HAMILTON, Ga. (AP) -- A group of parents angry that their children were suspended for wearing shirts with the Confederate flag persuaded school officials to place a similar ban on a popular black-designed clothing brand.
Last week a group of eighth-grade girls were told not to wear shirts with the Confederate symbol because they might offend other students. Defying the order, the girls wore the shirts to school Friday and brought additional shirts for other students.
"It was enough to cause a disruption," Harris County Superintendent Susan Andrews said Monday. "They were suspended for defying authority."
Some of the suspended students' parents complained to Andrews that if white students were not allowed to wear the flag-emblazoned shirts, then black students should not be allowed to wear the hip-hop FUBU brand.
FUBU, which stands for "For Us, By Us," is a New York-based clothing company founded by four black men in 1992. The clothes feature vibrant colors, oversized styles and prominent logos. The brand has spread from urban areas to malls and department stores nationwide.
Andrews decided Friday that neither FUBU clothing nor shirts with the Confederate flag would be allowed at Carver Middle School this week. But after meeting Monday with a group of black parents unhappy with her ban on FUBU clothes, Andrews said she would let students wear the FUBU brand after this week if it didn't cause a disturbance.
No problems were reported Monday.
Andrews said she did not consider the FUBU brand comparable to the Confederate flag, but decided to ban both to help ease tensions.
Harris County, located in west Georgia near Columbus, has a 30 percent black population.
