Allen Central High School
Encyclopedia
Allen Central High School is a secondary school located in Eastern, Kentucky
, U.S.A. It is the home of the Rebels, and is one of four public high schools in the Floyd County
School system. The school colors are Columbian blue and gray; however, over time dark red has been added.
For the past 34 years, the school has displayed symbols of the Confederate States of America
. A Confederate flag
was displayed in the school gymnasium as recently as January 2007, and the school mascot is a Confederate soldier who, as of late 2006, was featured in a sign at the entrance to the school. A nearby courtyard features blue brick forming the Cross of St. Andrew, and a lobby mural features a rebel soldier carrying the flag on horseback. Other images of rebel soldiers and Confederate flags cover the same walls. The multiple images have stoked controversy, since many consider them to be racist
symbols, both in Floyd County, in Kentucky, and elsewhere, although there is also plenty of support in the county for retaining the symbols.
In December 2006, the David School, a private school in the same sports league as Allen Central, decided not to play a basketball game at the school because the David School considered the Confederate symbols a form of taunting, which is forbidden by the athletic league.
The Justice Resource Center in Louisville, Kentucky
, a civil rights
group, criticized the school's prominent displays of the Confederate flag at the school and at public events, and the head of the organization, the Rev. Louis Coleman, suggested that black members of nearby school sports teams should have the option of not participating in events where Confederate symbols are displayed. Coleman told the Associated Press that the flag creates "a very tense and negative atmosphere" for black student athletes.
Allen Central Principal Sis Hall and many students at the school have defended the Confederate emblems, calling them symbols of strength, independence and pride. The school's use of the emblems "has nothing to do with racism," Hall told an Associated Press reporter. "It's a part of us."
Allen Central adopted the school flag and mascot in 1972, when four other schools were consolidated to form the high school. Students formed a committee and chose the mascot. The four previous schools and their mascots were the Maytown Wildcats, the Garrett Black Devils, the Wayland Wasps and the Martin Purple Flash.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, U.S.A. It is the home of the Rebels, and is one of four public high schools in the Floyd County
Floyd County, Kentucky
Floyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1800. As of 2000, the population was 42,441. Its county seat is Prestonsburg. The county is named for Colonel John Floyd .-History:...
School system. The school colors are Columbian blue and gray; however, over time dark red has been added.
For the past 34 years, the school has displayed symbols of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. A Confederate flag
Flags of the Confederate States of America
There were only three flag designs adopted, with later, minor variants made to those designs, that served as the official national flags of the Confederate States of America and used during its existence from 1861 to 1865...
was displayed in the school gymnasium as recently as January 2007, and the school mascot is a Confederate soldier who, as of late 2006, was featured in a sign at the entrance to the school. A nearby courtyard features blue brick forming the Cross of St. Andrew, and a lobby mural features a rebel soldier carrying the flag on horseback. Other images of rebel soldiers and Confederate flags cover the same walls. The multiple images have stoked controversy, since many consider them to be racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
symbols, both in Floyd County, in Kentucky, and elsewhere, although there is also plenty of support in the county for retaining the symbols.
In December 2006, the David School, a private school in the same sports league as Allen Central, decided not to play a basketball game at the school because the David School considered the Confederate symbols a form of taunting, which is forbidden by the athletic league.
The Justice Resource Center in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
group, criticized the school's prominent displays of the Confederate flag at the school and at public events, and the head of the organization, the Rev. Louis Coleman, suggested that black members of nearby school sports teams should have the option of not participating in events where Confederate symbols are displayed. Coleman told the Associated Press that the flag creates "a very tense and negative atmosphere" for black student athletes.
Allen Central Principal Sis Hall and many students at the school have defended the Confederate emblems, calling them symbols of strength, independence and pride. The school's use of the emblems "has nothing to do with racism," Hall told an Associated Press reporter. "It's a part of us."
Allen Central adopted the school flag and mascot in 1972, when four other schools were consolidated to form the high school. Students formed a committee and chose the mascot. The four previous schools and their mascots were the Maytown Wildcats, the Garrett Black Devils, the Wayland Wasps and the Martin Purple Flash.