Twelve-year-old Dustin Cole — an honor student at Yuba Gardens Intermediate school in California — was given a dress code violation and was forced to turn his American flag-themed shirt inside out last week.
Lori Carpenter, Cole’s mother, told Fox 40 that Cole was given the violation after administrator’s noticed its “gang-related” design.
Here’s a picture of the shirt, which appears to be a combination of both the American flag and California’s state banner.
“Our local gang task force, they identify colors, they identify designs, they identify all of the things that we should be aware of,” explained Ramiro Carreon, the assistant superintendent of Cole’s school district. “That design has been associated with gangs in the past, and we cannot just turn a blind eye to that.”
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