that a school principal could suspend students for such a lame-ass reason, in effect, acting as judge, jury and executioner. It seems he has punished these students for "thought crimes," even though he doesn't know for sure what they were thinking. He punished them "just in case" they might do something wrong in the future, and that greatly offends my sense of justice. I do hope the students sue Principal Silly-Hyphenated-Surname and take away the school's budget for sensitivity training.
But, the students don't agree and are ready to fight it.
"It's a pretty bad feeling to be labeled something you're not," says Donnelly.
Donnelly said nobody's ever accused him of being a white supremacist before and plans on appealing the schools decision. He'll even take it to court if he needs to.
Read more about this disgusting exercise in PC madness here. Meanwhile, watch the video:
Update: Student David Mine speaks about his suspension, with additional comments by his lawyer. See video here.
50 comments:
I submitted this to drudge...
hope you get a link..
stay cool
I know both Mikey and David. Mikey and 4 of his other friends wore plain white tees. David wore a long sleeved santa cruz shirt. He obviously isn't a part of the 5 people who wore white on purpose. Mikey is lying about wearing white so he can be spotted. He has some bad history at Soquel High. On Cinco De Mayo, him and a group of people wore american flags. Mikey deserved the suspension, David didn't.
Not sure if there is more to the story.... ie. why were other kids supposedly intimidated.... I have to think there must of been something else that resulted in the allegations. On another board a few people that "claim" to be students and student parents say there has been problems with this group acting stupid and immature all year; yelling white power in the halls, carving swastikas in the desks, and giving Heil Hitler salutes amongst themselves and on their facebook pages.
But on first look this is beyond ridiculous. The kid they interviewed was wearing skater wear. Not the normal white supremacist look. And their reasoning for wearing the white shirts was reasonable.
The school better have something besides the white tees.... because labeling someone a white supremacist can be quite damaging.
Van Grungy, thanks so much.
Anonymous, yes, wearing white is really a nasty crime, isn't it? What color are you t shirts? White? Oh, gee, you must be a white supremacist.
And wearing an American flag shirt on Cinco de Mayo!! What a crime!! This is America, isn't it? Anyone who doesn't like the American flag can get the hell out.
I go to Soquel and the author of this article should really know more about the situation before writing about it. The original news article about this incident was incredibly skewed and just plain wrong, and people at Soquel are working pretty hard right now to get that story fixed. First of all, the school administrators DID NOT suspend these kids for just wearing white T-shirts. This group of kids (except the Asian one, who just happened to be wearing a white tee and wasn't part of it) have been doing this sort of crap for YEARS- yelling "white power!" in the halls (seriously.), forming a "W" formation for the senior photo, making Hitler salutes- not just the thing with being inappropriately 'patriotic' on Cinco de Mayo and other occasions. They have also been suspected of repeated swastika graffiti all over the school. They're not just rumors - the whole school has experienced it. For these reasons, administrators forbid them to wear white tees to the senior photo. They did. It's not ABOUT the T-shirts.
I'm the author and I base my comments on the Fox News story and the interview with the kids who were suspended. You say the suspensions were not about the t shirts, then admit David Mine was suspended because of his white t shirt -- which is it?
One should be patriotic on "Cinco de Mayo," a communist holiday and a rallying event for the "reconquista" crowd; they are to be commended for their patriotism and Cinco de Mayo, a foreign holiday, should NOT be celebrated in any American high school.
School administrators should have NO SAY SO in the color of t shirts that anyone wants to wear at any time. If the students indeed made Hitler salutes and shouted "White Power" during the photo session, then you may have a point. But to my understanding, this is not the case.
Got get 'em, Stogie!!
Dude, you got a Memeorandum thread!!
Donald, Kewl!
"Safety is always first at Soquel High," says Lawrence-Emanuel. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to keep people from feeling and being safe on campus."
Just what?
Anonymous, making racist charges against known persons while remaining 'anonymous' is cowardly and insincere. You are dismissed. As for mex-American students who probably don't know the words to the 'Pledge of Allegiance' celebrating the national holiday of the country their parents/grandparents fled from in terror in the darkness for a better way of life here, sorry guys. You see just as we are not allowed to have any form of christian worship on public campuses because it might offend a minority who do not share our beliefs,Cinco de Mayo is not my belief. So they will have to do that off campus on their own time and on their own dime. Oh! Wait! That would be racist, not anti-christian. My bad. Go ahead guys. The Dos Equis is on the state of Cali. Viva la Mexico!
