Recently, a high school student in Indiana refused to take his American flag down from his truck at the request of his school administrators. Cameron Blasek, an East Central High School student, explained his pride for the United States and how he demonstrated it by flying the red, white, and blue off the back of his pickup truck.
“The flag itself represents this country, this beautiful country that we live in,” Blasek explained in an interview with WCPO 9. “It also represents the people who fought their lives for it. And I think that’s a really hard thing to talk about, but I think it’s a big thing.”
However, the student claimed that his Vice Principal instructed him to remove the flag from his vehicle, an order which Blasek refused to comply with. “I said, ‘no, that’s not going to happen. I can’t,'” Blasek said. Other students joined alongside his refusal to obey the command of the officials. Eventually, the school elected to walk back on its original request.
Furthermore, Blasek performed his own due diligence, reading the school’s handbook, to which he found no rules preventing him from flying his flag. “I read through the Essentials 2023-2024 Handbook, and the word ‘flag’ wasn’t even mentioned in the parking lot or driving section. The only section it’s mentioned in is the flag-twirling section,” he stated.
Additionally, more students elected to show up to the high school, flying American flags off their vehicles in support of Blasek. “There was a huge support group there that believed and stood for the same thing that I did and I was kind of shocked by that,” he told WCPO.
East Central High School Principal Tom Black responded to the controversy surrounding the flag, issuing a letter to parents. “I am pleased to inform you that we are allowing the display of the U.S. flag by students in the parking lot,” the letter stated.
According to the principal’s note, the issue never stemmed from the American flag per se, explaining that it was about any flag being attached to a vehicle. “The rule was never about the US Flag, and it was regarding all flags on vehicles,” Black wrote. “This is due to potential safety issues with visibility and 500-600 teenage drivers leaving at the same time during dismissal, as well as concerns that flags that are not appropriate for school will be displayed.”
However, the principal maintained that while the American flag may be permitted in this instance, the school retains the right to restrict other flags that would be considered inappropriate on school grounds. “I met with most of the students Friday and informed them that they would be allowed to display the US Flag, but they should respectfully abide by the US Flag Code,” Black wrote. “This was before the original social media post. The inaccurate narrative is that we changed our mind due to social media backlash. That is not true, as the timeline reveals.”
Watch footage from WCPO interviewing Blasek on his patriotic defiance.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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