Daniel Galli and his four friends were wearing their typical clothes at their high school: bandanas and T-shirts with American flag insignias. But school officials told them this gear was “incendiary” to wear on Cinco de Mayo, where Mexican-Americans enjoy an annual celebration.
The vice-principal of Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Ca., initially asked the students to take off their bandanas and reverse their T-shirts. The teens refused. They were sent to the principal’s office and were informed their T-shirts could spark fights on campus.
Galli said, according to NBC: They said we could wear it on any other day, but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today.
They had no choice but to go home or face suspension.
The five boys and their families spoke with a Morgan Hill Unified School District official Wednesday night. The District does not agree with Live Oak’s actions, and released the following statement today:
The Morgan Hill Unified School District does not prohibit nor do we discourage wearing patriotic clothing. The incident on May 5 at Live Oak High School is extremely unfortunate. While campus safety is our primary concern and administrators made decisions yesterday in an attempt to ensure campus safety, students should not, and will not, be disciplined for wearing patriotic clothing. This matter is under investigation and appropriate action will be taken.
Reporters spotted the students in question returning to school on Thursday…wearing the same American flag-themed T-shirts.
