Throughout American history, wearing American flag attire has been seen as an act of patriotism and pride for the good old U.S.A. Long a symbol of freedom, diversity, bravery, and innovation, the flag has sadly turned into a zone of controversy. To wit, some overly sensitive individuals in the public square are trying to put an end to wearing the national colors — red, white, and blue. This recently happened at a high school basketball game in Iowa. No kidding.
At the recent game between Valley High School and North High School in Des Moines, things got nasty. The intensity was not the result of the game, but of Valley High School’s patriotic jerseys. Many students from North High School took offense to Valley High’s American flag attire, according to The Blaze. Why was offense taken? The American flag attire was seen as an attack on the diversity of the school’s students and families — especially their refugee families.
Really?
North High School’s assistant basketball coach stated that Valley High’s jerseys were blatantly offensive to the diverse student body of North High School. Regarding the offensive attire, North High School’s assistant basketball coach asked, “What the hell were these kids thinking?” One North High School graduate agreed, declaring that Valley High’s attire was bigoted, as noted by the Daily Caller.
According to KCCI Des Moines, a sophomore student from North High School also expressed discontent over Valley High’s American flag attire and stated that the attire was offensive because “everyone knows North is a more diverse school.” The words of this sophomore student raise the question of who the social science teachers are at North High School? Why should the symbolism behind our flag contradict diversity? The U.S. is the world’s biggest and greatest melting pot.
How dare students at Valley High School celebrate the country that granted safety to the refugee families at North High School? With students and families from North High School attempting to oppress students’ freedom of expression to wear American attire, one must wonder from which school are the real bigots?
Valley High School later issued a statement apologizing for their alleged deplorable offense of wearing American flag attire, but also noted that they had worn the jerseys for past games with other high schools, according to The Des Moines Register. To believe that Valley High School wore the American flag jerseys for bigoted reasons shows that many of those at North High School have quite the racist mindset.
