Mom's dress code protest attracts KKK

[rainbow4321]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=f3753a2f64373d6c


Lisa Whiteside, whose son was a senior at Bullitt Central High School, in Shepherdsville, began her protests outside school after learning last week that two Muslim girls were allowed to wear a hijab, a head scarf that covers the hair and neck.

The dress code prohibits headwear, but the school attorney said federal protections of religious garments such as hijabs override the dress code.

Whiteside said her son was given an in-school suspension for wearing a white button-down shirt because the school dress code calls for polo-style shirts, reported the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal Monday.

The mother's protest last week attracted Ku Klux Klan members, some clad in white robes and carrying Confederate flags. Whiteside said when her son was turned away from school Thursday for wearing a t-shirt that said FBI and Firm Believer In Christ, she said she moving her son to another school.

[mike_c]

1. we need a government Ministry of Sheer Ugliness...

...to give these people medals and the recognition they deserve.

[The Sheik]

2. This actually is pretty funny.The whole situation.

This kind of situation belongs in a movie.

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. Maybe she should homeschool her son

To protect him from the world.

[WindRavenX]

4. I don't get it

Why do people freak out about wearing a head scarf or wearing a crucifix? Really, I don't get it.

[Jamastiene]

6. I don't either.

I also don't get school dress codes. Some say it is supposed to remove stigma from poor kids, but it doesn't.

[MADem]

8. The only way that will work

...is if you go to school UNIFORMS. They remove stigma, and in some schools, once kids leave, they donate their uniforms to the office and they can be slid to the poorer kids who don't have as many changes. Some public schools do this, not enough, though, IMHO.

Dress codes are just a way for adults within the school system to not have to do "proper attire" corrections on the fly. Here are the parameters, stay within them or out you go. But the parameters mean less to the kids than the LABELS on the clothes, and most of the adults are slow to break that code. The kids know the difference between the crappy sneakers and the cool ones, the designer clothes and the knock-offs.

I like school uniforms. Kids don't like them, but hey, that's a sacrifice they can make--at least they don't have to walk five miles to school in two feet of snow, like WE did back in THE OLD DAYS (snicker). It's easier on parents, too. A smart administrator would include headgear (scarves and baseball caps, e.g.) as part of the uniform, that would take the whole "hijab" or any other head covering issue away--it's a uniform item, make it work with the items you are given!

A youngster in my larger family goes to a private school where they have uniforms. They aren't fancy, they're from LL Bean, I think. The parents can get them by mail order, or on line, and they do have a program where parents can donate uniforms that their kids have outgrown. The kids wear polo-type shirts (they have short and long sleeves) in the school colors with the school logo embroidered on them, and khaki trousers or shorts (they live in the Carribean). They have hats, sweaters, and other assorted accessories as well.

The biggest advantage is that there is NO ISSUE about what to wear to school. No whining, no crying, no "take that off" or "you are NOT wearing THAT!" It also saves a helluva lot of time in the morning!

[KDLarsen]

11. Pft, only TWO feets of snow?

.. when my dad was a boy, he & his sibligns had to walk 2 miles to school in SIX feet of snow, wearing only hay-filled clogs & sharing a tennis racket as a snow shoe :D

[MADem]

12. Ahhh, but that two feet was in PUERTO RICO!!!!! n/t

:evilgrin:

[KDLarsen]

15. We're in Denmark..

.. snow is even more rare here :+

[Spinzonner]

14. What, your dad didn't have to climb a glacier

to get to school ?

[KDLarsen]

16. No glaciers in Denmark, I'm afraid!

.. he did have to bypass a couple of roe fields :P

[Dhalgren]

21. At least ya' had clogs!

When I was a boy, we had to walk 10 miles to school in twelve feet of snow - bare foot! We had to eat glass on the floor and read our books by the light of our burning hair! And we loved it!

[KDLarsen]

29. Pfftt, at least you had hair!

:+

[Ilsa]

26. I like the uniforms to some extent as well, for the reasons

you mention. I have to admit, though, that I like the idea of having some variety of color (of polo shirts) the kids can wear. Of course, that probably means some kids will use certain colors to create groups. Ugh.

[Ravenseye]

27. Cause They're Racist..

Sexist...Ethnocentric...you name it.

