Boy arrested after refusing to stand for ‘racist’ anthem

Meet the Colin Kaepernick of the sixth grade.

An 11-year-old Florida boy was kicked out of school, arrested by police and suspended for three days after disobeying a substitute teacher’s order to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The protest happened earlier this month at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Fla., according to Bay News 9. The student isn’t named in the report, which claimed the boy told his teacher the national anthem was racist and offensive to black people.

The teacher reportedly told the preteen student that he should move somewhere else if he had a problem with the United States. The boy reasoned, “They brought me here.”

After being removed from school grounds, the child was brought to a juvenile detention center for disrupting a school event and non-violently resisting arrest. His mother, Dhakira Talbot, wants the charges dropped.

“I’m upset, I’m angry. I’m hurt,” Dhakira told Bay News 9. “Moreso for my son. My son has never been through anything like this. I feel like this should’ve been handled differently. If any disciplinary action should’ve been taken, it should’ve been with the school. He shouldn’t have been arrested.”

School officials claimed the student vowed to get the school’s principal fired and threatened the teacher who disciplined him. The student denied the latter accusation.