Bush 'Groucho' posters spark school uproar
Posters that depicted President George Bush with a Groucho Marx-style moustache and cigar were ordered to be taken down at a high school in Los Angeles after a student complained.
Theatre students, who had created the posters to advertise a satirical play, countered with new posters with a First Amendment message.
Principal Kenny Lee ordered 100 posters removed from the campus of El Camino Real High School in the Woodland Hills area of the city last week on grounds they promoted smoking and “endorsed one ideology over another”.
“That’s our take on the student speech and conduct,” Lee said.
The school-funded posters advertised the students’ play, The Complete History of America (Abridged), which satirises US history.
A senior student who supports the president wrote a complaint letter to the administration, teachers and students said.
“We had one student who was very upset,” Lee said. “If something is bothering a student on campus, we’re going to address it.”
The poster ban infuriated some students.
“It taught us that the First Amendment certainly does not guarantee the right of free speech,” said Jes Shah, 16, a junior in the school drama programme.
The principal asked the drama students to come up with new posters. The new designs all feature a silhouette of Bush and a burning cigar, along with inscriptions such as “Free Expression for All (unless you are in high school)” and “What First Amendment?”.
“They’re good,” Lee said. “I like the follow-ups.”
