Students, officials clash over shirt...School: 9/11 wear was a mistake

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by Ghostwriter

It does look like the Thunderbird is about to fly into the 1's or "buildings". At first I thought this was a stupid complaint but now I am not so sure. Maybe they accidentally made it look this way and did not mean it to look as it does. Interesting.

They didn't accidentally make it that way. One of the kids' apologies was this:

Another student told Local 4 the design was made out of frustration over some media portrayals of Arab-Americans in the wake of the Christmas day terror attack.

On a Channel 4 newscast, one kid's "apology" was this:

“I was foolish to do it and I’m very sorry,” said Wadhah Almadhagi, one of the students behind the sweatshirts. “I can promise that as long as I'm in Edsel Ford I'll do my best to ensure something like this, as foolish and naive as this, will never happen again.”

I like that he said "...as long as I'm in Edsel Ford...".

Another's apology on TV was, along the lines of, "If this were a white kid's shirt this wouldn't be happening". I can't find the exact text. I think, good intentions or not, people would get offended no matter who it was. However with the admittance of one of the students that it was made out of frustration, I honestly can't say that I think it was just a stupid teenage mistake. I think they are playing innocent so they don't get in any more trouble. As of right now, no other punishment has been given. I'm also surprised that with them being minors, their parents are allowing them to speak to the media.

Originally Posted by AGDee

This is a school that is probably around half Middle Eastern. I think the students meant it in a patriotic way from all the news coverage here on it, but others were disturbed at the reminder of 9/11 and utilizing this in that way. 9/11 had a huge impact on that community as did the resulting Iraq war. While they had good intentions, it was in poor taste. The article said they aren't being punished.

I think it's more than half now. Alot of East Dearborn residents are now moving to the west side because the east side is becoming more "Detroit". It's a shame because they have some beautiful houses over there that are being trashed now. And Dee, I had to laugh when they said they were made at Gibraltar Trade Center. I think any other shirtery place would raise eyebrows and ask if they were sure they wanted that. Anything goes at GTC lol.