Public school officials in Sacramento, California have forced a 13-year old kid to remove the American flag from his bike. But those officials are defending their action as a move to avoid racial tension.Denair Unified School District Superintendent Edward Parraz argues, "Our Hispanic, you know, kids will, you know, bring their Mexican flags and they'll display it, and then of course the kids would do the American flag situation, and it does cause kind of a racial tension which we don't really want. We want them to appreciate the cultures."
Appreciate the cultures? Mr. Parraz, despite American citizens coming from several ethnic, religious and racial "cultures," Sacramento is in the United States. The flag that flies outside your school building is the American flag, not the Mexican one. The Mexican flag is displayed outside the schools and public buildings of that nation, not ours.
Wait a second. For all I know, Mr. Parraz may have ordered the American flag removed from outside the schools in his district as well. After all, we don't want any racial tension.
It is scandalous that such irrationality is exhibited by a school superintendent. But it gets worse.
"(The) First Amendment is important," Parraz said. "We want the kids to respect it, understand it, and with that comes a responsibility."
Parraz, of course, is using words without meaning here. He's trying to sound high-minded about the First Amendment while completely denying its application -- at least on school property. So, incredibly, he acts as if it is his regard for the First Amendment that justifies his outright denial of it.
The facts are clear here. Mr. Parraz is afraid of the American flag. He is afraid of a kid's natural patriotism. He is afraid of the U.S. Constitution. And he is afraid to admit that his school system (steeped as it is in goofy and counter-productive political correctness) is unable to teach genuine respect, civility or tolerance.
And so, just as Mr. Parraz will wave on kids who can't read or write or do mathematics at the levels they should, he will also wave on into young adulthood those who have never been taught an understanding of America's history, values and unique greatness.
His students -- and our country -- will be all the worse for the craven ineptitude of he and so many others like him in government education.
Here is a UPI report and here is a local TV video clip.
