A Georgia teacher was placed on leave after saying a Confederate flag signals backwardness from those who display it.
The Hephzibah High School teacher, who has not been named, was placed on administrative leave after projecting a Confederate flag and the statement: “A sticker you put on the back of your pickup truck to announce that you intend to marry your sister. Think of it like a white trash ‘Save The Date’ card.”
The Richmond County School System told the paper that an investigation culminated with the teacher being placed on administrative leave pending a review by administrators.
“The Richmond County School System is committed to creating a diverse, equitable learning environment for students,” the district said in a statement. “The language used in the example was unacceptable and has no place in our classrooms.”
Melissa Fuller said that her daughter was in the class where the teacher put the picture of the flag with the accompanying statement up.
Fuller took the picture of the projection and posted it to Facebook to see what people thought.
“A lot of it is that it’s not morally correct. It’s unethical. It’s just something you don’t want to discuss today in today’s world and especially inside of a classroom,” she said.
“Why was that used?” she asked. “With it being such a rough area, why would you put that out there to a class discussion that could have turned very ugly?”
She said that she didn’t intend to get the teacher disciplined but didn’t understand why her daughter got a suspension for wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle to school but the teacher could “make an assignment” out of the flag.
The Confederate flag was used by the Confederate army of the south as it battled the north during the Civil War.
The flag was used by many, and is still used by some, to honor relatives who fought for the Confederacy during the war.
“Once segregation was dismantled, the flag remained as a symbol of those who argued for a broad interpretation of states’ rights, the areas that the U.S. Constitution reserves as the responsibility of the state governments rather than the federal government in Washington,” it stated.
“Americans who oppose public display of the Confederate flag argue it doesn’t matter if well-meaning flag supporters deem it a symbol of Southern heritage or states’ rights. Its history, they contend, honors slavery, segregation, and inequality.”
