"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," said Julie Fagerstrom, mother of one of the four boys sent home from Live Oak High School on May 5. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature."
This telling, knee-jerk reaction, endorsing louder, like-minded Tea Party ignorance, is what should stand out most in light of the American flag/Cinco de Mayo-political firestorm out of Morgan Hill, California.
Because May 5 was the Cinco de Mayo holiday celebrating Mexican culture, four northern California teenagers decided to wear t-shirts prominently displaying the American flag. That strikes me as a classless move that's just plain rude, but it's a free country, and I suppose the boys figured nobody could find trouble for wearing anything red, white and blue in post-9/11 America, anyway.
But between classes that day, Live Oak Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez told the boys it was being disruptive and to either turn their t-shirts inside out or go home; they would be suspended from school if they returned to class as they were. Not surprisingly, the teens opted to take the rest of the day off. According to an article republished to the Tea Party website, local Tea Party organizer Kelly Stone defended the boys, saying, "We are not ashamed to wear this flag on any day. And people blessed to live in this country should not be ashamed to display the American flag or to see the American flag."
Nobody asked them to be ashamed for wearing the flag. But they should be ashamed after admitting they consciously wore American flag shirts because it was Cinco de Mayo. "We knew it was Cinco de Mayo," one of the boys said, "But we just came to show our flag." In hindsight, Live Oak should have made sure to allow those students' immature taunts.
The school's smart move would have been to call the boys into the principal's office, explain to them why they were being jackasses, maybe make a disingenuous detention threat should they refuse to show a little decency, and send them back to class. How could they not anticipate this was precisely the kind of all-American story that excites the Rush Limbaughs of the world? Surely school administrators could foresee how easy it has been to spin this as patriotic students punished for loving their country.
This is contemporary America. Wrapping yourself in an American flag gives you carte blanche to do just about anything, from waging trillion-dollar wars to casually disregarding other cultures. But there is nothing patriotic about wearing the American flag for the intentional purpose of disrespecting others. Unfortunately, by making a big deal out of little more than a lame high school taunt, Live Oak opened the door for the lame eruption of millions of people who, sadly, genuinely believe this a simple case of four all-American teens being punished for their patriotism.
probably not and they shouldn't be. we are a multi-cultural nation and we should celebrate the cultures of each and every ethnic group in the nation, but not above our national identity.
The excuse that it may be disruptive doesn't fly; students have a constitutional right to symbolic speech. The American flag has been a political symbol ever since the US constitution was written and wearing it is a protected right. Those who are offended by our country's flag maybe should relocate to a place where that symbol is less prevalent (any other country).
My god, my god, how have we all been so misinformed all these years?
Listen, before someone jumps on me and tells me that I'm a flag-waving imperialist bigot, let me tell you that I actually like the Mexican flag better than the American flag because it has my favorite color green in it. Why Betsy Ross missed that, I don't know.
"Wrapping yourself in an American flag gives you carte blanche to do just about anything, from waging trillion-dollar wars to casually disregarding other cultures." No it doesn't. And why do peace-loving liberals cede the flag to the the war-mongering types? You can wave the flag as proudly even if you're not planning on bombing Lichtenstein next Tuesday.
For that matter, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Mexican Army's defeat over France. Shouldn't the Franco-Americans be a little ticked about Cinco de Mayo?
Come on, Jean Claude & Amelie, surely you have an opinion?
>The intention was crass
I agree. That was all I was saying.
Everybody is angrily defending the kids' right to be patriotic, but nobody, certainly not me, has ever said that right should be taken away. The kids exercised their 1st Amendment right to act like insensitive brats, and then the administration overreacted. That overreaction doesn't change the mild reality that the kids were being brats. That's the entire story. All the rest of the hyper-reactions are just that: hype.
And yes, I did read the post. And where did I say you were condoning the bashing of America? My take was that the idea of wearing the American flag or even waving it should be considered in any way anti-liberal or anti-Mexican. Those boys intended it to be that way, but should we buy into that? Doesn't the flag represent liberals too?
News Alert--Teenagers acting like insensitive jerks!
We, as citizens, are justified in expecting those who come to this country to adopt and respect its core values, no matter who they are or where they come from. No one has to agree with everything that the government does, but everyone should abide by the principles or our Constitutional democracy, and to respect the rule of law. Something is seriously wrong when a simple act of expression, regardless of what it was intended to express, is not only allowed to be silenced, but is actively prevented by the administration due to threats of violence. And this is exactly what happened at Live Oak high school.
There is a deeper, more disturbing, cultural undertone to all of this. The American flag is supposed to stand for Americans of all races, ethnic backgrounds, and national origins. The fact that it is seen as 'offensive' by some proves that those who are offended (1) see themselves as separate and (2) in some respect opposed to what they perceive the flag to be. It is this "us v. them" attitude that is the core of the problem.