See there's a difference with the headscarf though. According to their religion, they HAVE to wear it, otherwise they're indecent. As far as a crucifix, or a t-shirt that says "I dig Jesus", it's not imperative that they wear it for their religion.

It'd be like saying to an orthodox jew that they had a haircut code for boys and they needed to get their hair cut before they could come to school.

Stupid rules. I'm for school uniforms, with exceptions made for religious purpouses, disablities, or what have you.

[Jonathan_Hoag]

28. No it is not ...

nowhere in the Koran does it say that they have wear a hijab. Only that they have to wear "modestly". Which is open to interpretation - a muslim woman could go to a nude beach and still claim that she is being modest by the standards of the place.

Dress codes should apply to everyone equally. Freedom of religion should not mean that religion is given a special accomodation and that those with secular lifestyles are disadvantaged.

[Ravenseye]

33. It is interpretation however...

...it's the same with almost all religion.

The point though is that if the two sides here are a muslim girl who wants to wear a hijab, and a christian boy who wants to wear a t-shirt which says "I dig Jesus", and the dress code says no 't-shirts' and 'no hats', you can't honestly compare the hijab to the t-shirt?

One is an individual expressing something of his own personal choice, the other is an indvidual trying to follow their interpretation of what is right according to their religion.

Let the girl wear the hijab, and make the boy wear a proper shirt. In my opinion, if he wants to wear a crucifix that should be fine as well, as long as it isn't 'bling bling'. :)

[bushisanidiot]

34. Freedom of religion means that we respect eachother's differences

if wearing headware is the custom for the muslim religion and the muslim girl wants to keep in custom, then let her. what's the big hairy deal? why do repukes get so up in arms if anyone other than a christian chooses to follow their religious beliefs?

the kid wearing the FBI - Firm Believer in Christ shirt wasn't wearing that to follow christian custom. that shirt was an opinion meant to be "in your face". whereas wearing the headware/headress is merely a custom and not meant to push a religious agenda.

[Pinboy]

5. What were the KKK protesting . . .

. . . THEIR dress code?????

[diamond14]

9. Howell Michigan had a KKK robe sale...coming soon to YOUR neighborhood

ever since bush* stole OUR White House, these vile people keep coming out of the woodwork....and because of bush*, it's all OK again...KKK, BRING IT ON, KILL all the MUSLIMS...it's the whole bush* agenda....




Gary Gray, owner and auctioneer at Ole Gray Nash Auction House, holds a sword while standing in front of several Ku Klux Klan robes and other paraphernalia that he plans on auctioning off on Saturday, in Howell, Mich., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005. The robes, knives, books and buttons are reminiscent of a past this community would rather forget. It's been more than a decade since a notorious KKK leader who lived in the area died. But the upcoming auction has exposed raw nerves in a community that says it is a welcoming place to minorities, yet has very few living there. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

[marmar]

7. Those wild and crazy Red State people ...

what would Jerry Springer do without 'em?!?

[Voltaire99]

10. Slogans for his next t-shirt...

Whiteside said when her son was turned away from school Thursday for wearing a t-shirt that said FBI and Firm Believer In Christ, she said she moving her son to another school.


Every little fascist needs a change of clothes. May I recommend:

"Gestapo For Jesus"

"Where's Your ACLU Now, Beeyotch?"

"Abu Ghraib ~ 2004 Spring Break"

[Mystified]

35. Fascist?

The kid believes in Jesus and that makes him a fascist in your eyes? Unbelievable.

[clown]

13. Doesn't say mom supports KKK

The article linked to doesn't say that the mom supports, or wants the support of, the KKK, it just says they came out in support of her. It also doesn't say whether or not the mother has a problem with the two girls wearing the hijabs per se, or if she is just angered by what she sees as a double standard. In-school suspension seems a bit harsh for wearing a button down shirt when the rule calls for a polo style, I don't even see why the school has such a rule, anybody know? As for the t-shirt, I think I can see where both sides are coming from, a t-shirt, unlike a hijab, is not a religious item that has been part of the religion for centuries, but at the same time, if they can wear a hijab, does it really matter if he wears a t-shirt that says firm believer in Christ? Then again, it seems as though the kid has had multiple run-ins with the school, they may have finally gotten fed up with him. The article really doesn't give that much information.