"Safety is always first at Soquel High," says Lawrence-Emanuel. "We want to make sure we do everything we can to keep people from feeling and being safe on campus."
Anonymous, I noticed that silly statement too. It appears the principal's comment conveys the exact opposite of what he intended.
P.S. Since I have the cojones to give my name/email here is the Soquel High principal's and asst principal's name/email:
Principal-Ken Lawrence-Emanuel
klawrence-emanuel@sccs.santacruz.k12.ca.us
Asst. Principal-Craig Miller
cmiller@sccs.santacruz.k12.ca.us
Why don't you givem' a holler. But keep it pithy and keep it legal. After all, they can't help being spineless little minions of the state. It a requirement of the teacher's union. ~ Geo.
I received the email below from one Meghan Walker. She writes:
These boys were part of a group who has been doing white supremacist activities all year-something they claim was a "joke". They planned this through mass texts, which this article fails to comment on. Getting one side of the story is not fair to Soquel High students.
As the comments have shown, viewers of local news and those who have read the article now believe the boys are innocent, even though they are not. The boys were well aware that they were not allowed to wear white, especially to something as attention-grabbing as a senior picture. The administration specifically informed them that they were not allowed to wear white, and other students were aware of the administration's instructions before the senior day picture incident occurred, yet the boys insisted on denying authority simply to get attention.
The suspended boys used such eloquent diction as "BS" while denying connections to activities that have been proven throughout the year. Fellow students have become upset past the verge of tears while describing the swastikas and "WP" ingrained on their desks, their actions on days such as Cinco De Mayo, the things they hear and see these boys do (both outside of school and on campus), and more.
One of the boys pleads stupidity. He announced today at a Soquel High meeting that their actions were the result of continued stupidity. Stupidity is not an adequate excuse for such offenses.
Their friends are concerned about Prom. This is not the issue- a little high school dance is unimportant in comparison to the implications this White Power group has not only on our school, but on our community as well.
I am disappointed in these students, the students who claim their innocence, and the news reporters who failed to get more than one side of the story.
Almost everyone in the school does not support the actions of these boys. They have shed a negative light on our school, a school that has traditionally been in full support of Peace, Love, and Unity (as demonstrated by PLUS week and general school policy). Soquel students want the community to know that it is not something we tolerate, and it is not something that represents Soquel High School.
Stogie...not to put you down, but you do sound like a "stooge"...taking anything on face value from Fox "News" (really not a news station, but a mouthpiece for the GOP) appears to be one of your mistakes.
I'm on campus right now at Soquel High and the students are talking. As the student from Soquel commented, the students weren't suspended "for wearing white shirts", but rather for defiantly and intentionally posing in a "white supremist" stance in the senoir class photo after having been given plenty of advance warnings against this display of racial intolerance. I was also on campus when the faculty there was passing around the class photo with the students in question. The students in question were displaying their group affiliation with much more than "white shirts".
I understand that, as the other student already commented, these same students have been "terrorizing" the Soquel student body with graffiti of Swatsikas carved into desks and written on walls etc. as well as shouting out "White Power" using the "Hail Hitler" Nazi arm extension in hallways and other places where students congrugate. Soquel students have also told me that younger students, freshmen and sophmores, have begun to copy these seniors, shouting out their "White Power" slogan etc., so there is also the concern of these seniors being role models for racial intolerance.
This whole episode is again NOT about white T-shirts, but rather racial tolerance vs. racial intolerance, and the very sad and unfortunate social history of our country. And racial injustice is still alive. Even today people are violently harmed and even killed just because of who they are (i.e. their ethnicity). The principal was correct to state that he is concerned over the "safety" of all students. Every student has the right to attend school free from the fear of racial bigotry and its ensueing intimidations.
