University of California’s Star-Spangled BAN-ner

There’s a new f-word at the University of California at Irvine: FLAG. Higher education is teaching students to think critically all right — about their own country. In a head-shaking move even by California standards, a 12-member student government body voted to ban the display of the U.S. flag in certain lobby areas because it can be construed as “hate speech.”

The resolution’s text insists that “The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism. Flags not only serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism, but also construct cultural mythologies and narratives that in turn charge nationalistic sentiments…” As usual, the Left resorts to throwing the “hate” label on anything it disagree with — no matter how legitimate their opposition may be.

By a 6-4 vote (with two abstentions), the students voted to ban the Stars and Stripes — outraging members like Reza Zomorrodian, who called it “an attack on American values.” “I’m firmly against what they did. I think it was a horrible idea. Only six people voted for this. We have 22,000 undergrads here… the UC Irvine has made huge contributions to bettering this country. This is an elected body that made a decision for the whole and will suffer the consequences of making that decision.” Our college campuses have become so politically correct that they won’t even tolerate their own country!

What a tragic irony. Our soldiers are putting themselves in harm’s way to give these students the freedom to make outrageous decisions like this. In a rare display of common sense, the cabinet overseeing the student council recognized the ridiculousness of the decision andoverrode it — but not before it did serious damage to the UC Irvine’s credibility as an institution of serious learning.

Unfortunately, the anti-American zealots at the University of California have partners in viewpoint discrimination at George Washington University, where conservative students are fighting the campus’s out-of-control PC police. When a school association ordered every club to undergo LGBT sensitivity training, Young America’s Foundation resisted. YAF co-chair Emily Jashinsky argued that there should be a religious exemption for students who support biblical morality — sparking a huge firestorm with pro-homosexual groups on campus.

Now, those same pride clubs are trying to make the training a condition of funding — meaning that YAF would lose any financial support simply for believing what the majority of Americans already does! These extremists-in-training must have learned from their adult counterparts how to bully conservatives with the false narrative of inclusion. Like the rest of the LGBT movement, they know they can’t win the debate — so they try to shut it down instead. So much for open-mindedness!

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.

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