Jonathan Turley writes for The Hill about an unlikely spokesperson for constitutional free-speech protections.
In March 2021, California principal Jesus Becerra was confronted by a clear and present threat to his school.
Standing before him was the culprit — a student apparently so dangerous that Becerra had to act without delay to protect the entire Viejo Elementary School in the Capistrano Unified School District.
The little girl is known only as B.B. in federal filings, but her actions were so heinous that a parent alerted Becerra to take all necessary action.
Beccera showed B.B. the incriminating evidence: a picture of children holding hands with the words “any life” written under “Black Lives Matter.”
Confronting the little girl, Becerra allegedly called the paper “racist.” He told her told that she would need to apologize for the outrageous statement. (Becerra denies using the word “racist.”). Her family alleges that she was also suspended for two weeks from recess, apparently to consider her failures as a human being.
That single piece of paper has since prompted years of litigation, in which California educators fought for the right to punish this child for this picture given to a friend. And if that seems outrageous, you do not even know the worst of it.
B.B. had just sat through a book reading about Martin Luther King. It ended with “Black Lives Matter,” an expression that she had never previously heard. She felt bad that black people in the book were shown as being treated differently and unfairly. She decided to draw a picture of her friends holding hands under those words with the addition of “any life.” She gave the picture to one of those friends, a girl known in the litigation as M.C.
Throughout history, friends have given each other such notes and pictures without incident. But in these times, an array of adults felt the need to intervene, to make sure the girls understood that this innocent act was actually a despicable act of latent racism.
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