It all started when a bunch of Indiana high schoolers drove to school in a caravan Aug. 30 — with their vehicles flying Confederate flags.
Seems that disturbed some fellow students at Lapel High School, the Indianapolis Star reported. And adding to the tension was the fact that the rebellious teens — about two dozen of them — also wore clothing emblazoned with Confederate flags, the paper said.
So school officials had a little talk with their offending pupils.
"We sat down and spoke to each student one-on-one and discussed the situation and what their intentions were," Principal Chad Kemerly told the Star. "They said they were trying to support the Southern heritage of the flag and not people’s opinion of what the flag may stand for."
Kemerly told the paper: "We talked about the Southern heritage, and that for many people, that flag stands for racism. We emphasized they need to know what the message [is] they’re sending."
The administration let the students wear their Confederate flag clothes all day, the principal told the Star, adding that while there were no altercations or incidents, "people were upset."
But the students did their whole Confederate flag clothing thing again the very next day, the paper reported.
And this time Kemerly told the Star that "it caused a disruption. We weren't able to carry on some classes as usual. There were discussions in the hallways taking place that shouldn't have been taking place."
Lapel High School Principal Chad Kemerly (Image source: WXIN-TV video screenshot)
So school officials responded by banning such clothing in the dress code, the paper said — the majority being T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring the Confederate flag. No students were disciplined, the Star reported.
“The banning of this symbol isn’t because of the symbol; it’s because of the disruption in school," Kemerly added to WXIN-TV. "It could be any symbol or any action for that matter, if it’s something that’s prohibiting the education environment, interfering with the sanctity of the learning environment, we have to do something."
The principal told the paper that of the school's 450 students, eight are black.
One of those black students, sophomore Morgan Knepp, told WXIN she stayed home one day because of hostility in the hallways, saying the atmosphere “made me feel like I didn’t belong there."
Morgan Knepp (Image source: WXIN-TV video screenshot)
“We go to school to feel comfortable, to learn, and to feel like it’s a safe place," she added to the station. "Yes, [the Confederate flag] is a part of history, but there are some parts of history we don’t need to bring back up and repeat."
Junior Jaden Vanalstyne told WXIN he doesn't agree with the Confederate flag ban and believes it's part of history.
“I think it’s kind of gotten out of hand the way it’s at now," he told the station. "I wish it would’ve never gotten to that and I’m sorry people took it as racism."
Jaden Vanalstyne (Image source: WXIN-TV video screenshot)
Kemerly — who grew up in Lapel, which is about 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis, and is a 1999 graduate of the high school — told the Star that Lapel is "not a racist community."
(H/T: EAGNews)
