A NJ mother claims that her daughter was suspended because she was wearing a Confederate Flag shirt—and now the mother wants to take her child out of the Melvin Kreps Middle School. Jane West told the Times of Trenton that a vice principal asked if she could bring a change of clothes for her daughter, "The Indian kids wear their turbans. The Jewish kids wear their yarmulkes. That’s their birthright. I told him that Torri was born in Virginia. That flag is her heritage and I’m not telling her to take it off. He said ‘I guess she’ll have to suffer the consequences.’" And consequences are not fun—a Staten Island boy who wore a Confederate flag shirt because he loves history was allegedly abused by classmates who thought it was racist.
West believes that her daughter, Torri Albrecht, was suspended because of her shirt, but School Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer III says, "No student was suspended for wearing an inappropriate shirt. We cannot comment on why the student was suspended, because of student confidentiality policies." Forsthoffer did add, "We’d rather be proactive than reactive. Ninety-nine times out of 100, when asked, students say ‘OK, I’ll change.’ Some want to make an issue of it for ulterior motives. If there’s defiance involved, if there’s profanity involved (in the refusal to change clothing), certainly we’d have to respond appropriately." Still, West insists Torri's suspension is about the shirt, "They’re saying that now because they know they really went too far this time. If there wasn’t a problem with the sweatshirt, why did the vice principal call at 10 after 8 on Monday to demand that I bring a change of clothes for my daughter?"
The school district does have an anti-bullying policy that mentions, "Insulting or demeaning any pupil or group of pupils in such as way as to cause substantial disruption in or substantial interference with the orderly operation of the school." The flag is considered a racist hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League, but some view it as a non-racist symbol of the South (still, Confederate Flag license plates were rejected by a Texas board and Lexington, Virginia voted against having the flags on public light poles). In another case in 2008, the ACLU said it was okay for a Long Island child to wear an N-word shirt.
West also informs the Times, "We are so far from prejudiced. My older daughter is biracial. For Torri this was about expressing herself. It was about saying ‘I’m from the South and I’m proud of it.’ She didn’t do it to cause hurt feelings."
