Shall We Laugh or Cry at Morgan Hill?
What are we to make of the five students who were temporarily suspended by the administration at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill for purportedly seeking to provoke—by the wearing of various American flag insignia, no less—Mexican-American students who were at the time celebrating, with some Mexican flags, Cinco de Mayo Day?
Or, in the words of aggrieved student Annicia Nunez, as picked up by the news services, “I think they should apologize ’cause it is a Mexican heritage day. We don’t deserve to get disrespected like that. We wouldn’t do that on Fourth of July.”
Let us deconstruct this episode to discover, if we can, the proverbial “teachable moment” of this collective farce.
I. First, the five male students. Were the flag-wearers “provoking” Mexican-American participants in Cinco de Quatro Mayo festivities? Sort of, but more likely it seems that they were perhaps chiding the idea of Mexican ethnic chauvinism, and doing so in a particularly ironic fashion by appearing in American patriot gear par excellence. They certainly did not wear symbolism traditionally associated with any sort of “white” chauvinism (two of the students were part “Hispanic”). It is not as if students were brandishing the stars and bars, or militia regalia. Rather, it seems that the boys rightly suspected that the American flag might cause discomfort to some of the Cinco de Mayo celebrants, and that such discomfort would in turn reveal the ambiguity, if not the ridiculousness (cf. the asinine reaction of Ms. Nunez), of an overarching ethnic ideology. (Can a Ms. Nunez imagine the surreal antithesis: a high school south of the border punishes some of its students for wearing Mexican flags on the Fourth of July as Mexican nationals of American ancestry parade the American flag?)
We should remember that the present generation (born after 1990) does not know first hand of the civil rights movement, Cesar Chavez, or any of the protest/reform controversies of a half-century ago that sought to adjudicate oppression, grievance, and compensation. (Just as I once did not know much in high school of the Roaring Twenties fifty years earlier). They grasp only that among mostly middle class suburbanites, Hispanic surnames, and in some cases particular ethnic profiles—not demonstrable racial prejudice or even legitimate ongoing collective grievances—earn affirmative action consideration for everything from federal jobs to college admissions. And this new generation (one that will be paying our debts off despite a “normal” 10% unemployment rate) suspects further that someone like the assistant principal, Miguel Rodriguez, who sent the flag-wearing boys to the office, cannot tell them why, for example, a third-generation Mexican-American student would be entitled to special consideration, but a first generation Punjabi-American or Lebanese-American would not. Surely affirmative action is not based on comparable distance from being “white,” ongoing racial prejudice, or claims of past unfairness. In other words, I fear we will see more Live Oak “moments” as those of the Obama (who once called for more “oppression studies”) generation cannot quite figure out the labyrinth of a now fossilized “diversity” spoils industry that allots preferences and rewards contrary to the entire spirit of the original civil rights movement—by accentuating rather than deemphasizing racial and ethnic difference.
II. Then we come next to Mr. Rodriguez, the assistant principal. It is said that he meant well, by citing presumed provocateurs to avoid unnecessary tension. But I don’t quite accept that (I think more likely he did the math: lots of Mexican-flag/regalia waving/wearing students, few American flag/regalia waving/wearing students; presto, go after the smaller, safer number). A competent credentialed administrator should have some rudimentary knowledge of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the role of a school official in protecting the rights of free expression. And failing that, he should wonder what has gone so wrong to reach a point where the wearing of an American flag—even if were meant to be provocative—really should be provocative? To whom and why? In other words, what is the larger culture at Live Oak that suggests that the sight of an American flag—even at an ethnic day celebration—could possibly be considered inflammatory to an American student body? Reports circulated that MEChA, for example, has an affiliation on campus. If true, one need only to read its charter to grasp that it is a racialist organization akin to all supremacist cadres that traffic in racial/ethnic triumphalism. Bottom line? Mr. Rodriquez should discourage MEChA, encourage the wearing of the American flag, and start reading the U.S. Constitution. (A footnote here: apparently no one has reminded the students that thousands of Mexican-Americans, in heroic fashion, have fought and died for the United States from Okinawa to Fallujah, and that they did so at least in part because they knew well that to be a minority in America was far preferable to remaining among the majority in Mexico.)
We’re afraid what will happen if we offend Muslims.
We’re afraid what will happen if we offend Mexicans.
We’re afraid what will happen if we offend Blacks.
I’m afraid what will happen if there’s a strong backlash against those three.
Ron,
The sure-to-come economic collapse will be really offensive to all three of the groups you name; because it ends entitlements (used to be called charity) taken by force from the middle class working majority of American citizens, who are now really offended that their elected representatives have criminally conspired to rob them of an economic future.
Everybody gets mugged by reality soon. Guess we’ll have to outlaw “taking offense,” cause the future looks very confrontive from any angle, in every situation. Law-abiding civility goes by the wayside.
