A group of students from a high school in Virginia were suspended Thursday after wearing clothes depicting the Confederate flag in protest of a new school policy.
The high school implemented a new policy earlier this year that prevents students from displaying any depictions of the flag on cars if they wished to use the school parking lot, reported NBC News. Any student who wishes to receive a school parking pass must agree in a contract to not display the flag.
In response to the policy, 24 students arrived at Christiansburg High School Thursday morning wearing the Confederate flag, which is already against the school dress code. The symbol was banned due to incidents of "racially motivated behavior" back in 2001 and 2002 that were directly attributed to Confederate flag, Montgomery County Public Schools Spokeswoman Brenda Drake said.
Students at the rally said that they wore the flags in protest of the bans, according to Fox News.
"They're trying to get rid of it, and they're not trying to get rid of any other flags," student Forrest Taylor said. "They say that it's a racist thing even though it's not."
"It's not racist, I can tell you that right now," said Hannah Smith, another student.
"I feel like I should have the right to wear whatever I want, and I'm standing up for this," said Senior Houston Miller, who organized the rally.
The student protesters were asked to comply with the dress code upon entering the school, but 21 of the 24 protesters refused, Drake said, reported USA Today.
All of those who refused received one-day in-school suspensions, which is standard procedure for that type of infraction, according to Drake.
Of those 21 students, 15 were issued a one-day out of school suspension, while an additional two students received a three-day suspension for "threatening and abusive language."
In closing, Drake said the school didn't ban the flag to make a state about it's symbolism, but rather to ease tensions. Noting that recent incidents involving the symbol prompted the parking lot ban.
"We are not issuing a judgment on the flag, but know that not allowing it at CHS supports a peaceful educational environment in the building," Drake said. "Continued racial friction suggests that lifting the ban of this particular symbol would cause significant disruption at the school."
