OMG!! The Stars and Bars!!!

What happened to Freedom of Speech? I guess this is more along the lines of Freedom to Think Our Approved Thoughts.

Quote:

---

A Kentucky high school girl who wanted to wear a prom dress that incorporated the design of the Confederate flag was not even allowed to get out of her car much less actually go to the dance, reports Knight-Ridder newspapers.

Jacqueline Duty’s sequined gown, which she made herself, was deemed offensive by administrators at Russell High School in Lexington even before they saw it. They asked her not to wear it the night before the prom, but she had nothing else she did so anyway and was shut out of her senior prom.

Duty is now suing the school district in, saying it and its administrators violated her First Amendment right to free speech and her right to celebrate her heritage. She also is suing for defamation, false imprisonment and assault.

---

Full Story: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky...n/10463460.htm

Quote:

---

She said she had worked on the dress' design for four years, adding that it had always been her dream to wear a Confederate-themed dress to her senior prom.

---

Who does she think she is Daisy Duke? Did she get dropped off in the General Lee by Bo and Luke?

Quote:

---

Her lawyer said Duty lost many scholarships because she was portrayed as a racist after the incident

---

Maybe she lost the scholarships because on the applications under dreams she wrote "wear a Confederate-themed dress to her senior prom"

Hey! Watch it. Daisy Duke looked mighty fine back in the day. ;)

Ok I'm going to deny your scholarship because your dream is to marry your gay lover. Would that be fair? Or perhaps it is because your dream is to wear dress covered in satanic verses.

Came out personal. Not meant that way.

Quote:

---

Hey! Watch it. Daisy Duke looked mighty fine back in the day.

---

We'll have to see how Jessica Simpson looks in Daisy's ..ahem.. outfits in the new movie.

Quote:

---

Came out personal. Not meant that way.

---

No problem. I'm a smart ass too. :D

I couldn't have worn a dress to my prom, it would have taken too long to shave my back. Sorry for the bad visual image.

Do you think it would have been a different result it she had a swastika on her dress?

There was a case in the news in Toronto last week where a store was selling t-shirts with "Boys are dumb. Hit them." They were trying to have the store charged under a hate crimes law.

Now that I've finished convulsing from the laughter, or maybe it's the horror, of the whole back shaving thingy..... :) .......... I think the swastika would have been allowed under free speech, but a cross would have been banned under separation of church and state.

As for the shirts, I saw a similar one from "Happy Bunny" with "Boys are yucky! Throw rocks at them! I find it very amusing.

Quote:

---

I think the swastika would have been allowed under free speech, but a cross would have been banned under separation of church and state.

---

That's wacky. I assume they combine church and state to give the students time off at Christmas?
Or do they call it Turkey and Football holiday? No wait, you guys had that last month.

Christmas is a term that is constantly attacked by the ACLU, anytime a Government agency is involved such as Schools. I guess it's because you can't spell Christmas without "Christ".

Anyways, I digress, the ACLU has been successfully waging a campaign to remove any mention of Christmas from Government Agencies. It is now referred to as "Holiday Break" instead of "Christmas Break" after each successful lawsuit. and "Christmas Trees" when they are even allowed are called "Holiday Trees." Sad but True.

I guess living in a land where there's so many rednecks kind of taints a person - down here seeing the stars and bars is quite common, and rarely addressed either publicly or privately. More often people here exhibiting said flag are written off as 'redneck idiots' or 'biker trash' or both. Quite frankly, I view the symbology behind the flag not so much racist - here's why:

Thesis: The American civil war wasn't so much about slavery as it was economics -

Supporting argument: The south's main source of revenue at the time was cotton, cheaply grown and yes, cheaply harvested by slaves. In their ruling that slavery should be abolished, the Union forced economic depression on the South. Rather than go willingly into poverty, the south chose to instead fight.

Ok, you can use the argument to say that it was to abolish slavery - from the Union's point of view it was, and simply based on that argument, I'm quite glad the Union won. Slavery in any form is an abhorration.

ON THE OTHER HAND....

Folks, we are nearly 150 years past the civil war. Several families can claim their ancestors once wore the bonds of slavery, and several can claim their ancestors once owned slaves...but

I never owned a slave, nor was one, nor did you ever own a slave, nor were you one.

It's a flag. Get over it. How many years did several of the southern states have the stars and bars as part of their state flag, to be uncontested by the SAME people who once stood as slaves in said state? Yet here we are, 150-odd years later making a case of it.

Gee. I'm sorry my ancestors killed and ate the pilgrims. Maybe I should apologize and cowtow over that as well? Maybe I should demand apology from all you European types for your ancestors migrating over here in the first place?

History is a good teaching tool. It's wonderful that we recognize the wrongs we committed so very long ago, and seek to avoid making them again in the future. I fail, however, to see where abolishing and censoring a piece of cloth will make any difference.

In as much as swastikas are concerned...
At one time, the swastika was revered in the pagan world as the 'cross of life,' and used in several of their holy ceremonies and sacrements. Now it's strictly a symbol of the Nazi regime, proudly displayed by skinheads and ignorant rednecks everywhere. Much as I'd like to see someone take a carving knife and bodily remove these swastika tattoos from their bearer's skin, I seriously doubt this will ever occur. On the other hand, with all the liberal animosity surrounding the stars and bars, one never knows - it might be legalized someday...

[edit] Corrected a couple of typos [/edit]

Quote:

---

Ok I'm going to deny your scholarship because your dream is to marry your gay lover. Would that be fair? Or perhaps it is because your dream is to wear dress covered in satanic verses.

---

Improper analogy fallacy. If this fellow who has his/her scholarship denied because s/he is a NAZI then that would be a proper analogy.

Quote:

---

Christmas is a term that is constantly attacked by the ACLU, anytime a Government agency is involved such as Schools. I guess it's because you can't spell Christmas without "Christ".

---

Or maybe because its the birth of a 2000 year old carpenter who was a non-violent resistance martyr against an Empire that fell 1550 years ago and since then his cult has aimlessly wandered throughout the world. :eek:

Quote:

---

I think the swastika would have been allowed under free speech, but a cross would have been banned under separation of church and state.

---

Actually the swastika is an ancient religious symbol, as well ;)