Chicago school forfeits football game because of Confederate flag display

[Nambe]

STRONGHURST, Ill. (AP)

A Chicago charter school with an overwhelmingly black student body forfeited a scheduled football game because the host team has a Rebel mascot who carries a Confederate flag. Now the state's high school association says it will investigate.

The team from the Longwood Campus of Chicago International Charter School was scheduled to play Saturday at Southern High School in the western Illinois town of Stronghurst.

But Longwood coach and athletic director Bill Ham said Southern coach Scott Dillard called Tuesday and asked if his school's Confederate flag ritual would bother the Longwood players, who are from Chicago's South Side. ---

Ham said Dillard told him later that the flag would be excluded from the game, but he said he and Longwood Director of Schools Robert Lang decided to forfeit anyway to make sure that there were no confrontations between fans of the two teams. ---

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[ginantonic40]

1. WTF?

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous.

[Atlant]

11. What's ridiculous? That some people stood on principle and opposed...

What's ridiculous? That some people stood on principle and opposed
the "traitors' and slavers' flag"?

Atlant

[Muddleoftheroad]

12. Living down south

You get used to seeing this flag. Lots of people, not just down here but everywhere in the U.S., fly that flag as a way of telling the federal government to shove it.

After a while, you get used to it.

[alcuno]

15. I'm in Chicago and I only see it down south and in rural areas.

The people in my community would be shocked to see it and would view it as a racist symbol.

[BiggJawn]

19. I Don't.

That's what the Gadsden Flag is for.
The "Stars and Bars" are so popular because "them uppity niggers don' like it" and that's all there is to it.

Farting in the general direction of the Fed has zilch to do with it.

[Melsky]

29. Would love to see

a high school with the Gasden flag as their mascot. That's the one with the snake that says DON'T TREAD ON ME.

[Timefortruth]

20. I live in the Deep South

and I do see it everywhere also, but my take on why it is displayed is different from yours. When I see it I immediately think the person displaying it is racist, if it were a simply a way to show disenchantment with government then African- Americans would display it also and that never happens. Yes, I can and do live with it, but it is a racist symbol.

[salin]

26. never mind

I had to reread the story - who brought the issue up (the team with the flag) and who ultimately forfeited (the chicago team).

[donsu]

27. they fly this vile flag because they are racist not because

they want to tell the gov. to shove it.

[jus_the_facts]

2. Yep....my alma mater still fly 'em proud too.....*gag*

:evilfrown:

[salin]

3. Forgive me... but just a year ago (or was it to)

wasn't there a bruhaha in a catholic school atheletic league in Chicago about white schools being afraid of playing at (or having fans come to their school)?

Note that it is the represenative from the white school with the flag that a) calls to ask if the charter school (urban) would have problems, then b) says they won't do their regular ceremonies (wtf are those?), the c) calls again and forfeits "just in case" there are problems over the schools symbols.

Could it be the same thing as the bottom line of the Catholic school bruhaha - that the school is harboring stereotypical fears and is working for an excuse to avoid the game?

Or, on the otherhand - could it be that someone is recognizing that the non-racist symbol of southern heritage could be interpreted by others as a racist symbol of slavery and recognizes that perception by the receiver is as legitimate as perception of the holder - even if the perceptions vary?

From either direction (the latter being much more charitable), the story is noteworthy.

[TahitiNut]

17. Symbols are mutable.

That's what makes 'em symbols. Folks could argue until they're blue in the face that the swastika is an ancient and respected symbol, with a history that dwarfs WW2. Nonetheless, I doubt many would see it as other than a symbol of hatred -- even though (assumedly) the vast majority of Germans really didn't think so at the time.

Whether principled 'rebels' like it or not, the confederate "X" has been adopted by racist groups. The symbol is thereby mutated by those attitudes and prejudices. (At one time, the KKK and the 'burning cross' was viewed positively by most. Watch "Birth of a Nation".)

[CShine]

4. That's funny.

This kind of thing would never happen down where I come from in Alabama. Wanna see some publicly displayed Confederate flags. Just drop in on my hometown. I can show you plenty. Nobody forfeits football games over any of that down here.

[wtmusic]

5. Just a matter of time...

[prolesunited]

6. Do you find that acceptable?

If so, could you explain why?

