Sunset Lakes Elementary School’s Confederate Flag Display Prompts Petition
Posted: 10/18/2012
A South Florida mom is not happy with a history exhibition at her child’s elementary school.
Tina Meadows is asking Sunset Lakes Elementary School in Miramar to remove a Confederate flag on display in a school hallway, the Miami Herald reports.
The controversial flag is encased on the wall along with other historical flags including a 36-star Union flag, 1814 flag, 1861 "Stars and Bars" Confederate flag, a flag from the U.S. Capitol and a Sept. 11 memorial flag.
Sunset Lakes was designed as "a sort of mini-museum" with a U.S. history focus when it opened a decade ago, according to the Herald report, which said Broward Schools Chief Service Quality Officer Sharon Airaghi responded to Meadow’s complaint by writing that the school is recognizing pieces of history "including those that are difficult and repugnant.”
Tracy Clark, a public information officer for the district, told HuffPost Miami that the flag "is not given any prominence over any other flag, and it is there as part of a timeline of American history.” The display was created by a “diverse” panel when the Sunset Lakes first opened, she said.
Meadows, who is black, started an online petition at Change.org that has nearly 4,500 signatures.
"The confederate flag is a symbol of oppression, racism, and slavery," Meadows wrote. "It is a reminder of a painful past in American History…The flag is intimidating and offensive to parents and students who have been culturally affected by it and it’s symbolism. Take it down now!"
The beef isn’t Meadow’s first with the school’s exhibition. Clark said Sunset Lakes changed a label under a mural of Condoleeza Rice from “Afro American” to “African American" after Meadows raised concern.
Previous complaints about the confederate flag were settled after the school’s previous principal sat down with offended parents and explained the exhibition, the district said.
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