Post by Logan on Feb 4, 2016 16:54:51 GMT -6
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- At a high school named Free State to honor Kansas' anti-slavery past, the Confederate flag waved off the back of a student's pickup truck in the parking lot. When classmates who were offended removed it, the student replaced it and displayed the flag again.
It's sparked debate about race and discussions of free speech at Free State High, an overwhelmingly white school of 1,700 students in the university city of Lawrence that was founded by settlers opposed to slavery.
Administrators relented to complaints last month and barred the flag, labeling it a disruption. The district says the student won't be disciplined, and that the situation is being used as a learning moment. But that's not sufficient for some students, who are trying to persuade the school board to expand the prohibition.
"It's kind of at the point where we have to start doing things on our own to see the change," said junior Seamus Ryan, one of four students leading a petition drive calling for such flags to be forbidden on all district property. He and the other petition organizers - another white student and two black students - have gathered hundreds of signatures.
Read more: hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONFEDERATE_FLAG_KANSAS_SCHOOL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-04-17-28-37
It's sparked debate about race and discussions of free speech at Free State High, an overwhelmingly white school of 1,700 students in the university city of Lawrence that was founded by settlers opposed to slavery.
Administrators relented to complaints last month and barred the flag, labeling it a disruption. The district says the student won't be disciplined, and that the situation is being used as a learning moment. But that's not sufficient for some students, who are trying to persuade the school board to expand the prohibition.
"It's kind of at the point where we have to start doing things on our own to see the change," said junior Seamus Ryan, one of four students leading a petition drive calling for such flags to be forbidden on all district property. He and the other petition organizers - another white student and two black students - have gathered hundreds of signatures.
Read more: hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONFEDERATE_FLAG_KANSAS_SCHOOL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-02-04-17-28-37