The blogosphere is atwitter about the news that some kids in California were punished for wearing American flags to school on Cinco de Mayo. When I heard the story I figured there had to be something more going on than simply that. Then I read Little Green Football’s account and found out, no, not really. Basically, some kids were wearing American flag bandannas and and t-shirts and were ordered to remove the bandannas and turn the shirts inside out on the grounds that they might be disruptive.

Unbelievably, LGF defends this obvious suppression of First Amendment rights:

What school principal wouldn’t have done the same thing? Don’t they have a responsibility to maintain order in school? And if so, isn’t it blindingly obvious that they need to take action when students do things that are designed to create conflict and bad feelings?

How would these bloggers feel if a group of Mexican students came to a school event wearing Mexican flags on July 4th? You can just imagine their overheated reactions. The hypocrisy reeks.

First off, if the kids had been wearing clothing with insults or if the bandannas were gang-related, the principal’s position would be understandable. But from what I’ve seen, this isn’t the case. Possibly the students in question were attempting to stir up controversy, but so what? That’s their right.

As for LGF’s question about Mexican students wearing Mexican flags on the 4th of July, well, obviously I wouldn’t be thrilled about it. But that would be their First Amendment rights, and I would defend them on those grounds.