Here’s a photo of the “controversial” shirt. (Photo: Fox News)
A New York school stopped a National Guard recruiter from passing out t-shirts on campus Friday because the shirts depicted a silhouetted soldier pointing a rifle, an image that school officials and teachers thought was unacceptable in a classroom environment.
“A pointed gun is just not appropriate for a high school,” Alan McCartney, the interim superintendent of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk School District in Albany County, told Fox News.
“A couple of teachers realized it showed a silhouette of a rifleman on it,” McCartney continued. “I realize some students look at the t-shirt and all they see is the National Guard. And that is a good thing. Others look at the shirt and all they see is the rifle.”
According to McCartney, the school’s policy prohibits students from wearing clothes that contain violence or weapons.
McCartney says the school’s code is in place to ensure that there is a non-partisan atmosphere.
“We are here to educate students to be neutral,” McCartney explained. “To create an environment where there isn’t a lot of controversy within the environment.”
Yet, controversy is exactly what the decision to ban the shirts has created.
“As a mother, when I first saw the shirt, I saw the American flag, the silhouette of the soldier,” Jennifer Delisle, whose child attends the school, told CBS 6. “I didn’t even notice the gun and the children I’ve talked to said it had nothing to do with the gun being on it. It had to do with the honor and respect to the National Guard.”
Undoubtedly, other parents feel as Ms. Delisle does, but McCartney is standing his ground.
“This has nothing to do with patriotism,” he said. “This has more to do with the world we live in. We live under the shadow of a lot of bad things that have happened.”
Meanwhile, the National Guard did not put up a fight, but did note that the shirts did not cause problems in the past.
“We were happy to oblige the superintendent and remove them from any further distribution,” said Richard Goldenberg, a National Guard spokesman. “We are always respectful of all different school policies.”
In my own little way I try to fight against the rampant stupidity in NY, Ca, and the other anti gun locations in the US by never buying anything from these locations. Another thought, as ex LEO, one of the first things you learn on the job is that passing a law against anything never prevented someone from doing it.
What those politically correct idiots seem to be conveniently forgetting is that those same soldiers defend the idiots’ right to express their idiotic leftist opinions, often at the expense of their own lives.
Another reason among the other thousands to leave New York
I guess McCartney doesn’t care about 1st amendment rights. I wonder if he would refuse the Guards help if he or his school needed them. I’m also sure he has never served. Another idiot teaching our kids. Perhaps he should change his name to McFucktard.
Alan McCartney, You sound like the typical a$$wipe liberal that says it’s your way or no way. Only a shallow progressive mind could be offended by this shirt. I can’t wait to see you libs when the money runs out and the EBT cards don’t work. You atheist libs will be on your knees praying to God that the National Guard shows up before it’s too late!!!