Last week elementary school administrators told Cooper Barton, 5, an Oklahoma City kindergartner, to turn in his T-shirt.
The offense? Well, according to an article by Chris Chase in the Detroit Free Press:
An Oklahoma City kindergartner was forced to turn his University of Michigan shirt inside out last week because it violated a city ban on any apparel not supportive of the state’s college teams.
The rule is among many restricting clothing and dress in the city schools. It came into effect in 2005 after suggestions from a gang task force. On the list of banned items, non-Oklahoma college dress falls directly in between gang symbol haircuts and “satanic cult dress, witchcraft and related symbols.”
What about Oklahoma Baptist University? Would that be allowed? It’s not a state college. Would a garment from that institution cause gang-related problems among the state’s 5-year-olds?