I’m getting old & so is my ammo -BRING IT ON !!! :)
@ RonK
A) Not *if* but when.
B) I have no fear. Bring it on. Now.
People gotta grow up sometime.
(…albeit, true that some never do…)
Ron, you forgot one:
We’re afraid what will happen if we offend homosexuals.
Oh it’s COMING !!!
Well, what else can one say but, “welcome to Mexifornia!”
you do recall that California was indeed a part of Mexico before the US waged war on them to take it, don’t you? Or is the history too inconvenient for your bumper-sticker sloganeering?
You do recall that it was only part of Mexico because the Spaniards waged war on the Indians to take it, right? So the reconquista clowns are a bunch of thieves whining that someone bigger came along, kicked their asses, and took the loot. As moral high ground, that’s somewhere below sea level.
Dr. Hanson:
Well stated, as always, but sadly, this is certainly not merely a California moment. Such bizarre behavior on the part of school authorities is commonplace around the nation. I suspect it arises from, as you put it, a desire to avoid controversy and so, roll with whichever group will cause the least uproar. Part of it is the logical outgrowth of the self esteem movement, where the inestimable self worth of the individual, particularly if they are a part of a currently favored victim group, is of paramount importance. A part of that kind of fuzzy thinking is the “student-centered” instruction religion which essentially teaches that any teacher who imagines them self to be an expert in their field and who lords that supposed mastery over their students is actually harming, not helping students. You see all students are loaded with innate wisdom and creativity which must be nurtured and released by sensitive “facilitators,” not stodgy old “teachers,” and when facilitating is done correctly, by letting students decide what they will learn and how, only then may they become truly self-actualized and socially just and conscious. Another consequence of that movement is that if the individual is so important, their grievances, no matter how inane and ill-founded, must likewise be worthy of serious consideration and deference.
This brings us to another related issue: an extremely fuzzy, lazy sort of thinking about and use of language. I teach high school English and keep a yearly list of inadvertently funny things written by my students. One of my all time favorites is “give me respect or else!” Most adults, even educators don’t understand the distinction I’m about to explain, so it’s hardly a surprise that most high school students are likewise blissfully unaware. I speak of the misuse of respect and deference. Deference is given, owed, to others based on their positions of responsibility or authority. It is earned by those individuals only to the extent that they have earned the positions owed deference. Respect is an entirely different matter. It must be earned by each individual, regardless of their position, and freely given by others. It is also continuously renewed; it may be intensified or diminished, newly found or completely lost depending on the actions and character of the individual. We give deference to the uniform worn by the policeman, but may not respect the man wearing it. We owe deference to the President of the United States, but may, over time, find our respect increasing and waning.
So when I hear of any high school student, particularly one cloaking them self in a non or anti-American ideology or nationality parading their foreign flag and demanding “respect” for their uneducated, ungrateful, self-important expressions of barely understood pseudo-righteous outrage, I wonder “where are the adults in that school? Why haven’t they explained the difference between deference and respect? Why haven’t they explained sovereignty and its associated symbols to them?” Presumably the high school involved flies the American flag with the California flag beneath it? Or perhaps they don’t? That would be interesting to know and would go a long way toward explaining at least some aspects of this situation.
What ultimately matters is that capable adults must be in charge and must know certain, fundamental things. Here’s a partial list:
(1) America is a sovereign nation;
(2) As a sovereign nation, it may require a certain deference to national symbols, such as its flag;
(3) The flag of no other nation may take precedence or preference over the American flag;
(4) The display of the flag and the deference we pay to it are not grounds for equal treatment for the flags, symbols or interests of other nations;
(5) No nation in human history has spent more, in blood and treasure, to save others and to ensure liberty;
(6) Ensure that every student in your school is taught, repeatedly, these things;
(7) Let them know, kindly and with adult patience, why it is unwise and counter productive to appear to be spitting in the eye of the country and the people to which you flew to escape the
horrors of the land of your birth, particularly when that country is providing you with a free public education, to say nothing of innumerable other perks unavailable in their native lands;
(6) If you really want to tick off most of the public–even if not in your own little Twilight Zone enclave–allow yourself to be seen as not rendering sufficient honor to the flag;
It would seem that in this case, the adults in charge did not know these things, and were not capable. It is easy to say to those protesting against America and for another nation that their best course of action would be to return to that mythical paradise they so seem to desire. Perhaps the better solution in this case would be for the involved school district to undertake an effective, multi-grade curriculum in American history and civics, and should teachers or principals find implementing that to be against their sensibilities, the district should free them from the chains of the oppressor and find teachers and principals who have an understanding of the blessings and opportunities of American citizenship. I suspect they’d be worthy of respect.
Brother, am I glad you’re involved with high-schoolers, what a great post.
Yes indeed.
Recently one of my wife’s middle school students lamented that she had lost her “self of steam” because of the actions of an instructor. Oh Well, just another day in the dumbing down of America.
