Displays of Confederate flags usually happen in Southern states, but two high school seniors in South Huntington, N.Y. are in hot water after bringing a Confederate flag to St. Anthony’s High School.
According to Brother Gary Cregan, principal of the school, the two seniors walked onto campus with a Confederate flag during a handball event a week ago.
“The African-American students who immediately saw it really exercised heroic restraint and fortunately a teacher immediately confiscated the flag and took the students out of the gym,” Cregan told CBS New York (video below).
“I find it just very hard to even imagine why any student in 2014 would even consider or think that a Confederate flag would be anything other than a symbol of hate,” added Cregan.
According to Newsday, last Friday, Cregan wrote a letter to parents that stated:
The use of any symbol, either historic or current, which carries a meaning designed to revive past injustices or to inflame discrimination or racial intolerance, is completely unacceptable and profoundly offensive.
As a Catholic and Franciscan school, Saint Anthony's will always demand acceptance and respect for all races, religions and cultures.
On Monday, the seniors were suspended for 10 days, but Cregan decided on Tuesday that the students won’t be allowed back because of security concerns.
The students have not said why they brought the flag to school. St. Anthony’s is a private Catholic school so it legally doesn't have to allow unbridled free speech by students.