Some students say that this group of students which has been intimidating others all year may be doing so "as a joke", but the legacy of racial intolerance, injustice and violence of one group towards another is no joke. I'm not sure if a suspension is the right way of approaching this issue. I would want to speak with these students to not only find out what motivates them to continue with their antics, but also to inform/teach them about the real tragedy of poisoning ones heart and mind with racial intolerance as well as show them documentary films like "Freedom Riders" where the pain and suffering inflicted on others due to racial intolerance is so graffically documented.
These students, as well as many here blogging, need to understand that the concept of "White Power" is not simple about having racial/ethnic pride. In fact, it's NOT about that at all, but rather the idea that somehow one ethnic group is superior to all others, and that this belief in superiority gives them the right to harrass and harm, even kill, others who are not a part of their "superior" group. This belief has no part in our world today, and is why we now have the category "Hate Crime". Please remember to "teach tolerance" to your children and grandchildren.
My comment to Meghan Walker:
The school administration had no right or business in telling these students what color they can wear; it stepped over the line when it did so. It would be entirely appropriate for the school to punish students for verbally intimidating other students based on race or any other factor, but suspending students on the basis of the color of their t shirts is ridiculous.
Students who wear t shirts with an American flag on "Cinco de Mayo" have an absolute right to do so, as American flags are ALWAYS appropriate in America. Cinco de Mayo, on the other hand, is a foreign holiday and a communist one too; it should not be celebrated in any American school. Those who object can return to their country of origin.
As for "Peace, Love and Unity," that slogan sounds like something out of 1984. Your school administration reeks of group-think and speech codes, with an anti-American smell to it.
Meghan Walker's comments, much like 'Anonymous', seem to be circumstanital and personal allegations: If these students are guilty of such prior activities, were they officially punished accordingly? Or are there at least official complaints by fellow students of your accusations? You do not sate so or offer proof, just your words. As for reporters not 'reporting the other side', the school responded as they chose: sparingly. That is to protect them against possible legals actions.
As to speaking to fellow students, that is moot. They can only offer opinions and apparently no one has filed prior grievances, so such reporting would only offer more 'he said she said' comments and more school drama. And that seems to be the cruix of the school's problems: off-handed and perhaps off-color comments become 'white supremacy' through schhol gossip. As for the Cinco de Mayo comment Meghan made, scroll up if you want my two cents on that. And the "Peace,Love and Unity" quote tells Meghan's parents were probably at Woodstock while mine were at work. So if you are such a liberal-minded individual, remember "Political dissent is patriotic.." That's what the 'hippies' said while protesting Nixon,Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr. So all I've seen proof of so far is some kids protesting and idiotic, last minute, misguided-politically correct dress code implemented by principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel. But, I digress. These guys, guilty or not, will probably fold. They'll give in to the pressure because; 1)Celebrities like civil rights leaders, actors, rappers and talk show host won't come to their aid. And 2)They didn't set out to be martyrs anyway,just to tell Lawrence-Emanuel to go Ef himself!
Ellen, imho, it is you who are the stooge, believing anything the mainstream media has to say, as they are clearly Democrat outlets and have been for years...ever read the book "Bias" by Bernie Goldberg?
As far as the swastikas allegedly carved into desks and written on walls, it is my understanding that no one has been identified doing that and your suspicion that the students in question did it is hardly proof. I have seen a number of incidents where black or other minority students created such graffiti in order to "victimize" themselves (google it if you don't believe me).
If these students carved those swastikas and had been identified as the culprits, they surely would have been prosecuted.
Futhermore, liberal schools like Soquel carefully inculcate a feeling of guilt in white kids, subtly teaching them that they are oppressors who need to feel ashamed. Anyone proud of his European ancestry is automatically guilty of "racism," but there is a significant double standard: I would bet that Soquel has officially recognized clubs or groups based on ethnicity, e.g. hispanic or black, but none based on European derived ethnicities.
GeorgeFrazier1967,
Thanks for your comments, they are very helpful to this discussion.
Congrats on the Memeorandum thread, nice work breaking this!
Sorry it took so long to respond but some of us have to do some work.
