Furious Parents Claim Washington School Canceled 9/11 Tribute For Being ‘Racially Insensitive’

A high school in Washington state canceled a tribute of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, according to a report by conservative radio host Jason Rantz.

According to Rantz:

At Eastlake High School in Sammamish, student leadership promoted a Patriot’s Day theme at a football game at Memorial Stadium against Rainier Beach. The game was previously canceled, then rescheduled to the day before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Students wanted to do something to remember the tragic events. But staff intervened.

According to an email obtained by The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH, the principal said wearing those colors could “unintentionally cause offense to some who see it differently.” Students are upset. And some parents now speculate school officials thought their majority-minority opponents would be offended by American pride.

Students learned of the last-minute cancelation on Friday.

A student told The Jason Rantz Show, “At this point, I was fairly upset and confused as to why the theme was changed so I went around asking students in our leadership. They had explained that red, white, and blue was going to be seen as racially insensitive and may affect people in a way that we will not understand and for that reason that we were to change our theme.”

According to Rantz’s show, the school’s principal, Chris Bede, wrote to a mother who inquired what happened, “Our leadership teachers made this decision and explained it to students. I know tomorrow is 9/11 and understand the sacrifice and values our flag represents, but I think they just did not want to unintentionally cause offense to some who see it differently.”

Shannon Parthemer, the school district’s comms director, told Rantz’s show, “Since it was not a home game, there was no opportunity to have an announcement about Patriots Day and to share why students were dressed in red, white and blue.”