I can’t really hate, or even despise, school officials who try to roll with the punches on such things. They are already busy handling mountains of administrative paperwork and dealing with ordinary discipline problems. I can see why they would try to defuse these kinds of situations by taking the path of least resistance.
I do question their intelligence and wisdom. I can’t tell from the story who first raised a stink. If the school officials were stupid enough to act on their own initiative against the five kids, their act kind of speaks for itself. They brought upon themselves their own woe. Given what I just said about administrators wanting to avoid trouble, my guess is that either an activist teacher or student initially raised the stink (we all know both types; my daughter, sadly, was mistaught English for a year by one such) and the official didn’t have the wisdom to read them the First Amendment.
Mr. Mike McDaniel,
Your’s is one of the best blog posts I have read in months! Exceptionally well written in both text and content! I would love to take a class from you. What saddens me most about today’s educational system is the loss of the love to learn by so many students. I can remember distictively the school day when that love of learning hit me right on the side of my mind full of mush. Since that moment I have made sure that love flourished and never died. Thanks again for making my day!
For anyone who still doesn’t grasp the real problem here…
…watch this –
http://patriotupdate.com/stories/read/3593/L-A-Teacher-Calls-for-Mexican-Revolt-in-the-U-S
Holy cow- just imagine if that guy was white. He’d have been crucified in the media, lost his job and probably faced civil and criminal hate-crime prosecution. I’m tired of hearing the name ‘La Raza’ and knowing it means ‘The Race’ as a ethnic identifier, not as an action noun (ie, something like ‘race to self improvement, or some such, like some moderate and modern muslims speak of jihad as an inner struggle to live correctly- that I could understand and deal with). It’d be interesting for a bunch of white kids to get together and form clubs called ‘The Race’ and exclude everyone that didn’t meet their subjective criteria, and start calling for revolution against the oppressors (and for those of you who don’t quite understand cynicism, I think this is actually a bad, bad idea).
Several things I can absolutely can promise you:
First, if a bunch of white kids got together and formed a race-based club and it became public knowledge you could be the farm that Sharpton would be leading a posse of protesters (and a squad of Black Panthers) to wherever to deal with this “display of hatred that is representative of whites, tea-baggers, Republicans…blah,blah,blah.
Obama would be all over the TV denouncing (in some obtuse but obvious manner) as terrorists the kids, the families, the town, the state, whites, tea-baggers, Republicans…blah,blah,blah.
Finally, you could also bet the bank (one with money in it) that Napolitano would be all over having this club on a terror hot list and Homeland Security even strip-searching the family dogs.
The late, great, Richard Mitchell could not have said it better. You may be the last sentient mind in high school, please don’t go.
Brilliant writing except that you referred to the, “adults in charge,” when clearly we have stumbled upon ground zero for The Children of the Corn.
AP radio news grimly reported yesterday that a group of boys in Napa California had burned a Mexican flag. AP devoted about two minutes of its newscast to this story with comments from aggrieved Hispanic mother who as a consequence ruefully announced she would move somewhere else. White supremacists, tobacco chewing country boys, etc to blame. Note that AP only allowed AG Holder remarks re Taliban connection to Times Square bomber about thirty seconds in the same newscast. Consider the reaction from AP News and its liberal counterparts when an American flag is burned.
I wonder if they took down the American flag in front of the school on 5/5. Or any other day.
According to my Political Science instructor (who happens to also be an attorney that represents the Morgan Hill school district board), yes they did take the American flag down at the school for Cinco de Mayo. Today’s class was spent discussing the 1st amendment, and the protection of symbolic speech. If I lived in Morgan Hill I would be attending the school board meeting this evening (with my American flag shirt on), but I do not. It is horrible that the principle and vice-principal chose to equate wearing/flying the American flag with racial discrimination. Or, perhaps they will take the flag down on St. Patrick’s Day also.
Personally, I think the principle and vice-principle should be fired for violating constitutional rights and all of the students that chose to walk out of class the following day should be suspended for violating school rules.
Yes, they did.
“More than 200 Hispanic teens skipped school Thursday and marched through Morgan Hill yelling “We want respect!” and “Si se puedes!” At least six Morgan Hill police cars and several sheriff’s vehicles caravanned alongside the line of teens wearing red, white and green and carrying Mexican flags.”
Perhaps I am a bit old fashioned in that I was brought up with the notion that the only way to get respect was to earn it. It’s almost like the scene in the Godfather where Fredo demands respect from Michael, simply because he was older than his brother. Those teens screaming for respect will never get it unless they earn it, no matter how much our government tries force this multiculturalism and moral equivalency down the majority of Americans throats.
Sad to say but you certainly are old-fashioned. There is now a “right” to have others respect you even if you have done nothing to deserve it. The majority of Live Oak students “deserve” respect because of their racail/ethnic background, not because of anything they have done as individuals. It’s a strangely reductive idea of self-worth but it has become the standard mantra in our nations schools. Our politicians, school administrators and “community leaders” have sold the idea that respect is a commodity like canned corn or DVD’s and that people have a right to receive their “fair share” whether earned or not.
