It was “America Night” at North Stanley High School in North Carolina and students were decked out in red, white, and blue to mark the occasion. The cheerleaders got into the spirit of the night by posing for a photo next to a banner that said: “Trump 2020 Make America Great Again.”
You can guess what happened next.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association placed the cheerleaders on probation, prompting some in the community to complain that the students’ First Amendment rights were being abridged.
County Schools Superintendent Jeff James has said all North Carolina schools have a policy against displaying political signs.
The school canceled a football game on Friday night due to “security concerns,” saying that the school had received “additional information that could compromise safety measures our schools have in place for sporting events.”
The “security concerns” that caused the cancellation were that a rally in support of the cheerleaders was going to be held in a field near the football stadium.
Local citizens are not convinced:
Stanly resident Jeremy Onitreb and Jay Thaxton said they decided to have Friday’s rally to support the cheerleaders’ First Amendment rights.
“We saw an injustice,” Onitreb said. “We saw that the cheerleading squad’s First Amendment rights were being violated.”
NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker said the probation, which is simply a warning, was handed down to support the NCHSAA philosophy that cheerleaders represent “the school to its fans and others in attendance in a positive manner, while eliciting appropriate support for their team.”
These guys aren’t even good liars.
Many people, including Hudson, say the decision by the NCHSAA is a double-standard. Hudson called it “hypocritical and silly” in an interview with HighSchoolOT earlier this week.
He noted that the NCHSAA in 2017 released a statement supporting the First Amendment rights of student-athletes, coaches and officials to kneel during the national anthem.
“At the NCHSAA, we are proud of our nation’s military and the men and women in many uniforms who serve under our colors. We also know that this act of speech is protected by the Constitution of our nation, a document containing the rights and freedoms that those men and women fought to preserve and defend,” Tucker said in a written statement at the time. “With that in mind, we respect each individual’s right to stand, kneel or otherwise exercise their rights under the First Amendment.”
Except if you’re a cheerleader exercising your right to express a political belief that we disagree with. Then, the hammer.
Ironic, isn’t it, that all this happened on “America Night” at the game? I guess some people’s idea of what America is all about isn’t very American at all.
Via PJMedia
