November 26, 2008

Police prevent Thanksgiving brawl

In a followup to Playing Indian for Thanksgiving, the police had to separate the racists from the non-racists:

Police called over Thanksgiving dispute at Claremont school

Tensions rise as foes and backers of a longtime celebration involving kindergartners in Indian and pilgrim costumes demonstrate outside Condit Elementary. The district eliminated the costumes this year.On Tuesday morning, some parents dressed their children in the hand-made headdresses, bonnets and fringed vests, and school officials did not force the students to remove them. Still, some parents vowed to keep their children home from school Wednesday, potentially costing the district state attendance funds.

Nearly two dozen protesters stationed themselves in front of the school, evenly split between costume supporters and opponents. The supporters set up a table with refreshments in front of the school sign, and several wore construction-paper headdresses. Foes stood about 40 feet away, carrying signs that said, "Don't Celebrate Genocide."

The discussion between the two groups grew so heated that school officials called police, and officials separated the protesters onto separate sidewalks, said Claremont Police Lt. Dennis Smith.
Comment:  Naturally, the idea of an angry confrontation about a holiday celebrating peace and understanding is too delicious to resist. I'd blame the racists for this, but the non-racists may have been more confrontational.

For more on the subject, see Ten Little Pilgrims and Indians.

Below:  "Next year we're wearing blackface to honor Martin Luther King Jr."

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