Dr. Hansen, you hit on the most tragic part of this story:
“And no school official seems worried that a number of American citizens seems to think Cinco de Mayo is “their” day, and the 4th of July is someone else’s. ”
I weep for my country.
I would be happy to work out a reciprocal arrangement with Mexico, whereby these students grow up to have voting rights there, and none here. It seems like common sense that you vote in the country you identify with.
The country is sufficating from political correctness.
Some would say “political correctness” is better labelled “Cultural Marxism.”
As in – *Consider The Source*.
Don’t blame multiculturalism on “Cultural Marxism.” MC was the proud invention of New Dealers and earlier Progressives. Many leftists of today deplore cultural nationalism as an obstacle to class consciousness. Moreover, Marx notoriously referred to the “idiocy of rural life” and expected socialism to be achieved by an educated working class in the most advanced countries. The groups under discussion (La Raza and others) are irredentists and reactionary. It is true that some Stalinists try to use them for their own purposes in the cause of “anti-imperialism.” But it was primarily the liberal foundations (Rockefeller, Ford, etc.) that pushed for “diversity”.
Tinker v Des Moines. I thought ‘free speech didn’t stop at the schoolhouse door?’ If those children of the 60′s got their case to the Supreme Court, and were allowed to wear Vietnam War protest armbands – where is the leftist outrage at these children having their free speech infringed?
Example 983,277 of Liberal hypocrisy.
“The chickens are coming home to roost!”
I think right now I’m not crying, just amazed. Disappointed in the participants of this travesty, and amazed.
It’s all a very, very sick thing.
The Mexican-American students don’t seem to know that THEY ARE Americans! Much less love, take pride in, and appreciate the very idea of it.
The Mexican-American students demand “respect” but it’s not “respect” but some kind of superiority they are seeking and demanding. They are the ones who are demonstrating extreme disrepect to their own American citizenship and flag and all other Americans — by demanding removal of the American Flag! Shame on them! Deep Shame.
Can anyone imagine a St. Patrick’s Day Parade where the Irish forbade the American Flag because they felt “disrespected” by it? Can anyone imagine a St. Patrick’s Day Parade without zillions of American Flags — that’s the whole idea — Pride in being Americans by those whose families originated in Ireland. That’s what America IS!?! Why is it even necessary to discuss or explain this?
No one in Live Oak seems to get it — even after all this. They just don’t get the point — which is so obviously crystal clear.
What the hell is wrong with them — all of them in Live Oak! It’s got to be some kind of mental illness.
That is the beginning of the problem. Mexican-American. Perpetuate this travesty, and America will no longer exist. Either you are American or you are someone else. If latter is true, then move out. The most disgusting part of this, is those 200 demonstrators who demanded respect. How about respect for this country, Country that gave them everything!!!!
I’m an immigrant from Russia, but I’m not Russian-American. I’m an AMERICAN. THIS is IT.
this is because we are no longer a nation of americans…you are always something first…mexican american, african american, chinese american so on and so forth…we have become a country of ethnicity with each ethnic group loyal to their ancestral country instead of their birth/adopted country.
Well said Skydiver. I have always had a real problem with the whole insert-group-here-American thing. I am all for being proud of your heritage but if you are a citizen then by God you should be an American first, last, and always.
If you identify with something else first then go there. If you like it better then stay, if not come on back and change how you identify yourself.
Or you could say “We” as did the young student upset about seeing Old Glory. Because it is WE who count.
Dr Hanson is the best blogger, but he should have italicised the word WE first.
Skydiver brings up an interesting point. If I moved to another country I seriously doubt that I would ever be considered a member of that country (no matter how long I lived there) simply because if I am not of that particular ethnic origin and I would never fit in–I would always be an “American” even if I did everything I could to assimilate to their national sense of being. Because we are a nation made mostly of immigrants we understand that being an “American” is not based on ethnic origins, but
Our history has certainly shown that we have struggled to make citizenship equitable, but our Constitutional principles have been about establishing liberty first, then equality–it has just taken time for us to live up to the Constitution. What makes us Americans is not that we share a common ancestry, but that our culturally diverse ancestors have accepted the rule of laws established by our great binding document, the Constitution of the United States. This is what makes us Americans. We speak the English language because that is the English culture was predominant in this part of the world. My German, French, and Swedish ancestors came to this country and assimilated to the customs and laws of the land; and they were more than willing to learn to speak the English language. But it really doesn’t matter what language we speak as long as we all speak one language, otherwise we will fracture along cultural lines–but English is the established language, so be it.
