Football Half-Time Show Leaves a Sorry Bunch on the Sidelines

In keeping with the country’s new inclination to focus only on matters of substance, let’s ponder the Confederate flag incident at Newport Harbor High School.

Nothing could be graver than the flushing out of an underground hotbed of Confederacy sympathizers, right here under our noses in Newport Beach. But while many people thought the retrogressive cells, if they existed, would have been headquartered at Fashion Island, turns out the hide-out was actually the Newport Harbor High band room. Very clever, considering the school has masqueraded for years under the benign nickname of the Sailors.

I ask you, what to do with these wayward Sailors?

Ten days ago, in a football game against Westchester High School, the school band rolled out its halftime show. It’s the same show members have been performing all season and depicts America reuniting after the Civil War.

As part of the show, students wheeled out large replicas of the Confederate battle flag and Old Glory. The idea was to show that, once threatened with a divided nation, the Republic survived.

Anyone with even a tenuous grasp of contemporary American culture knows that displaying the Confederate flag mightily offends large groups of people, particularly African Americans.

To them, the flag represents an Old South that enslaved blacks and denied them basic rights. Last year, South Carolina finally decided to quit flying a Confederate flag atop its Capitol. Only Mississippi still has a state flag that includes the ultimate sign of Civil War-era Dixie.

However many years too late, at least most of the South is now with the program.

Against that historical backdrop, then, Newport Harbor rolled the Confederate flag out onto the field in front of the hometown fans and those from Los Angeles’ Westchester High, which--oh, by the way--has a predominantly African American student body.

Do you see the potential for serious stuff here? Sounds to me like a subject worth five Geraldo programs, three Bill O’Reillys, two Montel Williams and a Larry King panel.

It almost was.

Many of Westchester’s fans and school officials, who made the trek from Los Angeles to one of Orange County’s beachiest towns, reportedly couldn’t believe their eyes as the Confederate flag was unfurled before them. Several complained right away to Newport Harbor High officials, prompting them to write a letter of apology in return.

That was a letter that shouldn’t have been written.

I’m not against apologies. I’m only against them when they’re unwarranted. A needless apology trivializes those that are required for real offenses.

This nonissue at Newport Harbor is right up there with the group of Orange County parents who several years ago were offended on religious grounds that the school nickname of Diablos--meaning devils in Spanish--was sparking devil-like insignias on campus.

Perspective, people. Please.

Newport Harbor’s mock-up of the Confederate flag wasn’t inflammatory. Short of decking out the band members in Union or Confederate uniforms, it was a logical way to make the point about reconciliation. It’s not even in the same ballpark as the Southern states that flaunted racial tension by flying the flag in the public square.

I don’t mean to suggest that Westchester rooters collectively went nuts. I’d guess that many, even if initially uncomfortable with the flag, didn’t stew about it. But some were clearly upset, and Westchester’s principal told The Times that several students approached her and asked, “What are you going to do about it?”

I wish her response had been, “Nothing. In this context, there’s nothing offensive about the flag.”

And even the Newport Harbor High band director was quoted as saying, “We offended them, so of course we need to write a letter apologizing.”

No, he didn’t need to, but maybe he’s just trying to be a nice guy.

What bothers me more is that the school says it won’t use either flag anymore as part of the halftime show.

We can all think of various ways that Newport Harbor could have been racially insensitive.

This wasn’t one of them.

What happened out there on the football field was halftime entertainment, nothing more, presenting a slice of history. It was meant to show that a country once divided now knows what’s really important and has come together.

Or has it?

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.