Principal Lifts Ban on Flag Shirts

By Allison L. Bruce
Of The Post and Courier Staff

Summerville, SC -- Some students at DuBose Middle School can pull their Confederate flag shirts out of the drawer Monday now that a ban has been lifted.

A letter to students Friday says they will be allowed to wear shirts bearing the flag again, as long as they do not "denigrate another racial group or cause disruptive behavior in the school thus causing an unsafe environment."

For the parent of one DuBose Middle student, the letter was a victory.   "This is exactly what I was hoping would happen," said Kim Bokern, who took  issue with the ban after her daughter was taken out of class for wearing a T-shirt with the Confederate flag.

Principal Raymond Burke imposed the ban after several students wore Dixie Outfitters shirts to school that incorporated the Confederate flag with a picture of black people picking cotton.

The shirts offended some students by tying the Confederate flag to the degradation of a race, Burke said, and they created unrest at the school.  For him, that made it a safety issue.

With dress codes left up to the discretion of principals, Burke had the school district's support.

The issue came to a head when eighth-grader Kelly Bokern came to school after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday wearing a shirt that incorporated the Confederate flag and the South Carolina state flag on the back.  Bokern said she was threatened with in-school suspension if she did not change her shirt.  She eventually was given another shirt by the office and sent back to class.

District officials could not be reached for comment Friday night, but a copy of Burke's letter offers an explanation for why the ban was axed.

"During the past school years, DuBose Middle School has attempted to create an environment wherein children feel safe and have a strong sense of positive belonging," the letter reads. "The school's dress code was established to help ensure safety.  However, the events over the past couple of weeks have overshadowed the school's initial focus on safety replacing it with media hype, creating unnecessary anxiety and consuming valuable energy that should be directed towards student instruction and achievement."

The situation drew the attention of the Southern Legal Resource Center, which has handled Confederate flag cases.

The Bokerns joined fellow parent Mellie Brown, whose daughter was given in-school suspension in October for wearing a Confederate shirt, to protest the ban.  Working with the Southern Legal Resource Center, several families are forming a local chapter of the League of the South to provide a support group to other students who may face similar situations.

Kim Bokern mentioned a letter to the editor that advised her daughter to "sit back on the couch and get used to it."  She said the experience showed her daughter how important it is to stand up for her beliefs.

"I think it shows her that, no matter what the outcome, if you believe in something, you fight for it," Kim Bokern said.

PLEASE SEND YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO:

SOUTHERN LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER
PO BOX 1235
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC 28711