As Skydiver stated, being a citizen of the United States is not about maintaining a hyphenated cultural identity. Our identity is to be located in our founding documents and in our steadfast devotion to maintaining the meaning of those documents. Unfortunately it has become convenient for politicians to play up to ethnic backgrounds in order to created victim groups that get easy votes, so hyphenated identities are all the rave. But even with all our imperfections the United States is a nation built from exceptional origins–I am glad that my ancestors came to this country and assimilated to its design.
To high-schoolers like the Annicia Nunez’s and Jessica Cortez’s, skin pigmentation and eye color do have considerable significance, like Tony and Maria in West Side Story, or the Gauls and the Romans on the bridge over the Anio in 361 BC. Have school kids already lost the legacy of “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”? Is the ‘60s ancient history to them, lacking relevance to their life today?
Could be, considering VDH’s good point about the cowardice of the adult supervision targeting the peaceful courage of the minority-5 for punishment.
Or is it the fault of capitalism? Considering the success of Corona in promoting the consumption of its beer as the tribal epitome of so many Annicia Nunez’s “Mexican heritage day”?
It’s not only “another depressing California moment” but also the continuous dilapidation of our tax billions for public education.
I don’t blame Corona for trying to market their beer. Anymore than I blame any of the Irish related products that try to promote themselves in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day. The fault lies in the people celebrating the two holidays. Those of Irish decent manage to celebrate their heritage without at the same time trying to deny their allegiance to the country that shelters them. These students seem to have trouble doing that.
All I can say is this: If Mexico is so great, what are you doing here?
Actually it’s Mexican “beer” day…not celebrated anywhere else but the USA. A country that has taken these unappreciative people in..not that we wanted to in some cases, and not that they came here legally, there should be no “anchor” babies for anyone that is here illegally.
The sign says…Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…NOTNOT come disrespect this country, bankrupt us with your freebie demands, and bite the hands that provide for you.
Could these kids explain the meaning and significance of May 5. ..I seriously doubt they could do so. Have their parents and they ever been to the “May 5 national holiday of pride” in Mexico..??hhmmmm
If I wore the Mexican flag on the 4th of July, I’m sure I would take some heat, and I live in a liberal part of California. The fact is that if I did so, I’d be making a statement, as these boys were doing. They are allowed to do so, but not if it harms public safety. (You can get in trouble for yelling “Fire” in a crowded movie house or making jokes about being a terrorist at an airport). That high school is 40% Latino and those boys were simply asking for trouble, so it is shameful to defend them. They didn’t just all decide that morning to put on their American Flag T-Shirts. It was a planned act of blatant disrespect to the people of another sovereign nation. I fail to see how someone puts on a T-Shirt with an American flag and suddenly that makes them patriotic. The principal was protecting their safety by asking them to either reverse their shirts or go home without suspension.
Furthermore, I was brought up to believe that it was disrespectful of the country to wear the flag
United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8d states:
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
Joe,
Garbage.
“It was a planned act of blatant disrespect to the people of another sovereign nation.”
If as you maintain, they were people of another sovereign nation, they’d by definition be VISITORS in the US. And their behavior would cause US to disinvite them. Being patriotic cannot be disrespectful.
Joe, you quote the code correctly, except that it is referring to an actual flag not an image of a flag. Otherwise, flag pins would be against the protocol. It was to prevent people from using actual flags as tablecloths or (as they did in the ’60′s) making boxer shorts out of a cut up flag. Images on t-shirts are okay as are flag pins.
As for “dis-respecting” see my comment #27 below.
Ione, wearing the flag in the form of a pin IS one of the ways sanctioned by the U.S. Code. Here is the relevant section:
TITLE 4–FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES, CHAPTER 1–THE FLAG; Sec. 8. Respect for flag
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the LAPEL FLAG PIN being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart. (All caps to indicate my emphasis.)
There are many people, and I am one of them, who feel that wearing clothing embellished with the flag—-no matter how patriotic it would seem to be—-is actually wrong. I believe the flag transcends mere clothing. Ironically, like the high school boys in question, often it is the most patriotic of people who miss this fine point of the code.
Do you understand Ione? The flag is more important than an article of clothing. It is not merely a textile, or a clever piece of handicraft. The Code says it “represents a living country and is itself a living thing.” I think that alone is sufficient reason not to adorn our clothing with it—except for the two forms mentioned: a flag patch or a flag pin.
The flag is extremely precious to me as well. I get that and do not need to be lectured on that. However, I still say there is a difference in a picture of a flag and an actual flag. When the code says “the flag” I believe it is referring to an actual flag not a picture of a flag. How many red and white striped dresses have you seen or navy blue with white star paper napkins? Are these parts of a flag? I don’t think so. There is a difference between using an actual flag as decoration and an image of a flag or parts of a flag.
If you want to know what is real sacrilege to me; I’ll tell you. It is when I see little handheld type flags sticking out of people’s hats and decorating peoples lawns on the Fourth of July and being carried in the same hand as their bottled water and then ending up in the trash or the mud at the end of a political rally. If I want to gripe about something, I’ll gripe about an actual flag. Not an image on a t-shirt.
