Flag on the Play: Are Students’ Social Movement Flags the Newest Concern for Schools?

When they’re not debating critical race theory in schools, they are fighting about you guessed it: flags. Or maybe you didn’t guess because I sure didn’t.

On Tuesday, the school board in Newburg, Ore., voted to ban Black Lives Matter and Pride flags, as well as any flags or paraphernalia that suggest support for political and social causes. This comes after “concerned parents” were worried about a resolution passed by the Oregon Department of Education’s Black Lives Matter in October 2020 that would supported LGBTQ+ students.

According to the Associated Press, the board created a three person committee to decide what is political or not. Sounds fair.

From AP,

Supporters of the flags said they made students feel seen and help students who are being bullied, while supporters of the ban said the signs were “divisive,” and that signs don’t make people feel safe.

Discussion and votes on drafting “replacement language” on the district’s new anti-racism policy and rescinding the district’s “Every Student Belongs” policy, was moved to the district’s next board meeting. If the board votes to roll back “Every Student Belongs,” the district would be in violation of state standards.

But that’s not all!

In Florida, the Duval School Board finally voted in favor of a settlement in the civil lawsuit brought against the district by one of their teachers.

Amy Donofrio sued the school district back in April claiming the district retaliated against the Robert E. Lee High School teacher and violated her right to free speech after she refused to remove a Black Lives Matter Flag from her classroom. According to NPR, she was reassigned to paid non-teaching duties for “misconduct allegations”.

And just in case you missed it!

On Wednesday, a Methodist campus ministry at Virginia Tech had its rainbow pride flags replaced with Confederate flags. Flag theft has been an ongoing issue at Virginia Tech as flags are flown to support social causes.

This is the third time the flags have been taken in the past few weeks. “Our Pride flags have been torn down before, but this active display of hate is unacceptable and malicious,” the ministry posted on Facebook, according to CNN.