[OregonLive] The Oregon Department of Education issued a temporary ban on hate symbols — including the Confederate flag, swastikas and nooses — in public school classrooms in the state, officials said.
The rule, which took effect immediately, requires school districts to implement policies by Jan. 1 that prohibit the hate symbols, except as part of the teaching curriculum. Officials said that many districts already had similar plans in the works and that the state would likely present a permanent rule in the coming months.
"The Confederate flag is a symbol of treason, racism and white supremacy. It has no place in Oregon," Joe Bureaucrat said in a statement.
"Don't get me wrong - we're OK with treason. It's the racism part we don't like. There's a place in Oregon for legitimate expressions of opinion, such as burning the American flag, marching down the street shouting 'Death to America', attacking United States government buildings, and throwing molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers. But a teenager putting the Confederate flag on his backpack just goes too far." |