Joe; Let me see if I got this straight. It’s not against the law to burn the American Flag (Freedom of Speech), but is is against the law to wear it as a display of Pride.
Even if it was a planned act of disrespect, so freaking what.
It’s still a free country. Not that it would be if you had any say so.
“They are allowed to do so, but not if it harms public safety. (You can get in trouble for yelling “Fire” in a crowded movie house or making jokes about being a terrorist at an airport). That high school is 40% Latino and those boys were simply asking for trouble, so it is shameful to defend them.”
Garbage! Are you seriously trying to claim that displaying the American flag, in America, constitutes incitement?
@ Joe S
You are the perfect example of a CONCERN TROLL.
AS IF you ever cared about the “proper” display of the flag…as your comrades trashed it in “Bushitler” protests.
Your fraudulence is clear.
Your hypocrisy is laughable.
I think they should get their sovereign butts out of my sovereign country. Wanna celebrate May 5?..go to France otherwise, it’s a beer holiday here, and in Mexico it seems. Blame France not America..
And I would be willing to bet not one of the kids doing the complaining knew the history of Cinco de Mayo, national heritage pride my @$$. Frankly, if I thought it would have upset their warped sense of “mexican heritage” , I would have painted by body red, white and blue and paraded.
Cinco de Mayo, the great national BEER day of Mexico.
I do not believe in dising anyone on their heritage.but when they put it above this country where they snuck (snuck?)into to begin with…they are fair game when they complain about the trivial things in lie.
Except that the correct analogy would be for you to wear the Mexican flag on the 4th of July in Mexico, in which case I doubt you would take any heat.
Unless you think California is part of Mexico, you great patriot, you.
According to the family members, one of the boys wears red, white, & blue every day, while another wears red, white, & blue from May 5 to July 4 every year. The boys were not purely caucasion, they were: caucasion, 2; hispanic-american, 2; asian-american, 1. They were not wearing flags, they were wearing representations of the flag. And, apparently, they are proud to be Americans.
California schools teach racism.
The schools divide up the children based by the color of their skin. Africans, Orientals, White, and Hispanics.
The schools teach the Africans, the Orientals and the Hispanics that they are downtrodden, exploited, jobless and poor because the White Students have stolen their Honor and Dignity which is their Birthright.
The schools rewrite history. They use “democratic science’ in which natural laws are discovered not by experiments but by consensus to reinforce their racist arguments.
Then the schools complain about the rise of racism.
And so the schools destroy hope in the name of compassion; they destroy justice in the name of fairness; and they destroy truth in the name of honesty.
Why do the schools do this to our children? Why are our schools the primary source of racism in America? Who benefits from racism? Is it possible that there are people who would lose there jobs, their status and their power if there was no racism in America? Can anyone be so foul as to teach racism so that he/she can increase his/her status as a defender of Africans and Hispanics?
I’m currently pursuing a degree in Music Education at the University of Montevallo (PV!) in Shelby County, Alabama. I can tell you that the educational establishment is all about these neat little categories based on color. As part of my “education bloc” classes I had to take a course in classroom diversity that required learning racial stereotypes and writing lesson plans for each color of student. We quite literally had assignments that said “You have a classroom full of black students. Write a lesson plan.” When I decried this as racist the teacher told me I was being a white supremacist; when I told her I’m Hispanic and just light skinned she said I was a traitor to my race for not falling in line with this garbage.
Purple Victory, two things come to mind after reading your post:
1) Wow. Just wow. I’m so glad I got my music ed. degree before any of that multi-kulti claptrap was required.
2) Did you try to get that teacher fired? I’d have been in the Dean’s office in nothing flat if someone called me a white supremacist or a traitor to my race.
“More than 200 Hispanic teens skipped school Thursday…”
The sad reality is that most of those “Hispanic teens” won’t even graduate from that high school. The girls will get pregnant (after their Quinceaneras), the guys will stumble off into minimum wage jobs or jail (if they’re lucky).
But you won’t see any of that on the news, because no one wants to “disrespect” their sad, backward culture.
I do not want anyone to think I am condemning California school teachers because they teach racism. Teachers do not decide what they teach. They are told what to teach. They merely follow orders.
I do not blame principals and the school boards for running schools that teach racism. They follow the law and the rules and regulations that implement the law. They follow orders.
I do not blame the legislators for passing the laws that are used to require the teaching of racism in our schools. The laws legislators pass are general and filled with good intentions. But the laws assign authority to create rules and regulations to a Bureau of Education.
“Bureau” is the French word for “desk”. A “bureaucracy” is a government by desks. Aristotle never mentioned it perhaps because the Greeks never made enough paper to support a bureaucracy.
