Monday, June 13, 2005

ANTI-BOLO BIAS SPREADS TO MARYLAND

My former Capitol Bureau partner Mark Hummels alerted me to this alarming example of anti-bolo bigotry at a Maryland high school.

Seriously, this is idiotic. The school wouldn't give this Indian kid his diploma because he "wore a braided bolo tie under his purple graduation gown this week as a subtle tribute to his Native American heritage."

No, the principal's name isn't Don Grady ....

My natural sympathies are with young Thomas Benya. Afterall, I got in trouble at my high school graduation for giving a speech urging the Class of '71 to go to jail instead of Vietnam.

Here's Benya's school's side of the story:
"We have many students with many different cultural heritages, and there are many times to display that," said school district spokeswoman Katie O'Malley-Simpson.

"But graduation is a time when we have a formal, uniform celebration. If kids are going to participate, they need to respect the rules."

Thomas Benya did everything he needed to do to graduate -- except for learning the lessons of conformity.

(For a previous tale of bolo madness CLICK HERE)

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