Is it me or is the excuse given by the five young men who went
home from Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill on Wednesday for
wearing American flag tees to school that day incredibly naive?
American flag shirts a bad choice that isn’t a First Amendment right
Dear Editor,
Is it me or is the excuse given by the five young men who went home from Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill on Wednesday for wearing American flag tees to school that day incredibly naive? To say (and I paraphrase) “we were doing what we always do sit and talk and eat during break. We were not instigating anything but showing our American patriotism. We were not going to start a fight”.
It causes me to think of five other young adults on trial right now for murder in Santa Clara County. They also said we were not doing anything; we didn’t pull the trigger of the gun that killed Larry Martinez in Gilroy in 2008 he was our friend and cousin.
At what point are you just as culpable whether by wearing an American flag shirt on Cinco de Mayo and then saying but I wasn’t trying to start a fight or bringing a weapon to a fight and then saying but I wasn’t going to use it?
You have to take responsibility for your actions and choices. There are 364 other days to wear American flag shirts; three of them being Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day. I would hope that this group of five is all somehow involved in organizing and planning community events for these three days as they are such “American Patriots”.
Oh and for the parents … wearing a t-shirt that expresses your point of view or view of a group you belong to is NOT a First Amendment right according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2008. Just ask the Garlic Festival Association, the city of Gilroy and the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club of Hollister.
Shawn M. Weymouth, Gilroy
