Students attending Immokalee High School in Collier County, Florida say they were singled out because they were wearing Haitian flag shirts on Haitian Independence Day Wednesday.
According to local reports from Florida’s Fox 4 and NBC 2, Haitian students were sent home for wearing shirts celebrating Haiti’s independence.
In fact, school officials sent home two students who were defiant and steadfast in their convictions. Fox 4 spoke to one of those students, Cheylee Inois, who told administrators that she would not change her shirt. Inois said, “I’m not giving you my shirt, I’m not giving you my bandana.” Officials suspended her 10 days because of her defiance.
However, according to the Student Code of Conduct, students can only wear or display the United States flag, the POW-MIA flag, the State of Florida flag and official school flags.
“As soon as we got off the bus, a teacher was, like, pointing at us,” sophomore Jesola Pierre told NBC 2.
Pierre said she was upset when her teacher told her she couldn’t wear her shirt depicting the Haitian flag.
“This is the day that we got our freedom. Why wouldn’t I represent?” said Pierre.
