http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010626/od/tshirt_dc_1.html Tuesday June 26 9:18 AM ET Teen Sues Over Banned 'Redneck' Shirt NEWARK (Reuters) - Tom Sypniewski thought his ``redneck'' t-shirt was funny, but school officials deemed it offensive, ordered him to remove it and are now being sued for allegedly violating his free speech rights. Sypniewski, 19, wore the shirt, which listed comic Jeff Foxworthy's ``Top 10 Reasons You Might Be A Redneck Sports Fan,'' to Warren Hills Regional High School on March 22 and was told to remove it. He refused and was suspended for three days, losing an appeal to the Board of Education in April. District school officials in Washington, a small town in rural western New Jersey, said in a press release the shirt ''portrayed a message of racial stereotyping'' and violated the dress code. It said the shirt could have inflamed students, given the school's two-year history of racial tensions. Sypniewski, who recently graduated, denied he is a racist or that the shirt carried a racist message. ``I wore it because it's funny,'' Sypniewski told a news conference outside U.S. District Court in Newark on Monday. ``To me a redneck is a hunter, a fisherman, an outdoorsman. I consider myself a redneck and I'm absolutely not a racist. What hurts me is the board accused me of trying to spread a racist message with the shirt. I think they owe me an apology.''