One man cannot kill 6,000,000 Jews by his own hand. Not enough hours in a lifetime. Give him a bureaucracy and he can do it with the stroke of a pen. One man cannot kill 30,000,000 kulaks by himself but a bureaucracy can. Only a bureacracy can hunt down and kill 50,000,000 chinese counter-revolutionaries or 8,000,000 Cambodian bourgoisie.
Bureaucracies are very similar to mobs. They function under the same rules but they are better dressed and never break up and go home. A modern society has no way to control a bureaucracy except to create another bureacracy. This is called “Big Government”. People who help create Big Government often are killed by it. Famous examples are Thomas Cromwell, Georges Danton and Nikolai Bukharin.
Because they are so dangerous and cannot be controlled, bureaucracies should be eliminated. This is called “Small Government”.
“I do not want anyone to think I am condemning California school teachers because they teach racism. Teachers do not decide what they teach. They are told what to teach. They merely follow orders.”
That defense didn’t work at Nuremburg, and it shouldn’t work for people who are supposed to be educating our children. I taught in higher education, and if my dean or chancellor told me to teach racist claptrap, I’d have told him to stick his racist message where the sun doesn’t shine. (Note: I have never been protected by tenure, so taking such as stance would risk dismissal.) If school teachers do not have the moral fiber to teach what is right and criticize what is wrong, then they should not be in positions of responsibility.
Amen! The only good bureaucrat is an unemployed bureaucrat. It’s time to shrink the unproductive class into oblivion.
After a while, as the “tail wags the dog” gains dominance, these events seem “normal” and we get to see those who are charged with our children’s education.
When losers teach others (such as our kids) what do you expect to receive from your child’s mind?
Previous angry kids have done some serious damage to our country as they aged.
Maybe every Supreme Court Justice ought to be female and lesbian. The new diversity balanced to a “t” for you and me!
Well then, perhaps it is wrong of me to celebrate the land my Grandparents came from:
A land where people were driven off the land they worked for generations.
A land where their language and heritage was outlawed
A land where invaders from the south took lands and converted it to their pleasure
A land where entire families were shoved off to lands unknown
Today, we call it Scotland and I describe, in brief, the Highland Clearances. A time when Scots came to America and Nova Scotia in droves.
I’ve yet to hear those of Scots heritage rise up to play the pipes, dance the Sword Dance and wear the kilt.
Must be we’ve become acclimated to this land we call home – the United States of America.
Actually, laddie, they do it all the time. Alexandria VA, where I live, has a Scottish Festival every year. Kilts, bagpipes, caber-tossing – the whole spiel. So do a lot of other communities in the US and Canada. I’m also intrigued by the number of police funerals that seem to feature kilts and bagpipes (but seldom any caber-tossing). So Scottish-Americans and would-be Scottish-Americans don’t seem to have a problem with expressing their cultural and historical backgrounds. However, as you pointed out, none of them would have a problem with people wearing American flag t-shirts on “their” special day. Because they’re Americans first. Period.
Hah, I’m an American with Scottish heritage who used to live there in Alexandria. Are they still picking the coldest blasted day of the year on which to parade around in kilts? Haha!
Yeah, nobody’s got it in for the Scots as we parade, as long as we don’t make them eat the hagus. That’s despite the bagpipes! And the American flag looks nice on the parade route, and is quite welcome.
This is naturally an issue that various interest groups want to bandage over. The amnesty debate presupposes that all those immigrants want to be Americans, but this incident is a kind of social biopsy and should cause us to investigate further how many others–legal or illegal–harbor similar malignancy towards this country.
It is muy importante to understand the long-war picture, and to transcend our NOW-itis.
All the pointing out of the “ignorance” and “hypocritical behavior” by the poor young Mexican-Americans offended by an American flag doesn’t, and can’t hack it.
There are different ways to conquer any terra firma, and any extant humans currently in control of it. The population bombs known as Muslims and Hispanics (Especially those from Mexico, who in their bones “know” bad old USA stole so much from good old Mexico) are in a life-and-death march, inexorably winning.
So, it’s not a stretch to realize that the future bodes WELL for a Mexican flag trumping an Ameerican one in many places. Demography, cooked and served in ignorance, is destiny.
Thus, perhaps it’s not so much that so many Hispanic-American youths are foolish to love the place their parents fled as it is that they are fighting to reclaim places like California, first de facto and later de jure.
Indeed, in places like El Cemtro, de facto is already long established and true, beyond eradicating.
The Obama administration’s policy of change is putting America in grave danger, the Morgan Hill incident is meant to misdirect attention away from the REAL crime!
Once again this story demonstrates the folly of thinking of government run education. As amply demonstrated by Mr. Rodriguez, the public school system does not attract to its ranks our “best and brightest”. Instead what we have are marginal thinkers at best who are fully indoctrinated in the leftist dogma of America bad – all else good! And that is what is passed on to each successive generation who pass through this failed enterprise.
