Racism and lies tinge uniform battle

When you latch on to a right-wing cause, association with raw racists and other unsavory characters goes with the territory.

I'm reminded of that prosecutor in Indiana who launched an anti-smut crusade - only to find himself win support by a congressional candidate who attended a birthday party honoring Hitler.

Hell, look at what's happened to the Tea Parties!

The ongoing school uniform push is becoming similarly awash in racism.

Early this year, David Benton - a school board nominee in Franklin, Virginia - supported mandatory student uniforms. He expressed this position by making racially insensitive references regarding chicken dinners and what he called "ghetto-style" attire.

One school board member was so disgusted at Benton's tactless remarks that she said, "I'm not sure I would be comfortable serving alongside him anymore."

This unfortunate undertow continues - this time in Dothan, Alabama.

Strike one against the Dothan school system is its insistence on going back to school as early as yesterday. I guarantee you that if any American public school system had school on August 10 back in my time, kids and parents would be tearing the doors off the school.

As Dothan's new uniform policy is already prompting lawsuit warnings by parents, the usual crew of Freepers and white supremacists has emerged to praise uniforms.

On one Dothan news site, a uniform supporter said uniforms had to be implemented "b/c of a protected class" of citizens. This totalitarian complained, "Once again the protected class has influnced (sic) the entire school system," and that uniforms countered this supposed influence. He pledged to "stand behind the school system 100%" in imposing uniforms, and launched a rant about uniform opponents supposedly being on welfare.

This commenter was called out for the racist references that filled that post.

It isn't just the racism. It's also the carefully crafted web of lies spun by the totalitarian loudmouths who insist on uniforms in our so-called public schools. For instance, on the same website, a uniform backer declared, "The Supreme Court of The United States has repeatedly ruled schools can make establish and enforce a dress code."

No, it has not. Not even once. In fact, the Supreme Court ruled against public school dress codes in Tinker v. Des Moines.

The racial references that have popped up in this battle reinforce a point that was clear years ago: Uniforms are backed by people who are intolerant of what they see as different from themselves. This intolerance might not always be based on race, but a lack of acceptance of differences is a common thread that runs through almost all uniform promenades far and wide.

In the rare absence of this intolerance, uniforms exist only to remind all students of their subordinate status imposed by school authorities - which is also contrary to the dignity that should be present in a school environment.

(Source: http://www.tidewaternews.com/news/2009/feb/06/insensitive-benton-remarks-draw-ire)