# I Pit the administration of Live Oak High School **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521 "2010-05-06T15:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/181 "2010-05-08T03:19:25Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > I believe the article stated that they voluntarily went home to avoid punishment, not as punishment. Ah, so they were pulled out of class and _compelled under threat of punishment_ to go home. Well, no problem then. Why is this news? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/182 "2010-05-08T03:30:25Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If wearing the flag isn’t a problem on CdM, then the other stuff I’ve linked to should have incensed people as well. I hardly think that pink hair to show support for Breast Cancer Awareness would have lead to even one slap, let alone a riot, but I didn’t see anyone bitching about that situation. I’ve bitched about it when it happened before, and the fact I didn’t do it in this thread has no relevance. Also, congratulations, you’re making liberal democrats agree with Magellan. See what you do when you do stupid shit? Anything else I’d need to say has been said better by others. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/183 "2010-05-08T03:30:29Z")
I can’t believe this is still an issue. Cinco De Mayo = MEXICAN HOLIDAY The students protesting: AMERICANS Five students wearing American Flags: OK ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/184 "2010-05-08T03:35:42Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Ah, so they were pulled out of class and _compelled under threat of punishment_ to go home. Well, no problem then. Why is this news? :rolleyes: More reading, less posting. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/185 "2010-05-08T03:42:36Z")
I hear a whoosh. (And crickets.) ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/186 "2010-05-08T04:51:24Z")
Would it be considered trolling if they wore Canadian flags? Presumably it would be ok for the students to wear the American flag on any day other than May 5th, correct? Isn’t that some sort of discrimination when Mexican-Americans are given a special day where all expressions of nationality other than Mexican are repressed? Or is it ok because this is only one day out of the year? I just don’t see how something could be offensive only one day out of the year. That’s just ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/187 "2010-05-08T08:58:43Z")
Lets assume there is a real tension between the “mexican” students and “good old white oppressor american american” students at this high school. Enough to cause possible violence. Then WHY are the “mexicans” allowed to Cinco de Mayo all day long, when it is going to piss off the “americans” and possibly cause violence? If there wasnt enough social tension to stop the Cinco ers then IMO there wasnt enough to stop the American flag lovers either. My WAG is that “mexicans” were the majority and the vice principle’s last name had something to do with this loopsided viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/188 "2010-05-08T14:23:13Z")
Mexican-Americans make up about 40% of the students at LOHS. As I mentioned earlier, Morgan Hill is a bit odd for Santa Clara County in that it has few Asians or Blacks, so most of the other kids are White. Typically, Whites are not a majority in most cities or towns in Santa Clara County. Los Gatos is another outlier, but almost anywhere you go there are large numbers of Asian students. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/189 "2010-05-08T14:54:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My WAG is that “Mexicans” were the majority and the vice principal’s last name had something to do with this lopsided viewpoint. Odds are a VP named “Reynolds” or “Koothrapali” wouldn’t have made such a decision. Nice to see that the Principal was quick with the apology. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/190 "2010-05-08T15:56:14Z")
One other thing… Keep in mind that, especially in places like Morgan Hill, you see people of mixed background. In fact, the San Jose Merc reported today that 2 of the American Flag wearing kids were part Hispanic themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/191 "2010-05-09T00:14:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Funny thing is, if you know anything about Montebello High, there might be one or two Hispanics enrolled there. Plenty of ethnic Indians and Chinese, though. THe city is three quarters Hispanic. I suspect there are more than two in the high school. > [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > Would it be considered trolling if they wore Canadian flags? No. Why would it? > [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > I just don’t see how something could be offensive only one day out of the year. I don’t see that it should be considered offensive, but the kids wearing the patriotic clothes sure were trying to be. The administration acted stupidly, but the kids were tools and were trying to be provocative. Dim high school students sure can see why something might offend but you can’t? