High School Barred Students From Commemorating 9/11 Over ‘Racial Insensitivity’

Students at Eastlake High School in the city of Sammamish had organized and planned to simply wear red, white and blue clothing to a patriotic-themed football game, but were told by school administrators that it would be “racially insensitive”, Zero Hedge pointed out 

A local media report said the patriotic commemoration was shut down because American flag colors might “unintentionally cause offense to some who see it differently” – and that specifically it could be could be “racially insensitive and offend some people.”

A school principal had reportedly sent an email to parents explaining that while the school understands “sacrifice and values our flag represents,” but ultimately that school leadership “just did not want to unintentionally cause offense to some who see it differently.”

Later the school district’s communications director claimed there wasn’t enough time before the game to let everyone know about the patriotic-themed event. The school also at one point suggested the display could cause offense to the other team without enough advanced warning.

“Since it was not a home game, there was no opportunity to have an announcement about Patriots Day and to share why students were dressed in red, white and blue,” communication director Shannon Parthemer was cited in local reports as saying.

In other words, the school i worried that the colors of the American flag could trigger people, and therefore the flag literally needs a “trigger warning”.

A local conservative talk radio show further captured the fierce pushback among much of the student body as follows:

Ryan Ware is the Eastlake senior class president and member of the football team. He said students were eager to wear red, white, and blue clothes and were disappointed by the school administration’s decision.

“We disagreed and were extremely disappointed. I couldn’t believe their reasoning,” Ware explained to the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.

One other student noted the hypocrisy on display. The school is about inclusivity — just not when it comes to representing the country?

“I was instantly upset, and frustrated,” one student emailed. “If Eastlake is all about including everyone’s beliefs and being together as a ‘family,’ then why are we being told we can’t represent the country we live in? I have seen other [Lake Washington School District] football teams that held a flag or did some sort of memorial recognition towards 9/11, but apparently we weren’t allowed to even wear USA colors.”