Individual protests against Iraq war causing controversy
By Alfons Luna
Agence France-Presse
NEW YORK ? Turning one's back on the American flag and wearing T-shirts opposing US President George W. Bush are among actions being used by war opponents, and are proving to be unwelcome.
Early this week in Albany, New York, security guards at a shopping mall asked a father and son who were having lunch in a cafe to remove their T-shirts or leave.
Stephen Downs, 60, and his son Roger, 31, were wearing shirts with slogans including ?Give peace a chance,? ?No war with Iraq,? and ?Let inspections work.?
The father, a lawyer, refused to remove his shirt and was arrested by police and charged with trespassing, media reported Thursday.
In a statement quoted in The New York Times, the mall's managers said the security guards were responding to clients' complaints.
?Their behaviour, coupled with their clothing, to express to others their personal points of views on world affairs were disruptive of customers,? the managers said.
The newspaper later reported the mall had asked police to drop the charges, after around 100 anti-war protesters arrived and said they would not leave until they did so.
Toni Smith, a women's basketball player for Manhattanville College, just outside New York, has all season turned her back on the US flag at the start of every match when the anthem is played.
Smith began her protest in November, but as war clouds darkened, opposition to her action has grown, with shouts from the stands of ?USA, USA? when she takes control of the ball, or ?Leave our country.?
The crowd got especially noisy on Feb. 11, in a game with the Merchant Marine Academy, after which Smith decided to explain herself.
?For some time now, the inequalities that are embedded in the American system have bothered me,? she said in a statement.
?As they are becoming progressively worse and it is clear that the government's priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all its people, but rather on expanding its own power, I cannot, in good conscience, salute the flag.
?The flag means different things to everyone,? she added.
Bretton Barber, a 17-year-old high school student at Dearborn Heights, Michigan, was sent home when he refused to change his T-shirt that showed a photo of Bush bordered with the words ?international terrorist.?
Barber said he wanted to express his anti-war sentiment, and defended his stance by pointing to the Tinker vs Des Moines case from 1969, in which students went on to appeal their suspension from school for wearing black arm bands to protest the Vietnam war.
1960s US athlete John Carlos, whose protest during the Mexico Olympics of 1968 was similar to that of Smith, expressed his solidarity for her posture to the Los Angeles Times.
Sunday, March 9, 2003
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