In March, Sarah Inama, a sixth grade teacher in Idaho, made national headlines when her school’s administration ordered her to take down motivational signs with messages like “Everyone Is Welcome Here” and “In this room, everyone is welcome, important, accepted, respected, encouraged, valued, equal.” Now, her signs have explicitly been cited in official guidance for a new law prohibiting flags or banners that “illustrate or show someone’s opinions, emotion, beliefs, or thoughts regarding politics, economics, society, faith, or religion.”
Yes, apparently something as anodyne as a welcome mat is now arguably political.
Idaho’s House Bill 41 went into effect on July 1. The legislation adds to existing law to allow public schools to display only certain flags and banners on school property and to prohibit schools from displaying certain flags and banners, though it wasn’t until Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador issued guidance on implementation and consequences that the extent of the bill became fully clear. Moreover, Inama’s signs in particular were cited as examples of displaying ideology that would be prohibited by the law.
“These signs are part of an ideological/social movement which started in Twin Cities, Minnesota following the 2016 election of Donald Trump,” Labrador’s guidance reads. wrote. “Since that time, the signs have been used by the Democratic party as a political statement. The Idaho Democratic Party even sells these signs as part of its fundraising efforts. Ms. Inama first displayed her sign in 2017, during the height of the above-referenced social movement. In media interviews, she explained she hung the sign to share her personal, ideological beliefs.”
The signs in question were, as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes points out, made in response to racist graffiti sprayed on a Twin Cities school.
The bill would also prohibit student artwork that defied the law and met the definition of “banner.” It is unclear how that would purport with First Amendment rights, which are protected even for children at school.
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