Various patriotic slogans and displays in the U.S. have been banned due to rampant political correctness.

See the email here.

Sort of.

Let's examine the detailed claims made in the email:

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

Not exactly.

After complaints about the display of 'God Bless America' on school signs, Broken Arrow school officials consulted the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA). OSSBA said that displaying 'God Bless America' as part of a patriotic display was legal.

Broken Arrow school officials passed on the advice of OSSBA to its schools but did not recommend or order schools to remove displays of 'God Bless America.' Some schools did remove banners and signs of 'God Bless America' but later restored the displays.

What prompted the concern of school officials was not the desire to avoid offense but the doubts about the legality of displaying a religious slogan by a government institution.

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

On September 19, the Berkeley fire chief ordered large American flags removed from fire trucks for safety reasons and for fear that anti-war demonstrators might attack the trucks.

On September 21 the order was rescinded.

Channel 12 News in Long Island, New York, orders flags remove from the newsroom and red, white, and blue ribbons removed from the lapels of reporters.

News 12 announced a policy of no flag lapel pins or ribbons in order to protect the station's credibility as an impartial news provider.

Patrick Dolan, senior vice president of Cablevision Systems Corporation in charge of News 12 said, "We don't want anyone to get the false impression that our patriotic emotions cloud our reporting of the facts."

News 12 now allows its reporters and news anchor to wear red, white and blue ribbons.

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.

Florida Gulf Coast University Library Services Director Kathy Hoeth did order library staff working at service desks only not to wear stickers saying 'Proud to be an American.'

On September 19, Hoeth apologized for the decision and stated her decision was not sanctioned by the University.

As for the remaining arguments in the email, the Urban Legend Zeitgeist offers a few observations.

Of the four incidents detailed, only one, the banning of 'Proud to be an American' stickers at Florida Gulf Coast University, was motivated by a desire not to "offend some individual or their culture."

The other incidents reflected the subtleties of American democracy: the balance between Church and State, the role of a free press and political dissent. It's hard to stitch them together into indictment of 'political correctness,' particularly when each incident was fully or partially rescinded in a very short time.

It's even harder to see them as evidence of a threat to American political or social culture posed by immigration.

The Urban Legend Zeitgeist notes that nativism has long been a political force in American politics. The sentiments expressed would have been endorsed an ardent Know-Nothing in the 1850's as well as opponents of 'political correctness' in 2001.

• "Broken Arrow school board gives signs blessing" Jay Cooper, Tulsa World, 9/26/2001
• "Broken Arrow school officials say slogan not banned" Jay Cooper and Michael Overall, Tulsa World, 9/22/2001
• "Flags Flying Again on Berkeley Fire Trucks" from KPIX
• "The American Flag and the Fire Trucks" from Berkeley, California Mayor Shirley Dean
• "When Patriotism and Journalism Clash" Warren Strugatch, New York Times, 10/7/2001
• "Statement by FGCU Library Services Director Kathy Hoeth" from Florida Gulf Coast University
• "President Merwin Supports Patriotism at FGCU" from Florida Gulf Coast University
• "Show of U.S. pride turns into sticky issue at FGCU" from News-Press.com

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