So what? The action they did take was inappropriate. I hope the kids sue the school for kicking them off campus.

This is only the latest of political correctness gone wrong in the US...

Especially when the school says it would have been OK on any other day.

The bandanas may have been a violation of the National Flag Act, but I have not seen pictures of them so until we do we can't really say if that was "disrespecting" of the flag in a more legal sense.

How bout this one? Is this a violation or is just his spelling?

You tell me.

"No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations."
36 USC 10 §176(j)

"The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way."
36 USC 10 §176 (e)

"The flag should never be used as wearing apparel..."
36 USC 10 §176 (d)

I'm not a flag waving rah rah kind of guy, but if these people pretend to be, then they should follow the rules.

One could argue that a bandana or t-shirt printed with a flag design is not "The flag".

I don't care either way myself... but I think the school fucked up.

Jinx beat me to it.
They were not wearing the flag - they were wearing T-shirts. Totally different issue.
What if they were using pencils with the flag on them in class? How about wearing a tie, a pin, socks, glasses... the list is virtually endless.

What is "a flag?"

You can get into the whole legal definition, but the bottom line is that the flag is a symbol of our country. These guys wore these shirts for the symbolic reasons. They meant for them to be flags.

Yes I agree with you that they were wearing flag stuff for symbolic purposes, and those purposes are being debated with regards to political correctness/immigration/tolerance/etc.... I don't agree that they were wearing and therefore being disrespectful to The Flag.

"The Flag" means a real flag made and printed to be a flag, not a picture of the flag printed on T-shirts or otherwise.

We'll have to disagree on that point. Your link doesn't say what a flag is, or how a flag is constructed, it says what a flag looks like. You can make a flag intended for flying by printing the design on a sheet of polyester or by sewing strips of cotton fabric together and embroidering the stars. You can print one on paper and glue it to a stick to wave in your hand. You can enamel one onto metal to wear as a pin. You can put it on an iron-on patch to apply to a uniform. How is silk screening one onto a t-shirt in the proper proportions suddenly not a flag?

Damn it. I didn't want to have this conversation. I really don't give a shit.

:lol:

Yeah, we're still disagreeing. I think it's a symbol of a symbol... no one does or is expected to maintain their flag t-shirt or pin to the same standards as an actual flag. It's ok if they get dirty and worn or touch the ground etc.. no one would be bothered by that. And ever since the popularity of Tommy Hilfiger, who doesn't have some form of flag clothing or something. Holding these boys to a different standard is nitpicking imo.

Would it be appropriate to send people away from an event or state building for wearing a tshirt with a mexican or canadian or latvian flag on the 4th of July? I don't think so, so why was this move ok? I think that's what the real debate should be about.
Why would mexicans be offended by american flags or boys showing defiant amercican pride on mexican independence day - the 2 things are just not related unless there is underlying animosity. Why didn't the school address this in some positive way - and try to promote mutual understanding? Why didn't they send the angry mexicans away also, if anyone, instead of just the defiant americans?

i have american flag swim trunks.

HAD> jinx threw them away.

They offended me.

Yes it did.

Depends on the situation. We have no idea who these kids are or how they act. I am probably biased, but I have a feeling these kids are like the kids at my school who drove around with a Confederate flag on their car during Martin Luther King Day.....in Wisconsin.

If these kids just happened to wear a shirt or bandanna with the American flag on it, then the school should have handled it better.

If the kids wore it as a big fuck you to the Mexican American population, which I am assuming it was, then I completely agree with the school's decision. It isn't ideal, but putting myself in their place, I would rather force someone to change their shirt then deal with some race related fights, which I know happen at other places.