School System Bans ‘Racially Intimidating’ Clothing After Confederate Flag Debate

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Rob Shimshock Education Reporter
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A school system banned “racially intimidating” clothing, accessories and other symbols Monday night after complaints that students wore Confederate symbols to threaten others.

Orange County Schools in North Carolina banned such items against the advice of their attorney, following seven months of complaints regarding Confederate adornments, according to WTVD-TV.

“Students are not to wear clothing, buttons, patches, jewelry, or any other items with words, phrases, symbols, pictures or signs that are indecent, profane, or racially intimidating that create a reasonable forecast of disruption,” the new policy read.

The board initially split 3-3 on the new policy. After Dr. Stephen Halkiotis, the Orange County education board chairman, removed the language concerning “disruption,” the policy passed unanimously.

The lawyer for the Orange County Board of Education had said that the “reasonable forecast of disruption” language was imperative to defend the school against potential lawsuits, but the school board declined to heed this advice.

“It was a win to me,” said parent Latarndra Strong, who serves as a leader of Hate-Free Coalition that has taken charge of the effort to ban Confederate symbols in Orange County schools. “Tonight we’ve shown that when a community stands up and speaks for the people we can get change and be the type of school system we want to be.”

Despite the board not explicitly banning Confederate iconography, the Hate-Free Coalition called the decision a victory. (RELATED: The VA Bans Large Confederate Flags From All Its Cemeteries)

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to the Orange County board chairman, but received no comment in time for publication.

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