Suspended ROTC student feels wronged
Posted on 29. Aug, 2009 by John Fife in Top Stories
Springstead junior thinks five-day suspension wasn’t warranted for telling Muslim student to ‘take that thing off your head.’
SPRING HILL – Heather Lawrence loves being in JROTC, loves her Marine Corps dad and loves her country.
On Wednesday, anger was the prevailing feeling in her heart when she noticed a student in another classroom had refused to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. She also refused to recite it.
Heather, a junior at Springstead High School, glanced at the other students in the room, all of whom appeared uncomfortable, she said.
She saw her later in the day between class periods and told her, “Take that thing off your head and act like you’re proud to be an American.”
The student, whom Lawrence could not identify, was wearing a hijab, a head scarf or garment traditionally worn by Muslim women.
A teacher overheard Heather’s statement and told two other teachers. The incident made its way to Assistant Principal Steve Crognale, who called the 16-year-old into his office Friday morning, she said.
He made her wait outside while he called her father, Mark Lawrence.
Crognale told him the school was going to suspend his daughter for five days.
“I said, ‘That is absolutely ridiculous,’” recalled Lawrence, who would not repeat the expletives used during the phone conversation. “I thought it was very unfair.”
He asked Crognale to explain his justification for suspending his daughter.
“He said it was based on the grounds that she made a threat,” said Lawrence, who threw up his arms and shook his head.
He sat in his living room across from his daughter, who was dressed in her U.S. Army-issued uniform. She plans to attend basic training in the summer, return to Springstead for her senior year and pursue a career in the military.
Crognale, who did not return a message seeking comment, claimed the school’s written policy allowed him to suspend her for up to 10 days if he so chose, Lawrence said.
When Heather’s irate father pressed on and asked him to explain how her statement could be interpreted as a threat, Crognale “backed off” and said his daughter’s statement “caused mental duress” for the student, he said.
That student never reported the incident, Lawrence said.
He conceded his daughter should have refrained from telling her to remove her hijab. Heather was less emphatic.
“I wish I didn’t say, ‘Take that thing off your head,’” she said. “Or maybe I shouldn’t have said it loud enough for the teacher to hear it.”
Her father, a former U.S. Marine, said he and his family have friends who are Iranian and African-American. It is a household that has sworn off racism of any kind, he said.
“The student should not have said that,” said Ramzy Kilic, the executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council for American-Islamic Affairs. “If she had said, ‘Why didn’t you stand for the Pledge and act like an American?’ that would have been a more-appropriate reaction.”
The Lawrence family lived in Cancun, Mexico, for six months in 2004. Both Heather, who was 12 at the time, and her sister attended a school where Spanish was the first language.
The students stood and recited their country’s pledge. Heather and her sister stood, but did not speak because they didn’t know the language, she said.
Both of them were expelled from the school, Heather said.
“They were in a third-world country and they had to honor their culture,” her father said. “People don’t have to do that here.” Continued>>>
Any White student who joins the military these days is severely uninformed. Whites should not join the American military for any reason.
Whites, now being second class citizens, should let the negros, hispanics and other “minorities” do the fighting.
Whites were the ones who died to found this country and keep it secure for the last 200 years. It is time for these “minorities” to pay the price.Let them be cannon fodder for a while.
America, as I have often stated, cannot win a war without Whites. Since we are so hated by the other racial groups, let them do the dying and sacrificing and it will serve to thin their ranks a bit.
This country is lost, gone, deceased. There is no saving America thanks to the likes of Ted Kennedy and our ZOG.
As things worsen, we must make plans on what to do when the moment is right for we must act together as one to secure a place in the new World order. Our enslavement is what the Zionists have in mind. Death for us is what the Negros, Hispanics, Orientals and Arabs have in mind.
in this country it is ok to offend/disrespect white people and traditional america. but to disrespect anyone of color or anyone that has non-christian beliefs warrants punishment. the us constitution says every individual is equal under the law. obviously that is not so. why not go ahead and destroy the constitution altogether?
Mistake #1. Never wear a SCRAP of military or military issue clothing while making a political statement.
Once again it is proven that Whites are the only group not allowed to take pride in or defend their group interests. Negros, Latrinos, Arabs, Asians and any other mud group can do as they please.
Amen John. Well said. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Mr.Taurus, as a USMC veteran i aggree with you 100%, no white person should fight/die for a country who has disrespected/shit on the aryan race as much as the usa.It’s time to prepare for the big pay back .
Bogie, we will need people with your experience/skills when things start collapsing. Our people will need qualified personel to train Whites to shoot and defend ourselves from those that wish to exterminate us.
The United Staes is in the same position the Soviet Union was when it collapsed in the early 1990′s. WWIII is just over the horizon. When it gets here it won’t be pretty.
Her father, a former U.S. Marine, said he and his family have friends who are Iranian and African-American. It is a household that has sworn off racism of any kind, he said.
Notice the first thing White people have to do is prove they are not racist. I hate this country it just makes me sick to my stomach how our people grovel to the muds. Too afraid to stand up to themselves. Maybe we do need to go the way of the dinosaurs.
I am not so ready to quite on this contry as I see most are. It can be fixed My son is in Marine Boot camp right now. Please don’t tell me he is doing all this for people that just want to quit? You see every war we where in we won because we did not quit it is what we are. I think Heather ll anyone is doing is complaining. Quit sounding like quitters. that is just what they want you to do is quit.
Bad typing sorry for above. I ment to say bravo for Heather she is a winner not a quitter. It is time for americans to back proud young americans like heather. I am proud to have you in the military. Forget the others just be you america needs more of you and the quitters need to start loving this country like she does. we can overcome all this crap if we work together lets please reunit as one under god.forget the looser people that turn there back on america when things get tough.
It appears that Heather is a proud American and no matter what her father says about swearing off racism they still have it. We need more like her willing to say how they feel about disrespecting our heritage.I agree with midway 88 If we let only muds towel heads and beaners do our fighting they will learn all about combat whites will not know war and how to fight back.
The disporportionate representation of non-whites in the US military is a cause for concern. We need to encourage white people to join the military.
I have HAD it!
Here’s my latest blog post on this, folks.
http://thewhitechrist.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/where-is-the-american-anglo-willing-to-stand/