Hey, Stogie, you are absolutely right about unreported manufactured racism. And its nothing new. Remember Tawanna Brawley? That incident was solely responsible for launching Al Sharpton's professional-civil rights career. For those who don't know and won't bother to look it up: Twanna was alledgedly found in an alley, barely alive having been raped and swastikas spray painted on her torso. Sharpton raised hell, and had multiple press conferences before it was discovered Tawanna hoaxed it all to cover up a weekend romp with a boy mama didn't like. And then there is the one no one heard about. In 1994 in southwest Georgia, where I live, we had a 100 year flood. Dozens of lives and billion$ in property were lost. Jesse Jackson was summoned by a (black) city councilwoman to Albany, GA.(a place he knew well from 30 years before where he joined Rev. Martin Luther King protesting the REAL racism of school segregation). The councilwoman claimed that the flood had been diverted (yes I said the 'FLOOD' and 'DIVERTED', stop laughing till I'm finished) to an all black neighborhood by the city Public Works on purpose. When Jesse got here he held the initial 'We will get to the bottom' press conference. He was eventually shown, by city engineers, that the flood diversion design of the suburban drainage system was built when the houses were built: IN 1960! YOU KNOW,WHEN IT WAS AN ALL WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD! Jesse flew home the next day. These two incidents are only known because, as with real cases of racism, national attention was brought. But in both cases it started with everyday people claiming or faking racism where there was none.
Ellen makes mention of racial "hate crime" and the student body "terrorizing" that goes on as if she's schoolin' some of us on how ugly racism is. As someone living all my life in a 60% Afro-American cummunity and attending a public school system that was 80% Afro-American, I not only know racism exist but that it knows no racial allegiance. It will infect any fool who allows himself/herself to think he has immunity. For the first year of high school I fought nearly every week because I would not tolerate my things taken and I was called everything from honky, cracker, Opie, John Boy, mayonaise, etc. But the thing I never did was allow it lower me to their level. Oh, I wanted to. But I also met just enough good black people to make me realize that wasn't the way. If these kids at Soquel High turn out to be straight up racists, that's unfortunate but it doesn't change what I've said he today: The actions taken by the school were inappropriately based on bias. Otherwise, why didn't they punish the students for prior racist activities? Were they letting racism pass? I hardly think so. More likely they new, unlike Ellen, Meghan and 'Anonymous' that circumstantial evidence wasn't enough. That's why they waited for a real violation of a psuedo dress policy they implemented for that very purpose. That's how socialism works.
Well, sorry this so long, but you kinda asked for it.
I went to soquel high and graduated last year. these kids have been doing these sort of things for a long time (donelly). he knew exactly what he was doing and he is now trying to act innocent because he realizes how stupid he looks. he has a lot of friends but they all agree he is an idiot.
wearing an american flag on cinco de mayo is disrepectful. mikey knew exactly what he was doing!
A man with a name like emanual pretty much sees prejudice everywhere he looks, ironically.
I got to Soquel High and I have seen the swastikas with my own two eyes. The kids who did this have a long track record and you have not been informed of this entire incident. Our school does not give us white guilt either are school is a average high school. You should not make a judgment on assumptions. Those kids that got suspended are the same kids who tell gay kids there faggots and say nigger and break the schools windows. They are not victims Stogie.
"If the students indeed made Hitler salutes and shouted 'White Power' during the photo session, then you may have a point. But to my understanding, this is not the case."
It is the case, hundreds of students witnessed it. The kids also wore (flag) bandanas - against the school dress code - and attempted to make a big W, or WP. Of course there's nothing inherently wrong with wearing a white shirt, but wearing one and forming a big white W, wearing against-school-rules bandanas, throwing Hitler salutes, and yelling "white power" combined - is, well, going too far. Ultimately, because the superintendent can't disclose personal info about students, none of the students really know the details of the allegations causing the suspensions. All we do know is that the whole white shirt thing is not the issue at all.. It's a huge, sloppy misinterpretation that wayyy overemphasizes the shirts. It's incredibly frustrating for the entire Soquel community because we ALL know it's a misinterpretation, and no one will really hear us out.
To georgefrazier1967, well, I'm going to assume your extremely racist post was a joke.
"As for "Peace, Love and Unity," that slogan sounds like something out of 1984. Your school administration reeks of group-think and speech codes, with an anti-American smell to it." - Who tries to turn peace, love, and unity into something negative? And about Cinco de Mayo being a foreign and communist holiday.. do your research.
wearing an american flag on cinco de mayo is disrepectful. mikey knew exactly what he was doing!
