Administrators with a small-town school in Arkansas say students are starting trouble by flying Confederate flags from their trucks, and they need to take them down or face suspension.
The students of Waldron High School say they’re proud of their heritage, and aren’t flying the flags to be offensive, The Blaze reported. But top dogs at the school say the flags can be seen as offensive and discriminatory and that they can’t be flown on campus grounds any longer.
“We tried to fight it, until they were going to suspend us for three to 10 days or give us zeros,” said one student flag-flyer, to the local KFSM. “We were kind of shocked. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
Students tried to rally near the school — with a mass waving of Confederate flags — and even had local residents turn out for the event, The Blaze reported. But to no avail. School superintendent Gary Wayman told students that the flags were prohibited from the parking lot and that those who didn’t abide the policy would be punished.
“What they are trying to do is take all our rights away,” said one student. “We are just showing that [we] are proud to be where we live.”
And another said, to the local press: “Everyone around here rallied up and stuff. I mean, people support us. It just shows we’re good ol’ country boys down here.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.