02/06/2017 / By Don Wrightman
A middle school American History teacher has been forced to retire after displaying the confederate flag during a civil war history lesson. Woody Hart, the 70-year old instructor at Suttle Middle School in Rancho Cordova, California, was reportedly forced by the Board of Education to resign from his duties. Hart displayed a Confederate Flag on one side of the classroom and a Union flag on the opposite side. Students in the classroom were each assigned to a side, comprising the armies for reenactment. (RELATED: Find more Civil War news at Civilwar.news)
It’s unjust that Hart was practically terminated for displaying the Confederate Flag during a related history lesson. The students’ textbooks also showed the same flag, but the school hasn’t announced any plans to pull the textbooks. Hart last drew a complaint in November for discussing how poorly blacks were historically treated during segregation. The topic generated a complaint from a black family whose child felt embarrassed.
The school district doesn’t care that the flag was used in the civil war, they simply didn’t want the students to see it, even though it appears in their textbooks. The school district went on to release this statement regarding the matter: “We recognize that regardless of context, to many of our students, families, and staff, the Confederate flag is a racist symbol of hate. Although this matter is under investigation, it is important to reiterate: Any employee who is found to engage in behavior that creates an unsafe environment for students will face full consequences, including the possibility of initiating termination proceedings.” The district’s superintendent went on to express that this wasn’t an attempt to limit free speech, but to express their disapproval with the culturally inappropriate strategy Hart had employed. (RELATED: Find more censorship news at Censorship.news)
The Confederate Flag is a symbol of Southern culture. It was designed to be a Christian symbol of St. Andrew’s cross, with added stars and a red background to resemble the Scottish Flag. Many Southerners were of Scottish decent. The Confederate Flag was never the formal flag of the Confederate Congress, but it did make appearances on the Civil War battlefield. This is not the first time the Folsom Cordova school District has acted to sensor history. Those who condemn the Confederate Flag for its use by racist organizations fail to see that those organizations also fly the American Flag.
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Tagged Under: American civil war, Censorship, history