Anonymous, your attitude really floors me -- wearing an American flag (IN AMERICA???) is "disrespectful"?
It seems to me that those who have a problem with the American flag are disrespectful -- of all of us! If they have a problem they can get the hell out of the USA.
I agree with Stogie, Anon, how in the hell did the American flag ever become "disrespectful"?
If you truly think that, perhaps you and your compatriots should go back to wherever you came from.
Cinco de Mayo, on the other hand, is a foreign holiday and a communist one too
You keep saying the Cinco de Mayo is communist. Where do you get that idea?
The holiday is a commemoration of the destruction of an invading French army by a numerically inferior Mexican force on May 5, 1862 in the Battle of Puebla. The defeat delayed French occupation of Mexico by a full year, with rather important consequences in U.S. history (one of the reasons for the French invasion was to create a route to help supply France's Confederate allies).
It is thus certainly a nationalistic holiday, but it is no more communist than the Fourth of July. Calling it communist because you don't like it is a rather sloppy way of dismissing it since anyone with the mind to do so can easily find out there is no connection. (And no, a few bloggers pointing to recent protests in Arizona on May 1st instead of May 5th don't even come close to demonstrating a connection.)
It sounds like the administrators were rather ham-handed in their handling of this and there is doubt whether the action was justified. Whether or not you think these students should have been disciplined is one issue. But to tell people who celebrate Cinco de Mayo that they are communists who need to go back to where they are from is another. (And really, if you don't want to be accused of being racist, why make it so easy for your critics? Would you also tell Irish to go home for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?)
Finevad, you are correct on Cinco de Mayo. I had it mixed up with May Day, which is May 1st and largely appropriated by communists and socialists. However, it is indeed a foreign holiday, no more appropriate for an American high school than is Bastille Day.
Don't misquote me. I specifically stated, and I stand by it, that anyone who is offended by a t shirt with an American flag on it can get the hell out of America. As for being called "racist," call me that all you want, it doesn't bother me at all. You leftists have overused the term and it no longer has the stigma it once had. "Racism" today means any opposition to anti-American, socialist or left wing political goals or policies.
St. Patrick's Day is not a good analogy. There is no Irish "reconquista" movement and we are not being invaded by swarms of illegal aliens from Ireland.
How many Irish on St. Patrick's Day are offended by the American flag? Probably none. However, if they were offended, I would tell them the same thing (and I am part Irish): love it or leave it. No one invited you to come here and the door opens both ways.
LCR, thanks for your comments and support!
To 'Student' who said.. "I'm going to assume that your extremly racist post was a joke."
I'm sorry 'Student' which are you:
An angry black or a guilty self loathing white?" Because those are the only types of people ,in my experience, who can deny race baiting by minorities and "reverse" hate crimes exist.
It doesn't fit any where in your talking points so... "...deny everything and make counteraccusations!" That's their mantra. Or maybe it was my fault for mentioning I'm from Georgia. Everyone (especially those God blessed enough to be born in California)knows that we are all born racists down here. Except Jimmy Carter is the only one who'll admit it, right? "Student", I'm not sure how long ago you were paroled from the Soquel Indoctrination camp but the fact that your only comment to me was to dismiss everything I said in my rather lengthy retort says alot more about you and the socialist brainwashing that seems inherent at that school. Congrats. You are now a "Useful Idiot". Please move your rhetoric to your left side.
All of these subject are great subjects to debate on, but I think the original point was that guilty and or innocent non of these boys was given due process. They were label, tried, and hung without being able to defend themselves. David Mine has never been associated with any of the negative activity going on at the school. All schools have gang, drug and vandalism problems that should be dealt with. David Mine now has a label that will follow him for the rest of his life. He has obtained a lawyer and plans to follow through. Please watch the link I have attached.It is an interview with David Mine and his lawyer.
http://capitola.patch.com/articles/video-suspended-soquel-student-speaks#video-6287549
http://capitola.patch.com/articles/video-suspended-soquel-student-speaks#video-6287549
Anonymous, thanks for the link to David's video, I will post it in a new article.
