Something is very wrong when students think it's okay to tattoo themselves with hate symbols or to admire a Nazi regime that made genocide a government policy. Something is very wrong when racial epithets are spoken blithely or festooned on parked cars in the neigborhood. To the school's credit, the principal moved swiftly to isolate perpetrators and to make it clear that racially tinged melees, like the one that erupted last week, aren' t tolerated.
Racial polarization is a reality in and out of schools.
But in a school like Washington, where minority students are bused from great distances, it is doubly important to ensure that the school is a safe and nurturing environment for all students. The school's administration took a bold first step in prohibiting students from wearing provocative iron- cross symbols. That policy may last as long as it takes some parent to sue the district, demanding little Johnny's right to express himself. To do less sends the message that it's OK to think and speak that way. This is not just kids being kids.