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One of the last rebel strongholds

---Long Island?
"NY students suspended indefinitely for displaying Confederate flag"
Two Long Island high school students have been suspended indefinitely for allegedly bringing a Confederate flag to a sporting event.

Brother Gary Cregan, the principal at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, told WCBS-TV the boys walked into the after-hours sporting event with the flag draped around their shoulders.

"The African-American students who immediately saw it really exercised heroic restraint and fortunately a teacher immediately confiscated the flag and took the students out of the gym,” Cregan said.

The two seniors were initially suspended for 10 days, but Cregan decided Tuesday they won’t be allowed back, the station reported.

Cregan wrote a letter to their parents, telling them that the use of symbols “designed to revive past injustices or to inflame discrimination or racial intolerance, is completely unacceptable and profoundly offensive," Newsday reported.

“I find it just very hard to even imagine why any student in 2014 would even consider or think that a Confederate flag would be anything other than a symbol of hate,” Cregan told WCBS-TV.

While St. Anthony’s is a private Catholic school and generally not subject to First Amendment limitations, a New York Civil Liberties Union official said students be able to openly express their views, even those considered offensive.

“Our motto is more speech, not censorship or punishment,” NYCLU director Donna Lieberman told Brown told the station. “Helping children understand the impact of this patently offensive expressive activity.”

Cregan said there are limits to students' free speech rights.

“I certainly think this particular symbol of hate falls in the category of something that should be excised from our culture,” he said.

The students involved did not respond to WCB
S-TV's requests for comment.

Click here for more from WCBS‑TV.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/17/new-york-students-suspended-indefinitely-for-displaying-confederate-flag/

Click here for more from Newsday.
5 Responses
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Avatar universal
Love the history of the Civil War and reconstruction era.
Helpful - 0
206807 tn?1331936184
It’s nice to see that some people have actually studied The Civil War. It shocks me to think that most people believe the Civil War was solely based on Slavery. You can go to Wikipedia and connect the dots of the dates and realize something is not right with that picture.

I wear a Confederate Flag on my vest and I am not a Racist. There are Blacks in my family. If it offends some people because they won’t read a book, not my problem. I do however doubt these Long Island kids intent was to exercise their Free Speech in displaying their Southern Pride.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The swastika used many years ago in China was actually a good sign, then Nazi's took it and has been made into something bad. I find it funny that the white power groups use it against blacks as really it was used against Jews more then anyone. I know overall Hitler wanted the perfect race, but he was not mass murdering blacks or asians.
Helpful - 0
1310633 tn?1430224091
I had no idea that displaying the Confederate Flag is considered as taboo as displaying the Swastika (卐).

I'm curious if the 2 students did it purposefully, to incite some sort of racial disharmony, or if there was another reason. Me thinks there's more to this story...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Tough one on this because if you know the history of the Civil War then while slavery was an issue it was not the main issue why the Civil War happened. Today many people use that flag as pride for the south. Just has you will see people use the irish flag or puerto rican flag to show pride.
Would be nice to know what these kids were thinking/why they had the flag. Was it to incite something racial?
Helpful - 0
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