Red Ban

You can no longer wear the color "red" at my old high school. This is something I learned when I was running around the track one morning. The big school rally, "Monarch Day" was Friday--and back in the day, I used to be into the spirit thing (embarassing to admit, but I was actually "Spirit Commissioner" two years in a row, which meant that I was in charge or organizing the damn thing).

For nostalgia sake, I decided to stop by and see it. I ran into two old high school teachers, who caught me up on the many changes that have happened in the last twenty years: the changing racial demographics, the school test scores that have gone down, shake-ups in the administration, and the banning of the color "red" as a way to cut down on gang violence (which they claim, actually works).

It seems so odd to me that you would ban a color from school--and in the case of red, very sad since it is such a happy color. And with the large Asian population at this school, Chinese New Year and Tet seem to be times when red would be the natural color to wear (not to mention Christmas, Valentine's day, and if you are a Red Wings fan). Is banning red really a smart school policy, an over-reaction, or a cultural oversight? Or does it just seem sad?