One of the headlines yesterday was enough to send me into apoplectic shock. The words screaming from the screen "California Students Sent Home for Wearing U.S. Flags on Cinco de Mayo" made me seethe with anger before I even read the entire story. I was upset a few weeks back when a student in Florida was threatened with suspension for wearing a breast cancer support bracelet but this situation just leaves me incensed.
Five students at Live Oak High School in Morgan, CA were told to either reverse their shirts bearing the American Flag or be sent home. WHAT?! School officials said that shirts, the American Flag shirts, were deemed as incendiary on Cinco de Mayo. The American Flag is incendiary? The Principal of Live Oak High School has sunken to an all new level of insanity. He apparently feels that the American Flag had the possibility to trigger violence between those celebrating and those not.
So let me get this straight: students, who are in large part either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants, might be offended by other students wearing an American Flag. That doesn't even make sense. First things first either they or their parents made a conscious decision to come to this county (either legally or not) and have additionally made the decision to take advantage of the public school system. So having said that, they should never view the American Flag as something to be opposed to rather than to admire and respect after all you chose to be here.
Secondly, Cinco de Mayo isn't even a Mexican National holiday. It is a regional celebration in Puebla, Mexico and is widely ignored in the rest of the country. Here in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is an advertising tool for beer companies and restaurants that serve margaritas. So in reality, the revelers on Cinco de Mayo in California have CAPITALISM to thank for the celebration being as well known as it is.
I wonder if the principal (at Live Oak) removed the American Flag that flies outside his school on Wednesday or if he instructed his teachers to remove the Flag from public view inside the school's classrooms. And if he didn't (and I have seen no evidence as such) then how are the students inciting violence or supporting something that the schol itself has already endorsed? Was there even a policy regarding the wearing of patriotic symbols on May 5 or any other day? I think not, lest we would have heard about it by now. And if there was no policy, were these five students supposed to psychic?
Nick Boden, the principal at Live Oak, has opened himself up to not only controversy but to a dangerous precedent. If we can't wear American Flags on days that we as AMERICANS choose to celebrate the heritages of other countries, should we all be required to participate in the holiday as an exercise in global citizenship and lessons in diversity. And if our participation is mandatory, do we then have the guarantee that no one will be harassed or viewed as being racist? In October, should we all dress like Snooky and "The Situation" to celebrate Columbus Day? Or will the same people who want to sue MTv for perpetuating a stereotype come out of the woodwork? In March should we all dress as leprechauns and drink lots of Guiness and get into fights to celebrate St Patrick's Day? And in February (as a friend asked me today) are we to refrain from wearing white shirts or should we all just go in black face? My point exactly!! These ideas are just as ridiculous as the idea that an American should ever be told that he can't wear the flag on ANY or EVERY day of the year.
And now today, protests and violence are expected to be targeted at these students for standing up for their rights. Americans told not to wear the Flag and then targeted for violence for doing so. If this was happening to any other group of people the ACLU and the left would be screaming that we are violating civil rights - much like the protests against the Arizona immigration law. Seriously what are we becoming and who is going to stand up for us and STOP THE INSANITY!
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