Stogie...You're welcome
Stogie, I am hardly a leftist. But telling people (many of who were born here but who happen to be an easily distinguished minority) to leave the country because they disagree with your vision of what this country should be like, is making yourself an easy target, regardless of your intention.
I rather doubt most Hispanic Americans are offended by flying the U.S. flag on Cinco de Mayo: they don't protest it flying above a school or a post office the way it normally does. Many even fly both Mexican and American flags together on that day. But when (white) people who express nativist sentiment and otherwise don't particularly make a big deal about the U.S. flag suddenly insist on making a big deal of it on that one day, it's not unreasonable to ask why they do it.
So, yes, it is appropriate to fly the flag on May 5th, but for some people to do so with the intention of provoking a response and to tell people that celebration of their Mexican heritage is not welcome is not just “flying the flag”: It is a deliberate attempt to bait a response and send a message to the Mexicans. if it is not, please tell me why those people choose that particular day and that particular way to assert their American identity: I don't believe it's coincidence or neutral in its intent.
I don't expect to convince you of any of this. Your mind is made up. But I do want to point out why Mexican Americans might equate your words or the actions of people draping themselves in the flag on May 5th with racism, regardless of the intent.
To return to the Irish example, it would interesting to go back to the 1830s and 1840s when overt prejudice against Irish was common and accepted. I bet during that time that if Irish groups held St. Patrick's Day parades that the U.S. flag was used similarly to promote a vision of the U.S. in which the dirty, Papist Irish were not welcome and were told to go back to where they came from if they didn't like the way things were here. Times have changed, and now there is nothing political about St. Patrick's Day, but if people started waving the U.S. flag around specifically on that day and telling the Irish to go home, it would be a very different story.
Stogie, I am hardly a leftist. But telling people (many of who were born here but who happen to be an easily distinguished minority) to leave the country because they disagree with your vision of what this country should be like, is making yourself an easy target, regardless of your intention.
Fenevad, you keep refuting what I didn't say and ignoring what I did say. I said that it is always appropriate to display the American flag in America, and that those who are offended by the flag of this country are welcome to leave it.
Personally, I don't really care if the Mexican kids start wondering why someone displays the flag on Cinco de Mayo. It's America.
A much bigger question is this: why do these Mexican kids find the American flag offensive? Are they reconquistas? Is it appropriate for them to be offended by the American flag? I say no, it is not, and it is they who should be taken to task for their anti-Americanism rather than the other way around.
By banning any display of the American flag on Cinco de Mayo, the leftist administration of Soquel High School is giving credence to the idea that America and Mexican pride are incompatible; that America is an oppressor and an enemy of Mexico and Mexicans. By punishing students who display the American flag, the Administration is effectively saying, "the American flag is a symbol of oppression" and "Americans are racists." They are promoting ethnic hostility, not healing it.
If flying the flag is "a message" to the Mexicans, it is a message I approve of. This is America. Assimilate or go home. My "vision" of America is not one of a balkanized polyglot of angry and squabbling ethnic groups, although this is clearly a goal of the left in America.
This has turned into an argument of whether or not it is okay to be proud of being AMERICAN. I agree, those of Mexican descent should not expect to be catered to, with directions and etc. printed in both English and Spanish, and one should be able to wear American flags whenever and wherever in America they please, but not whilst having the intention of putting other races and cultures down. There is a significant difference between being proud of ones country and putting another country down.
I am a student at Soquel High School and honestly, this entire controversy is embarrassing, but has allowed many students to form an opinion and take part in "real world" situations. These boys accused have posted numerous pictures on Facebook of them wearing white t-shirts and practicing the Nazi salute. This is not right. Furthermore, they have vandalized the school. An example: the SATs (a day when various schools arrive at Soquel High to take the test), students arrived, viewing the school with "ESSC", "WP", and swastikas spray painted on the walls. The boys were warned to not where white, as their wrong-doings added up. Even while sitting in class, we hear boys yell down the hall "White Power!". These boys aren't being suspended for wearing white t-shirts. They are being suspended for continuing on with their behavior after being warned. They are being suspended for intentionally going out of their ways to express their beliefs. We are granted the freedom of thought, the freedom of speech, but NOT the freedom of action.