[alcuno]

16. Hi CShine,

The overwhelming majority of people in Chicago, be they black, white, or other, would not want to see the Confederate flag anywhere.

[Timefortruth]

22. That is only because they don’t have the power

to forfeit the games because of it. There is no doubt that it is a racist symbol and the fact that African-Americans in Alabama have to endure that sort of disrespect by the white community is a sad commentary about Alabama indeed. The fact that the Africian-American community can’t prevent the use of this horrific symbol should not imply that they support its use.

[psychopomp]

7. Reality

That banner is an emblem of our shameful American past and belongs on the tombs of fallen Confederate soldiers, gathering dust amongst the dead.

[wtmusic]

8. Along with hooded robes

and lawn jockeys.

[Guaranteed]

9. It's not just racist, it's treasonous n/t

[Cocoa]

14. that's a very good point

If we're going to talk symbolism, how do conservatives justify the glorification of secession, especially when patriotism is so big these days?

[theHandpuppet]

23. I agree...

And I have to wonder why a school in Illinois of all places -- the "Land of Lincoln" -- would have as its mascot a confederate holding a rebel flag. This is disgraceful!!!!! Do you think any schools in the South might have a black federal soldier waving Old Glory as their mascot? I think not.

Shameful, racist and disgraceful. This school ought to be ASHAMED.

[jus_the_facts]

24. REALITY: The *SONS* of Confederate Veterans are ALIVE but not well

.....in my community...they march to City Hall every chance they get to protest the Confederate flag being taken down...which was only a few short years ago....my high school are the Mighty West Monroe Rebels....there is a flag painted on the water tower...and it's customary to drive around the day of games with as many flags flyin' outta yer vehicle...and carried to games and waved proudly :puke:

....I am so ashamed to live in this cesspool of ignorance and hate...but but that's STILL THE REALITY :evilfrown: Sad but true :cry:

[NickDanger]

25. Ignorant people are everywhere

My hometown in NE Wisconsin has its version of Georgia Redneck.

[FireHeart]

10. You can hardly blame them.

The Confederate flag stands for slavery in all it's forms. There is no "higher" element to it. Flying that ugly thing is the same thing as the KKK and their robes. There IS no difference between the two.

I should know. I live (now) down South. I know how that flag is viewed--and slavery is the #2 link in it's long, long list of disgusting attributes.

[fishnfla]

13. They should just went in there and kicked their ass in football

strong, quiet, and full of pride, they should have just left it all out there on the field. teach 'em a lesson and some respect....

[Atlant]

18. There may have been genuine concern that they would have...

Given that the football teams are teenage boys, there may have been
genuine concern that they would have kicked more than just the
oppositions' asses and may have used methods other than moving the
football around the field tin order to do it.

That is, the adults may have concluded the kids (on either/both
sides) might become violent if provoked.

Atlant

[salin]

21. Except the other coach - forfeited the game - he didn't want

the kids from Chicago to come in and beat his kids on the field.

[salin]

28. Never mind - I misread the story

The coach from the flag's team raised the issue - then in response after talking with the students, the chicago team forfeited.

[theHandpuppet]

30. Here's Another Reason...

...that Confederate Battle Flags have no place in our schools, no more than Nazi swastikas, nor should the symbolism be trivialized.

Fort Pillow and the Confederate Battle Flag: Why this flag is a shameful symbol of RACISM! Here's an excerpt from an article to be found at: http://www.tnstate.edu/library/digital/BlacKs.htm

In the West Tennessee area, the USCT (United States Colored Troops) fought in the battles of Moscow, Brice's Crossroads, Memphis, Tupelo, and the Fort Pillow Massacre. At Fort Pillow (April of 1864), Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his larger army massacred black soldiers and black families who sought to escape or surrender. Forrest's racially motivated Confederate troops yelled and waved their pro-slavery symbol (the Confederate battle flag) and swore to give "no quarter" to former slaves who joined the Union army. After Fort Pillow, the Memphis USCT wore medal badges defiantly inscribed with the words, "Remember Fort Pillow". (Note: Nathan Bedford Forrest was the founder of the KKK!) -- poster

Tell me why ANY school would have a rebel soldier and the Confederate battle flag as their damn mascot! May I suggest some alternatives if a school wishes to adopt a Civil War soldier and flag as a "mascot":



or
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/fisher/black-troops.htm