UPDATE: School Wants Student To Apologize For Wearing Mexican Flag At Graduation To Get His Diploma
As we previously reported, Ever Lopez, who is Mexican American, wore a Mexican flag over his gown at Asheboro High School’s graduation ceremony back in May. His move prompted the principal to ask him to take the flag off, but he couldn’t and was denied his diploma after the ceremonial walk down the stage, according to ABC.
“When I got up there I went for the handshake and I wasn’t thinking nothing of it and I heard her say, ‘You can’t wear that,’” Lopez, who is first person in his immediate family to graduate from high school, told the outlet. And I was in shock and confused. I was like, ‘What?’ She was like, ‘The flag. You can’t wear that.’” He went on to say, “My parents, my whole family, is from over there. I did it for them because they had a rough childhood; they didn’t get the scholarship that I got, or they didn’t get to go to school like I did. So … representing my flag and getting a diploma was really important to me, because I was basically doing it for my family.”
ABC reports that Lopez has not yet received his diploma yet. He said the school has asked him to apologize in order to receive it. “I don’t know why I should apologize, when it should be heard, because I did nothing wrong,” Lopez told the outlet.
The incident has sparked outrage and led to a protest outside the school. However, the school district insists that Lopez’s actions “violated the ceremony’s dress code” and “the incident is not about the Mexican flag.”
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