The turds of the San Pasqual Valley Unified School District, in California, passed a rule this year prohibiting “kneeling, sitting or similar forms of political protest” during national anthem ceremonies at athletic events, because they are lame-brained suckers with tiny little meaningless existences. That dipshit rule was struck down this week by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. From a Los Angeles Times report:
The school district set the rules after students from a rival high school in neighboring Arizona yelled racial slurs at San Pasqual Valley High School students and threatened to force the football player at the center of the controversy to stand, the ruling said.
The player, identified in court records only as “V.A.” and described as Native American, was protesting racial injustice in the U.S. and emulating NFL players who have also knelt during the national anthem.
Imagine a school district responding to one of its students being subjected to racial slurs after making a political statement by prohibiting the political statement. Imagine educators in this country making a rule that forces high school student to participate in a ceremonial show of patriotism. Imagine adults being dumb enough to believe political activism is a greater threat to American civic life than the erosion of freedom of speech.
This is a thing that really happened:
At a game played at Mayer High School in Spring Valley, Ariz., which is majority white, students were upset by the athlete’s gesture and yelled racial slurs at fans and players from San Pasqual Valley in Winterhaven, Calif., whose students are primarily Native American and Latino, according to Ira Gottlieb, an attorney with the Glendale-based firm Bush Gottlieb, which represented the football player. Mayer High students also sprayed a water bottle at San Pasqual Valley students, getting one cheerleader wet, according to the court’s ruling.
The incident drew concern from school district Superintendent Rauna Fox, who issued the new rules.
The court’s ruling grants a temporary injunction, based on the finding that the rule “violated V.A.’s 1st Amendment right to political expression.” The student’s attorney told the Times that the next step will be to seek a permanent injunction. The school district has the option of appealing the ruling; on the other hand, they could always grow the hell up.