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/192 "2010-05-09T00:27:24Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Dim high school students sure can see why something might offend but you can’t? If someone wearing the flag of the country you are living in offends you, you might be better served by living somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/193 "2010-05-09T00:37:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If someone wearing the flag of the country you are living in offends you, you might be better served by living somewhere else. It is baffling how persons who self identify as a hyphen such as, Mexican-American, would ever feel “disrespected” by the American part of their OWN culture and heritage. Can someone please explain this to me? If I were to self identify as a Chinese-American, why the hell would I feel disrespected or upset if someone showed the American flag during a Chinese holiday? Makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/194 "2010-05-09T00:48:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If someone wearing the flag of the country you are living in offends you, you might be better served by living somewhere else. I’m with the OP in that I think administrators should know better than to punish kids speech that might happen to offend some other students. But don’t you think it might be going a little far to suggest that the kids who might be offended should pack their bags? It’s pretty easy to see how the flag shirts can be viewed as a sort of F U in this context, like holding a St. Patrick’s Day counter-march with American flags. Sure, the Irish marchers might be a little tightly wound if they get overly upset, but you can see where they would be coming from, no? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/195 "2010-05-09T00:52:45Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > THe city is three quarters Hispanic. I suspect there are more than two in the high school. :smack: My bad. I’m thinking Santa Clara County, and I confused it with Monte Vista high in Cupertino. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/196 "2010-05-09T01:49:29Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I’m with the OP in that I think administrators should know better than to punish kids speech that might happen to offend some other students. But don’t you think it might be going a little far to suggest that the kids who might be offended should pack their bags? It’s pretty easy to see how the flag shirts can be viewed as a sort of F U in this context, like holding a St. Patrick’s Day counter-march with American flags. Sure, the Irish marchers might be a little tightly wound if they get overly upset, but you can see where they would be coming from, no? Oh, I can see where they are coming from. But I still think they are wrong, and a bit tightly wound. Hell, I wear an orange shirt on St. Patrick’s Day. My Irish antecedents are all Northern Irish and Protestant! It’s like being an ex-pat in the UK and objecting to someone who wore a Union Jack to your 4th of July party. Silly to get upset. After all, I’m in their country. I’d just hand them a beer and ask them whether or not they wanted cheese on their burger. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/197 "2010-05-09T01:57:35Z")
The principal made a mistake, but not because he hated America or anything, he was just trying to avoid an altercation in the school. These kids with the flags were obviously just trying to troll, and then pull some innocent “What? What?” act, but it was misguided to send them home. Natural consequences (i.e, letting the douchebags get their asses kicked after school) would have been better. This just turned the little shits into martyrs and gave Fox News ammunition to cry persecution. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/198 "2010-05-09T02:00:40Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Then WHY are the “mexicans” allowed to Cinco de Mayo all day long, when it is going to piss off the “americans” and possibly cause violence? What does it mean to “Cinco de Mayo” (as a verb), and why would that be offensive to Americans? The Mexicano students ARE Americans, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/199 "2010-05-09T02:15:34Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > I agree. But some folks disagree. At least, they think this might have been an offensive time to wear what would normally be nonoffensive. If the shirts worn were those Old Navy T shirts with the American flag on them–I admit to being baffled by the actions of the vice principal. I don’t even see those shirts as patriotic, IMO, Old Navy uses the flag as part of their brand. The bandanas are a bit dubious–the HSs around here do not allow ANY headgear of any kind (orthodontic being the sole exception). The mom’s rationale about showing their “patriotism” seems to be trolling to me, but even if they were–wearing a shirt with the American flag on it is not inflammatory. If the shirt had said “Go home, wetbacks” or something insulting and racist like that–then yes, they should have been disciplined. I typically wear orange (or at least do not wear green) on St Patrick’s Day-I’m not Catholic and see no reason to celebrate a Catholic holiday(I am also Protestant Irish by ancestry but truly have no dog in The Troubles). This VP would have suspended me for sure. :rolleyes: This is the kind of PC shit that makes everyone involved look stupid: the kids, their parents, the school administration, and yes, even the Mexican heritage kids who seem to think that wearing an American flag on May 5 constitutes some kind of insult to them. All I can think is that what if you went to Palestine on a family vaca and got a souvenir Tshirt, then wore it on Yom Kippur–would you be threatened with suspension? What if some kid has an Iraqi soccer team jersey and wore it to school–what then? The whole thing’s ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521/200 "2010-05-09T02:45:04Z")
I think it was unlikely that it was PC shit, so much as the attitude (and likely known history) of those particular kids, not the garb, _per se_. I read somewhere that other kids wore American flags who were not sent home. I’d bet anything that these kids, in particular, were just being little dickwads. I’ve worked in schools. I know how it goes. The administration is not generally trying to be political, but just keep order. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-administration-of-live-oak-high-school/538521.md?page=11)