As the sponsor of Senate Bill 612, which will require that the flag of the United States of America be displayed in every public classroom in Florida, I am proud to work with my legislative colleagues to ensure that every student will have the opportunity to honor the symbol of our great nation.
From the moment the foundations of our land were laid, the flag has represented the sacrifices made to ensure the independence we enjoy today. Countless numbers of individuals have died or been wounded to defend Old Glory, and their efforts should never be forgotten.
It has been estimated that the most it will cost us to put a flag in every college classroom will be 15 cents per student, which will be a one-time expense. The funds - which will be borne by student fees in higher education facilities, and primarily by donations in K-12 classes - is a minuscule price to pay for those who benefit from taxpayer-funded institutions.
The United States serves as the model for nations throughout the world that seek freedom from tyranny. People risk their lives daily to come to our shores. The visible representation of the United States of America is the Stars and Stripes. The flag's proud exhibition in every public classroom will be a reminder of what has been done to keep our country free.
-- Mike Fasano, state senator, District 11, Tallahassee
Flag belongs in our classrooms
I just saw the editorial criticizing Sen. Mike Fasano's proposal for mandating every school classroom have an American flag.
I am a veteran of 21/2 year's service in the Republic of Vietnam. Today men and women are losing their lives in foreign countries in defense of this country. The symbol of this country is our flag.
Is there a true American who is not stirred by the statue of the rising of the American flag at Iwo Jima? When we landed on the moon, it was the American flag that we placed symbolically on the moon. We have shed blood in many countries over many years in defense of this country, its people and its flag.
I can't imagine a better symbol of our country than our flag, and requiring it to be in every single classroom is a wonderful idea to teach children that the freedoms we enjoy are not free - that the flag is the symbol of those costs and people are paying the ultimate cost daily to defend the flag and our country.
I often speak for the veterans of Florida in the Florida Legislature and the almost 2-million men and women who are veterans of our armed forces. Today I imagine that I speak for most of them when I suggest that Sen. Fasano is right on target: There is no greater symbol of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness than the American flag.
-- Robert M. Levy, Tallahassee
Let Southerners express their heritage
The Confederate flag was and always will be part of America. Not to honor this flag is to discriminate against all who died to make our America.
We Americans have the right to express our views. Don't deny Southerners their right to express their heritage.
-- Albert DeStefano, Hudson
We can't please everyone
Re: Rebel symbol may be expelled, Feb. 7.
Something has offended someone. So let's just solve the problem by banning it from school property. What's next? Should everything someone may find offensive be banned? What would be left?
Someone will always find one thing or another offensive. We, as a society, cannot please everyone. If we try, everyone winds up a loser.
Does this really breed tolerance? Does this teach Krista Abram to be tolerant toward another person's views or what they want to wear? No, it does not!
What does banning things really do? It teaches that we must think, act and accept things the way our government or someone else wants us to. We lose our freedom to make our own choices.
I, as an individual, may not like or agree with a person's lifestyle, what they wear or maybe even the color of their skin. I don't have to! That is my right as an American under the Constitution of the United States. That is what separates America from nonfree nations where everyone must act and believe what the government tells them.
If, as in this case, Krista doesn't like the Confederate battle flag, so what? She needs to grow up and get over it. Life offers no guarantees that we have to agree with or like everything we encounter. We, as a society, cannot cater to everyone's demands or wishes, no matter what color their skin is.
If we continue to try to please everyone, we will wind up pleasing no one.
-- Dave Bothwell, Seminole
Racism has tainted flag
Re: What about freedom of expression?, letter, Feb. 6.
It is a misconception that the Confederate battle flag can be conceived to be anything but a totem of racism. That symbol of a bygone era when this great country was sundered by ideological differences was resurrected by Southern white supremacists specifically for the purposes of defying, intimidating, terrorizing and denying civil rights to African-Americans. Any innocuous meaning it might ever have held was stripped from the battle flag by racism just as surely as the once-benign swastika was forever soiled by fascism. And to display it in public, regardless of one's rationalization, cannot be seen as anything other than an affront to every black man, woman and child in this nation. The letter writer's assertion that intent justifies the display or that it is protected as freedom of speech is ludicrous. Does he also feel, I wonder, that it is permissible for children to wear the insignia of the Third Reich to school? What pride could any reasoning and self-respecting person feel in displaying an icon of racial hatred and intolerance?
