Senior Jeremiah Voelz proudly sports the Confederate Flag as a symbol of states’ rights and rebellion. Voelz has a sticker on his truck, a hat bearing the symbol, and a flag that he keeps at home.  

“Employees that I work with freak out about my sticker on my truck, but that’s just because people don’t understand it,” Voelz said. “If people actually just sit down and think about it, I think they would realize that it isn’t about racism at all.”

For others, the Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism and repression of non-white people. Regardless of one’s personal interpretation of the flag, it is students’ first amendment right to bear it.

FREE EXPRESSION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

A parent recently approached the administration with concerns regarding the presence of the Confederate Flag in the school.

“We’re trying to be sensitive to those concerns, but at the same time, recognize students’ right for free speech,” Assistant Principal Derek Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that he and Principal Tom Albertson sought the advice of the Lake Pend Oreille School District Attorney and Superintendent Shawn Woodward on how to properly address the complaint.

As ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. School. Dist. (1969), a case in which students were sent home for wearing armbands protesting the Vietnam War, school officials must be able to justify that the conduct in question would “materially and substantially interfere” with the operation of the school in order to suppress students’ speech.

“We need to balance between…the students’ right to free speech, but also we have to make sure we protect the learning environment and prevent disruptions,” Dickinson said. “Then we have to look at whether the display discriminates against anyone or causes harm to them.”

Though some individuals have been approached and asked to remove clothing that features the flag, no official disciplinary action has been taken.

Confederate Flag items are weighed on a case-by-case basis in regard of their potential for impact on the learning environment. Dickinson said that stickers in the parking lot are considered differently than garments featuring the emblem because clothing can more directly affect the learning environment.

CONFEDERATE FLAGS AND N. IDAHO

Debate at SHS regarding the meaning of the Confederate Flag runs deep: for some students, the flag represents heritage and states’ rights, but for others, it’s role in North Idaho’s long-withstanding history of racist groups associates it with hatred.

Local white-supremacist groups such as the Aryan Nations have celebrated the Confederate Flag for decades. Founded by Richard Butler in the 70’s, the group worked from their compound north of Hayden Lake to promote anti-Semitism and fear through terror campaigns that included multiple bombings of downtown Coeur d’Alene buildings.

They proudly flew the Confederate Flag at parades alongside the Aryan Nations and Nazi flags. Because of this history, many locals associate the flag with prejudice and hatred.

A DIFFERENCE IN MEANING

For Wesley Holland, senior, the Confederate Flag is a symbol of his family’s heritage.

“I find it American,” he said. “My family is from the South, from Oklahoma. They flew it, and I just see it as a lifestyle.”

Holland does not associate the flag with racism.

Damien Gooding, US History teacher, interprets the flag differently than Voelz and Holland.

“Historically, [it] is a symbol of the Confederate States of America, a failed, self-proclaimed nation founded on a belief in white supremacy and dedicated to the practice of slavery,” Gooding said. “[In] the Declarations of Secession, Southern leaders were quite clear on the slaveholding principles and rights they considered sacred. I think that most Americans today perceive that Confederate society and its battle flag as undemocratic and immoral.”  

Some students of color agree more with Gooding’s interpretation of the Confederate Flag’s meaning.

For Tyrone Larson, junior, it’s a symbol of his ancestors’ enslavement.

“People say that it means something different, but it does have to do with African-American slavery,” Larson said. “Everytime I see the Confederate Flag, I get a flashback of my [ancestors] getting whipped, and when I see them, I feel like those [bearing the flag] support that.”

Lynn Bridges, President of the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, believes that civil discourse, or the engagement in conversation intended to enhance understanding, is required for societal growth.

“Much of free speech about religion or politics can and is controversial and can be offensive to those with a strong differing view,” Bridges said. “To have productive civil discourse we need to have conversations with people we may not agree with.”