A Mississippi High School Gone Wrong

A Mississippi High School Gone Wrong

  

By:  The Midnight Rider  

I was sitting here eating breakfast the other morning when my son, Circuit Rider, came into the kitchen and told me that I needed to check out the news story playing on Fox News.  Circuit Rider, he’s all about current news stories and Fox News.  So I walked into the living room where the TV was.  Ole Festus, the dog, was stretched out in front of the TV, with his feet in the air.  I had to tell him to move because he was blocking the TV.

Anyway, I digress.  On TV, there was a news story about a High School Band in Mississippi that performed a skit at a football game in Brookhaven, MS, that depicted Doctors and Nurses holding rifles on downed police officers.  This comes shortly after 2 police officers were killed in Brookhaven.

Sitting back, I stroked my unshaven chin.  What has this world came to, I thought.  It appears that someone had their Cranium stuck up there Rectal Opening.    Who would have approved something like this?  Does today’s Society have no compassion anymore?  This is unspeakable.
 
Back in the day when I was going to the County School here, if we had pulled a stunt like this, our Principal as well as probably our Parents would have left the stands and beat us all the way to the car.  Common courtesy dictates that a stupid act like this should or wouldn’t have happened.  What were they thinking?   That’s just it, they were not thinking.  As well as the Band Director who sanctioned this.
 
As far as I know, the Band Director has been suspended.  Circuit Rider told me that this incident was all over Facebook and people were pissed about it.  As well they should be.  This makes everyone in the South look bad.  Should the Band Director be fired?  Yes.  Should the kids be punished?  If they willingly took place in this, yes.  These kids are old enough to say “hey, this is a really bad idea.”
 
My whole family to include my Dad, the Ghost Rider, is Pro-Police.  Our Police Officers do not get enough pay for what they do.  Who are you going to call if someone is breaking in your house?  The Police.  Who are you going to call if someone is threatening you?  The Police.  If Society today keeps attacking Police Officers verbally, mentally and physically, what are we going to do when no one wants to be a Police Officer?    Anarchy will reign.

This has left a very sour taste in my mouth.  Here is the article that Circuit Rider printed for me off the Fox News Website:

A Mississippi school district has apologized and a high school band director has been suspended after the band staged a halftime skit that depicted police being held at gunpoint.

The controversial skit came as the Forest Hill High School band from Jackson performed Friday during a football game against Brookhaven High School to the south. It shocked many at the game in Brookhaven, where just six days earlier two police officers were killed in a shootout with a suspect.

“I was sad because of what happened last weekend, and it felt like they were making fun of it,” Sarah McDonald, a Brookhaven High School student, told CNN affiliate WJTV.

A woman who said she was a graduate of Brookhaven High School found the performance insensitive.

“I was shocked by the halftime performance just because of everything that our community is going through,” the woman told CNN affiliate WLBT. “No disrespect to Forest Hill, when they decided to do a performance, they should’ve taken that into consideration that we were already going through a lot at this time. We are still trying to figure out what needs to be done about the situation.”

The episode outraged people around the state and has drawn criticism from Mississippi’s governor, who called it “unacceptable.”

The halftime skit...

In the skit, a handful of students dressed as doctors and nurses pointed fake AR-15-style rifles at other students dressed as SWAT team members. A school official offered “deep and sincere apologies” for it.

“(Jackson Public Schools) has a great deal of respect and appreciation for our law enforcement partners,” Superintendent Errick L. Greene said in a statement. “The band’s performance does not depict the values and people in our community, and was incredibly insensitive to the students, families, law enforcement officials and the entire Brookhaven community. For this we sincerely apologize to all, and we pledge to do better in the future.”

The superintendent said the district had taken “some initial actions” regarding the skit.

“You have my commitment that we will investigate it fully and take additional appropriate action with respect to procedures and personnel,” Greene said.

The Forest Hill High School marching band’s director, Demetri Jones, has been placed on administrative leave, WLBT reported.

The reaction...

Brookhaven High School has filed a formal complaint with the Mississippi High School Activities Association. CNN reached out to the association for comment and is waiting to hear back.

The Brookhaven School District also put out a statement, affirming its support for local law enforcement.

“The halftime show performed by the visiting band during (Friday) night’s game was an unfortunate issue that our district had no prior knowledge of and does not condone,” the district said. “Our main focus remains, as always, on the safety of our students and the student-athletes performing on our fields. We appreciate our community’s support as we continue working to ensure a positive environment of sportsmanship for our student-athletes and those visiting Brookhaven.”

Walter Armstrong, president of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, called the skit “deplorable, disgusting, and outrageous.”

“It is never okay for students to participate in something that defiles and desecrates a law enforcement officer,” Armstrong said in a statement. “The adults in charge here should know better.”

The Facebook page of Forest Hill High School has been flooded with angry comments. Even Mississippi’s governor went to Twitter to express his disgust.

“This is unacceptable in a civilized society,” Gov. Phil Bryant tweeted. “Someone should be held accountable.”

I cannot believe that I had to write this story.  I state again, what were you thinking?

Many people have read my article I did last week about the smoking ban in Sheffield, AL.  It is my understanding that there will be a portion of the City Council Meeting Monday Night where citizens can sound off about it.  It should be a barn burning.  Think I will bring some popcorn.

I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider...