UCPS says viral video about Marvin Ridge American flag denial is a misunderstanding

A Union County mom took to social media Friday after her son’s planned senior parking spot design was denied by Marvin Ridge High School. Soon, her post went viral.

Marvin Ridge High School is letting rising seniors paint their parking spots ahead of the start of the school year, but designs must be approved in advance. Lindsey Belue Anderson said in a video posted to Facebook Friday that her son’s design, which consisted of an American flag alongside his name, was denied due to concerns it “might offend others.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Anderson said in the video. “It makes me want to pull him out of school right now.”

LibsofTikTok, a popular right-wing social media account, soon shared the video on X, where it had accumulated 400,000 views by late Friday afternoon. Others on X also posted the video, which added tens of thousands of more views.

Commenters varied in their reactions, with some critiquing Marvin Ridge for the denial and others raising concerns about parking a car on top of an image of the nation’s flag.

“It might offend some patriots to park a dirty car on the nation’s flag,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon commented. “The bigger question is what the overall policy is and is it enforced evenly.”

Union County Public Schools told The Charlotte Observer Friday afternoon the design was initially denied due to concerns that a student parking and walking atop a design of the flag might offend people — not that that flag itself was offensive.

“Union County Public Schools respects the U.S. flag and what it represents,” the district said in a statement. “A Marvin Ridge High student’s request to paint the American flag on his senior parking space was originally denied due to concerns about the standards of respect and expectations set by the U.S. flag code.”

After further discussions, it said, school staff reversed course and decided to approve the original design.