Unpatriotic acts that outrage Americans in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks-Truth!

Unpatriotic Acts in the Aftermath of the Attack on America-Truth! & Outdated!

Summary of eRumor:
A collection of stories about decisions that have been made in various part of the U.S. that have angered Americans: God Bless America prohibited at a school in Oklahoma, American flags removed from a New York newsroom, American flags banned from fire trucks in Berkeley, California, and patriotic signs being taken down at a library in Florida.

The Truth:
The mostly commonly circulated version of this was originally written by Barry Loudermilk, an Air Force Veteran who sent it to The Bartow Trader newspaper in Georgia.

The stories it references are true, but some have changed since the email was written.

There is a later version that begins with a reference to the state of Florida allowing a Moslem woman to have her drivers license photo taken with her face covered. That was a true story, but the woman, Najat Tamim-Muhammad, ultimately agreed to a compromise that allowed her face to be visible in the picture, which was not for a drivers license, but for a Florida state ID card.

In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a "God Bless America" banner was erected at the Wolf Creek Elementary School. There were a few complaints to the school board and an opinion from the Oklahoma State School Boards Association was interpreted to mean the banner ought to be taken down. According to ChannelOklahoma.com, however, what the School Boards Association had said was that the phrase "God Bless America" could be used as a part of patriotic displays. The local school board then issued a memo saying the school could use the banner, although not everybody agreed with the decision.

The Channel 12 decision was similar to ones made by other media outlets. They were concerned that even though they might be American patriots, they wanted their reporting of the news to be unattached to and unaffected by patriotic symbols. According to a Fox News report on September 21, here was protest among the viewers and the news director at Channel 12, Pat Dolan, went on the air more than once to explain the decision and say that the employees of the station were "proud to be Americans."

In Berkeley, American flags were placed on fire trucks after the September 11 attacks. According to a 9/20/01 UPI report, city officials felt it would be best to take the flags off because of expected anti-war rallies. They said it was not an unpatriotic decision on their part or else the flags would not have already been on the trucks. They were using wisdom gained from past anti-war events.

The Florida Gulf Coast University story is also true. Library services director Kathy Hoeth told workers at service desks to remove stickers that said "Proud to be an American." She said she feared they would offend foreign students. According to the Fort Myers News-Press, she quickly retracted the order and called it a bad decision. The president of the university also issued an apology.

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma School officials remove "God Bless America" signs from schools in fear that someone might be offended.

Channel 12 News in Long Island, New York, orders flags removed from the newsroom and red, white, and blue ribbons removed from the lapels of   reporters. Why? Management did not want to appear biased and felt that our nations flag might give the appearance that "they lean one way or   another".

Berkeley, California bans U. S. Flags from being displayed on city fire trucks because they didn't want to offend anyone in the community.

In an "act of tolerance" the head of the public library at Florida Gulf   Coast University ordered all "Proud to be an American" signs removed so as   to not offend international students.

I, for one, am quite disturbed by these actions of so-called American   citizens; and I am tired of this nation worrying about whether or not we   are offending some individual or their culture.

Since the terrorist   attacks on September 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the   majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely   settled in New York and Washington D. C. when the "politically correct"   crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was   offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is   seeking a better life by coming to America. In fact, our country's   population is almost entirely composed of descendants of immigrants;   however, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our   country, and apparently some native Americans, need to understand.

First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to   offend you in any way. This idea of America being a multicultural   community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national   identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own   language, and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the "American Way"   has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by   millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

Our forefathers fought,   bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, San Juan, Iwo Jima,   Normandy, Korea, Vietnam,     We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any   other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society --   learn our language! "In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not   some off-the-wall, Christian, Right Wing, political slogan -- it is our   national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in   our Capitol and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto   because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this   nation; and this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is   appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest   level of Government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the   walls of our schools.     God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every patriotic song,   and in our founding documents. We honor His birth, death, and resurrection   as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of crisis. If God   offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your   new home, because God is part of our culture and we are proud to have Him.

We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our   freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and   Flag Day. We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly wave   our flag. As an American, I have the right to wave my flag, sing my   national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge whenever and   wherever I choose. If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like   Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of   this planet.

The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of   it. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we   really don't care how you did things where you came from. We are   Americans, like it or not, this is our country, our land, and our   lifestyle.

Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion   about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every   opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and   griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of   life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American   freedom, the right to leave.     If you agree, pass this onto other Americans!! It is time to take action.