A school in Oklahoma has sparked outrage after an eight-year-old boy was told to turn his Black Lives Matter T-shirt inside out.
After proudly wearing his shirt to class, little Ben Stapleton was ordered by the principal at Charles Evans Elementary School to turn his BLM shirt inside out, per KXII.
The local news outlet reports that when Ben wore the top again, he was allegedly taken out of class and forced to sit in the principal's office. His mom hit out at the ordeal, branding it "modern-day segregation".
Hitting out at the school's principal, mom Jordan Herbert told the outlet: "He knows nothing about politics or his rights, so you (made) him turn it inside out because you don't like it."
The following day, Herbert sent all three of her children to school in matching BLM shirts.
According to Herbert, all three of her kids were sent to the principal's office and were forced to miss out on break-time and lunch with friends. Ben was also forced to miss out on his weekly tutoring lesson.
Speaking to McClatchy News, Herbert claimed that her son was forced to face a wall for six hours in the school office.
She claimed: "They say no disciplinary action was taken, but making them sit in the office missing everything was modern-day segregation." Her elder son was reportedly not punished for wearing his shirt.
Ardmore City Schools Superintendent Kim Holland told KXII that the issue stemmed from the school’s dress code policy, which prohibits "any clothing or apparel that could disrupt the learning process".
Holland said:
"I understand what she is saying, but school is not the place to have all that political back and forth and upheaval.
"We're trying to teach kids things like reading and writing. We’re trying to be more neutral in the school and be advocates for all of our children in what they need."
The school's dress code states that "shirts and tops with sayings or logos printed on them should be in good taste and school appropriate".
A group of students have since protested outside the school on Wednesday, with Ben holding up a sign reading: "Education! Not Discrimination!"
His mom told KXII that there was just one thing she wanted from the school district: "Allow my kid to express how his life matters. That's it, that's all."
When asked about the ordeal, Ben told the outlet: "It made me mad and sad. They pulled me out of P.E. and told me to put my shirt inside out and then I started playing."