[GiovanniC]

32. My Fiance's Kids Go To That School

Although they are in the elementary school, not high school. Boys wear khakis and polo shirts. Girls are the same except I think they can also wear skirts.

I have never been a huge fan of dress codes but I have got to say that it is very impressive to see all these kids dressed so sharply. And Bullitt County has a high population of low-income families (my fiance actually works for a government subsidized housing complex and there are so many who have so little). The dress code equalizes these kids but still allows them to have some amount of personal choice (shirt colors, for instance). But it does also stifle the free expression that I had when choosing clothing when I was going through adolescence.

For them, I prefer the dress codes... but if it was me in school, I would have hated it. I can definitely see both sides of that issue.

[BiggJawn]

17. Good.

"...she said she moving her son to another school."

Plenty of church schools where they'll welcome the little racist with open arms.

But Whiteside will start yelling for vouchers to pay for it.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. I don't see any evidence that the kid is a racist. Nor do I see

anything to show his mom is a racist. Where do you get that idea?

[BiggJawn]

25. Because she complained about the Hajib.

People have had the "Race Card" taped to them for less around here...

[DemBones DemBones]

18. IMO, this is the weirdest part of the story:

"Whiteside said her son was given an in-school suspension for wearing a white button-down shirt because the school dress code calls for polo-style shirts, reported the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal Monday."

ISS for wearing a white button-down shirt???

The way the article reads to me, the kid got ISS for wearing a white button-down shirt just because the dress code specifies polo shirts. I'm sure the code specializes polo shirts to prevent kids from wearing tee shirts, not to ban regular shirts. So why was he punished for wearing a regular shirt? His mother felt -- and I agree -- that it was wrong to punish him for wearing a regular shirt. It's wrong by itself, doesn't matter about Muslim girls being allowed to wear headcoverings.


As a separate, larger issue, I think we are going to see a lot more problems relating to kids not being allowed to wear tee shirts with Christian slogans to school when Muslims are allowed to wear religious headcoverings. As a Christian, I hate those cheesy "Christian" tee shirts but some kids want to wear them.

[Nimrod]

20. This is the hard part

Before any policy is set we desperately need some educated and intelligent people to sit down and hypothetically take it to the most ridiculous extreme imaginable - because Americans will inevitably take it there.

For example - I am all for the Muslim girls being allowed to wear their scarves, and Christians (regardless of bent) being allowed to wear their own religious symbols. But with that standard, SOME lovely example of humanity is going to march to school wearing his "God Hates Fags" t-shirt and call it freedom of religion, with his devoted parents howling about how terribly he's being persecuted when told to change clothes.

There's ALWAYS somebody pushing something to the screaming limit. Ever since legal-ese replaced common sense issues like this have become more and more mucked up.

[VelmaD]

22. Let's be very very clear about the hijab..it is NOT

a religious symbol. It is not required by islam. Many muslim women around the world do not wear the hijab if they are lucky enough to live in a country (or family) that doesn't require it (or worse).

The hajib and other women's clothing we think of as "muslim" are purely a regional cultural matter - hence the fact that women must be covered from head to toe in Saudi Arabia while being free to wear anything they like in Indonesia.

It's not about religion...it's about whether or not the men in a particular society want a means of subjugating women and making them something less than fully human. All the Koran requires is that women AND men dress modestly. Someone somewhere needs to explain to me how a hijab (or chador or abaya or burkha) is required for a woman to be modest but men can wear whatever they want. :eyes:

I'll say it again...it is NOT about relgion; it's about male power over the tiniest detail of women's lives.

[Stuckinthebush]

23. Bingo!

It is a male power game.

[Bridget Burke]

24. Yes, your opinion is very clear.

Why are women in the US expected to cover their breasts? Men aren't. Aren't our breasts being eroticized because of the patriarchial culture?

Nonetheless, most of us prefer to keep our shirts on. If the Muslim girls prefer to wear hijab, let them. Muslim men are also expected to dress modestly. You will not see observant Muslim men running around in tiny jogging shorts, or shirtless.

[Jonathan_Hoag]

31. And if a secular guy prefers ...

to wear a baseball cap or something, let him as well.
That ability to chose should be given to all or none. It is wrong to say Muslims can cover their head but noone else can because it is against the dress code.

[GiovanniC]

30. Oh My God... My Fiance Lives There!

Damn that's a small world. Why am I somehow not surprised that this is happening there?