Two students who were suspended in the '60's for wearing black anti-war armbands to school are now hitting the trail, informing today's students of their constitutional rights:
John and Mary Beth Tinker are back in a classroom in their hometown, once again wearing black armbands and drawing attention to a war. Now in their 50s, the siblings are living symbols of constitutional rights for secondary school students. In 1965, they and a handful of others were suspended for wearing black armbands to their public schools here to protest the Vietnam War. The Tinkers and another student, Christopher Eckhardt, took their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1969 they won the landmark ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that wearing such an armband in school was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment as long as school was not substantially disrupted.Alyssa Mowitz, left, and Caitlin Sims speak with John Tinker at Central Academy. He is an activist for peace as well as free-speech rights.
—Photo by Steve Pope“All of us are concerned about the war in Iraq,” Mary Beth tells a group of about 90 middle and high school students at Central Academy, a public magnet school where students take Advanced Placement courses and other specialized offerings.Her brother is more direct. “We’re in the middle of a war that many, many people think is illegal,” he says about the U.S. military operation in Iraq. He will say several times in four public appearances over two days in Iowa last month that while Saddam Hussein was “a bad guy,” the war is all about controlling resources such as oil.
Let's hope the students learn from this that they have the right to speak out in support of the war as well.
Posted by kswygert at May 4, 2005 09:34 AM