And though these boys were "just joking" when they said these things and took part in activities (which I believe them, some of them are close friends of mine whom have friends of African-American descent), this has gone beyond a joke and is no longer funny--it never was.
Jessica, if the boys were shouting "white power" or committing vandalism, then they should be suspended, no argument there. I agree, even if "white power" is shouted as a joke, it is very inappropriate.
How can wearing the American flag be "putting another country down" when this is America? I would have to ask the kids who are offended by the American flag this question: "Are you Americans of Mexican descent, or are you Mexicans living in America?" If the former, then the American flag is your flag too. If the latter, go home to Mexico or shut up.
What the kids put on the Facebook pages is their business and none of the school's business, though if they did the things you said, it would add to a bad reputation for them. Kids have to be smarter than that; that's just stupid.
I still say that the boys wearing white t shirts as some sort of fashion statement is their own business and not that of the school. Punish them when they do overt acts of racism on school property, but do not punish them for a highly subjective act like wearing a white t shirt.
Yet again David Mine is being labeled and lumped into a group for which he does not belong..There was not now nor has there ever been any picture on his Facebook depicting and type of racism what so ever..And here lies the problem..The school dragging an innocent person into this mess and forever having him labeled as something he is not. Just because David is friends with these particular boy, as he is friends with many many kids, and stood where he was told to stand does not make him part of a racist group, part of a group that has vandalized the school, part of a group that has done anything wrong! The school administration has done do him what they are basically accusing him of doing!!
Jessica, by the way, I looked at Mikey Donnelly's Facebook page and saw nothing incriminating, though he may have removed it since the suspension. Do you know of any other Facebook pages that would support the charges of racism against these boys?
Anonymous, re: David Mine -- It looks like David will have to take the school to court to settle the issue. That's an expensive way to go, and even then, there is no guarantee of victory. However, if I were David, I would sue.
The attorney in Davids interview has taken Davids case at no charge to him.. He is very involved and plans to do whatever it takes to clear Davids name.. He has colleges he is trying to get into, jobs he is applying for..This label will stick for life..On him and any of these other students involved..
Kudos to that attorney! Good luck to David.
I found your blog accidentally and had to keep reading this thread because I am a parent of a Soquel High student. I just wanted to tell you that the most intelligent and informative posts came from those claiming to be actual students. These people seem to really know what's up while you just seem to care about spouting your views (which I find "asinine and idiotic" by the way):). The school officials and the news media will not be able to fully disclose the details of these student's behavior but these fellow students don't have to protect confidentiality. It's nice that they provide us with a clear picture of what it's like to go to school every day with a group of people who want to terrorize others. I know "Mikey" Donnelly from volunteering in school all the way back to elementary grades. It's disturbing to hear this is what he's up to now.
DOWN WITH THE HATERS!
DOWN WITH THE HATERS!
Down with the cultural Marxists who brainwash our school students.
I found your blog accidentally and had to keep reading this thread because I am a parent of a Soquel High student. I just wanted to tell you that the most intelligent and informative posts came from those claiming to be actual students. These people seem to really know what's up while you just seem to care about spouting your views (which I find "asinine and idiotic" by the way)
Madam, I am not surprised that you find adolescent blather illuminating.
The school officials and the news media will not be able to fully disclose the details of these student's behavior
How conveeenient.
It's nice that they provide us with a clear picture of what it's like to go to school every day with a group of people who want to terrorize others.
Yes, wearing an American flag t shirt in America is the worst form of terror. Have you ever checked the crime statistics of hispanics against whites and compared it to the opposite? You might be surprised.
I know "Mikey" Donnelly from volunteering in school all the way back to elementary grades. It's disturbing to hear this is what he's up to now.
Yes, wearing white and he isn't even a bride. The nerve! Doesn't he know that you never wear white after labor day?
By the way, are there any "La Raza" clubs at Soquel? Why do you think Mike Donnelly became so estranged and disaffected from his peer group? Could it be the anti-Americanism and anti-white prejudices of his Marxist instructors?
They're not just rumors - the whole school has experienced it. For these reasons, administrators forbid them to wear white tees to the senior photo. They did. It's not ABOUT the T-shirts.
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