No Confederate Flag Clothing For Anderson Students, For Now
Monday, May 12, 2008
By Melissa Keeney
Anderson County students hoping to wear clothing sporting the Confederate Flag to school, can leave the clothes at home. In a meeting Monday night, District 4 Superintendent Dr. Gary Burgess, removed a proposal that would have altered the district’s dress code to allow such clothing.
In memos sent to the district’s Board of Trustees, Burgess wrote that he didn’t feel it was "appropriate to place a general ban on the image of the Confederate Battle Flag being worn on articles of clothing or accessories." Instead, Burgess wanted to deal with students who wore the flag on an individual basis.
The President of the Anderson chapter of the NAACP showed up at Monday’s meeting, to protest Burgess’ proposal. Gloria Plotnik says she feels like allowing such clothing would be distracting to African-American students. "We need to create an environment that’s peaceful for students, not a place where they feel like they need to defend themselves daily."
In removing the proposal, Burgess simply said he and school administrators felt it was best to leave the dress code "as is."
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