Expression. Expression is a word that means something. It is a word that has grit. It is a word that puts the pulp in your orange juice. It's a word that you can chew on. When you talk to someone about expression, more than likely the person will talk about their own inalienable rights. Things like the freedom of expression. The freedom of speech. But there is no freedom of expression anymore. Our world has become too damn politically correct. We are all worried that something we say is going to piss someone else off. So here I go blatantly setting myself up for someone to get mad at me with this tyrrannical rant about our lack of freedom. And I, like everyone else, worry that this may piss some people off... but I have to say it.
I consider myself to be quite liberal when it comes to certain things, I really do, but I must say that we are almost under a regime when it comes to our governmental/ ruling system. I can't help but think of the hypocrisy of our system when I hear that the school system that neighbors my own tells their students that they cannot wear the American flag because some people might find it offensive. This is completely and utterly preposterous. The basic understanding of this "flag" situation, in Sampson County, NC, is that students cannot wear flags of any kind because some students don't like the other flags. What's good for one 'flag' must be good for all.
They are saying for example that: Latino students don't want to see the American flag. Mexican students don't want to see the Honduras flag. Puerto Rican students don't want to see the Costa Rican flag. The black students don't want to see the Confederate flag.
Now this to me is a haulting point in the road of someone wanting to express their love and admiration for a specific place or object. If a girl is from Mexico, let her freely express her love for Mexico by wearing a shirt with the flag on it. If a young man sees no hatred in the Confederate flag but merely loves the place that it represents to him, let him where it. But the problem with this is, is that you run into students wanting to be more and more controversial. They want to wear shirts that represent gangs, have naked women on them, have beer labels or drug references. These kinds of things can be argued in the principal's office, thus why the school system just says no to anything that could be used to argue a student wearing something too controversial.
So why do I understand it? Well I am a school teacher, and I see the amount of 'heat' that a Mexican student has over a Honduras flag. I see how much a black student hates the Confederate flag. I see how much hatred can emit from a Blood gang member seeing a "blue flag" hanging out of the pocket of a Crip gang member but stopping a person from wearing this is consequently a violation of our inalienable right to a little thing c? Me not being able to wear my favorite pink Polo shirt because a woman that I work with finds it offensive for men to wear pink? Its not too far in the future I am sure.
But I do understand where you the school system is coming from. I hypocritically understand with regard to how important it is for a student to understand whom he or she is and less worried about the appearance of the person in front of them. The students should be more focused on the paper or book that is lying on the desk. I think that students and parents alike need to not be worried so much about how disrespectful it would be to wear an American flag shirt on September 11th, and have more worry on the fact that they can't conjugate a verb.
*Link to the story: http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=7058873&nav=menu157_2_2
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