I am a Southerner descended from a long line of Southerners, and when my family gets together they still reminisce about how my great-great grandfather was shot off his wagon by Yankee soldiers because he would not give them his supplies and about other atrocities of that war that have been handed down from generation to generation. We remember that time, but we do not live it or glory in it. And you can bet that not one of my family sports a Confederate battle flag, even though there is still much bitterness among the older folk toward Northerners. Why? Because, while some members of my extended family may harbor prejudices, none of them are racists and all recognize the waving of the Confederate flag for the blatant hatefulness it represents.
So please, everyone, quit soiling the reputation of the South by embracing that emblem of bigotry and violence. By all means, remember your heritage, but keep it in your hearts and celebrate Southern pride with good deeds and fair words, not with the standards of hatred.
-- David Carroll, St. Petersburg
A strange way to promote tolerance
Re: Rebel symbol may be expelled.
According to this article, Pinellas School Board member Mary Brown said, "This district should be committed to diversity and all the things that go with it and all of the things that go with respect for children." In addition, Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris is quoted as saying, "If you teach history, if you teach tolerance and if you're honest about what's gone on, then people will understand why African-Americans don't want to see this in their schools." For this reason, he supports banning the Confederate flag from all Pinellas County schools.
For the life of me, I do not understand how Ms. Brown and Mr. Harris can be touting, on the one hand, their commitment to diversity and tolerance "and all the things that go with it," and, on the other hand, demanding the rights and opinions of a large portion of Tarpon High students be trampled upon so that a small but vocal minority can have its demands fully met with no attempted compromise. This is not a commitment to diversity nor a display of tolerance. This is simply a total disregard for the heritage of the students who consider themselves Southerners.
If Commissioner Harris were really committed to the teaching of history, it would be made very clear to all students that the War Between the States was caused by a wide variety of grievances, one of the least of which was slavery, since slavery was legal in the North as well as in the South and existed as a legal institution throughout the colonies and the United States from approximately 1650 until after the war was over in 1865. Furthermore, an unbiased study of history would show that a large number of free Southern blacks and nonfree Southern blacks fought in the Confederate Army throughout the war.
Perhaps Mr. Harris is unaware that we recently had a memorial service in Tarpon Springs at the grave of a black citizen who was proud of his service in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States. Any attempts by modern-day historical revisionists to reduce the reasons for Southern secession, or for the war itself, down to one overriding issue - slavery - is absolute falsehood!
I trust the day will come in the very near future when we Americans can put all this race-baiting and name-calling behind us, and become united as American citizens instead of being members of little, competing, whining, balkanized groups.
-- David A. Anthony, Palm Harbor
Proud of Tarpon Springs High
Re: A valuable lesson, Feb. 7.
I have sat silently for as long as I can while the fine school where I teach is maligned and slandered over an incident that was not news-worthy in the first place. I would like to ask the writer of this editorial if he or she bothered to ask any of the teachers at this school about how this incident was handled in class. Let me enlighten you.
Many teachers used the "teachable moment." Few of us ever let one go by. In my own Spanish 5 and Advanced Placement Spanish classes we used this as an opportunity to discuss a variety of issues such as if we were to ban all symbols that someone could interpret as controversial or objectionable, what would be banned? The students wrote compositions in Spanish on the meaning of diversity and how it is present on our campus, which has as wide a cross-section of minorities as any campus in the area.
We also discussed the policies that are in place and how as law-abiding citizens we are all expected to work within the frameworks established to seek change and redress. We focused on not taking it upon ourselves to make demands of a community to which we might be considered an outsider.
As to not going through the gatekeeper before handing out written expressions, please be aware that we have had white supremacist groups distributing materials just off our campus. These groups would never have been here if this incident had not been blown entirely out of proportion. Our gatekeeper has the responsibility of keeping order on campus and not allowing anything on campus that will cause a disruption to the educational process. I personally applaud his actions. (By the way, I have enough tenure that I don't need to kiss up.)
No, we will not shut down our school and turn it over to nothing more than a discussion of such topics. We have a state-mandated curriculum to follow that will allow for only a few "teachable moments." I find it offensive to have so many politicians making decisions on what should and shouldn't be in my classroom and other outsiders doing the same with no knowledge as to what is actually happening there.
Is it impossible to focus on the good things that are happening for our youth? Can we never talk about positive acts performed by teenagers? I am proud of this school and the teachers and students here. I will put them up against any group for the good they all do.
-- Don A. Elliott, M.Ed., chairman, World Language Department, Tarpon Springs High School
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