Two students in northern New Jersey can wear buttons featuring a picture of Hitler youth to protest a school uniform policy, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. sided with the parents of the students, who had been threatened with suspension last fall for wearing the buttons. However, the judge added in his ruling that the boys will not be allowed to distribute the buttons at school.
The buttons bear the words “no school uniforms'”with a slash through them superimposed on a photo of young boys wearing identical shirts and neckerchiefs. There are no swastikas visible on the buttons, but the parties agreed that they depict members of Hitler youth.
(Source: AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
I think the school was correct to threaten suspension. It shows how sensitive the American culture has become to racism.
The judge is not wrong either though. There is nothing “unconstitutional” about wearing a picture of Hitler youth to school.
In this country everyone has a right to free expression. The consequenses in this day and age however can be quite harsh. Case in point…Imus.
I think maybe their point is that if you remove individuality people cannot think. Being confined to conformity against their will is their point and that is what they are protesting. This is what happened to those “brown shirts” ymsh”vz. Perhaps they are saying we don’t want to be like that and not extolling “virtues” of those youth.
If we jump at everything, after a while no one will listen to us anymore.
True that there is no blatant display of naziism on the buttons but what the judges ruling accomplishes is that what was once so distant from normal human assosiation, i.e. hitler, naziism, is now just a drop closer.
The worst thing is I think their mother is Jewish as she says her father survived Buchenwald.
zelochashuv is correct about their motivations. Still seems over the top.
I appeared before Judge Greenaway several years ago; wore a yarlmulke in court and chambers. In his dealings with the parties he was a fair and patient judge.