The public schools cannot be “reformed” for a number of reasons. Rather than play out the litany I would rather just focus on one point. We are a diverse nation and that is one of the key elements of our strenght. However we are currently using a one size fits all education approach where the vast majority of our citizens are run through the essentially same indoctrination using the current in vogue methods of indoctrination. Even if we could reform the public schools – what would we reform it to that meets the divergent views of what an educated citizen is and how they should be taught?
Instead of looking to reform something that cannot be – let’s instead rethink how we want to ensure our future through an intellectualy diverse population. Placing this decision and control in the hands of parents seems to me the only way to ensure that we can meet the individual needs of what constitutes an educated citizen. Anything less will only be putting a new coat of paint on rotting wood!
I don’t weep for my country as much as I weep for my college age children. This foolish thought is completely foreign to them. They grew up in a home where the American flag the only source of national pride, in schools where God and country loved and taught daily, and teachers respected, educated about the sacrifices of their ancestors and founders. My children’s home was that of an average mom and dad who paid small fortunes to buy what once was found in the public arena, now purchased through private schooling.
And apparently for the their parents sacrifice of sweat equity, and the children taught what once was the norm, my own children will be met in a melting pot of American hating fools. My own children will be stuck with the consequences and dragged down the sewer from the abject stupidity of political correctness under the guise of “diversity” and “multiculturalism.”
I am personally ashamed for not being more outspoken in the fight, but I had no idea it had come to this until a year after 9/11. I mistakenly thought Communists and Socialists, or Osama Bin Laden my enemy, when my real enemy undoubtedly living in the adjacent neighborhood.
Gang – this burns my *ss; really burns my *ss. I have never been asked to make great sacrifice for this country – just simply obey the rules and pass the memories. I’ve been the benefactor of my elders. I owe them this:
We better purge ourselves of this crap now before it is too late. I’m not laying down anymore “just to get along.”
Tex,
I hope we’re not too late. You suggest that the real enemy is living in your adjoining neighborhood. No, the enemy is my next door neighbor, a former close friend, and worse – members of my own family.
Cinco de Mayo began as a Corona beer commercial. It’s a made-up holiday similar to kawanza. Kinda of pathetic when you think about it.
Yep. If I were a Mexican national looking at these celebrations of Cinco de Mayo from afar (knowing how minor of a holiday it is in Mexico itself), I’d be very offended by the insinuation that “Mexican cultural heritage” means, in the immortal words of Jimmy Buffet, to “get drunk and screw.”
The left is achieving its aim through political correctness: a permanent schism in the polity by which leverage can be applied to reach goals that include borderless societies governed from above. The thinking goes back to Marx and Lenin through Alinsky and Soros to the present resident of the White House.
Throughout this whole ordeal a story from my history has kept coming to mind.
In October 1969 there was an anti-war protest called Moratorium to end the Viet Nam War. I was in Jr. High School. All the “radicals” and “hippies” (about 50)in my Texas school were planning to wear black armbands. My friends and I (about 10) decided that we would wear red, white and blue armbands in support of the troops. Our assistant principal got wind of it. When we met to put on our armbands, during recess, he stopped us and asked us to remove them. Initially we said ‘no’ (which was a very big deal in 1969 to defy a grown-up). We asked: “Are you going to make the other kids (black armbands) take off their’s”. He said: “No”. We asked why and he said: “Look, you are the nice kids. You don’t want to start any trouble. Let them have their day. Tomorrow it will be all over.” We took off our armbands.
Years later I found out Bill Clinton was a student in charge of the Texas Moratorium. Now, we have this instance. If we, “the good kids”, had been allowed to stand up in 1969 maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today. I was only 12 but I am still sorry for what I didn’t do that day.
VDH-
Once again you nail it. Thank you for your clarity of thought and a logical, easy to follow dissection of the motives behind the actions. MMany of us look to your blogs as a voice for the rest of us.
If you understand what happened here, thank a teacher.
And the stupid PC/MC American public, dumbed down by teachers and media for the last 50 years.
Don’t send to know how close Mad Max is. Mad Max is here.
We demand respect!!! If we don’t get it and get it now we will cut school. If we cut school and don’t get respect, we will teach you a lesson.
Do Puerto Ricans celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Do they have an equivalent culture day? Just askin’. Guess we’ll soon get a culteral immersion.
The problem started earlier. Bi-lingual education. Spanish speaking programs and so on.
I’m not against Spanish language. In Russia, we studied 2 foreign languages in parallel.But the national language was Russian. In America, that is United States of America, national language is English. It’s fine for schools to teach multiple foreign languages, more to it, it’s preferable, but, new immigrants get upset when you speak to them in English. Politicians and our STUPID academia started this problem. We reap what we sowed.
Collective ignorance (from years & years of the dumbing-down process through sorry-quality public education) coupled with bigotry and political correctness makes a fine recipe for this shameful incident.
Dr. Hanson, I fear your spell-checker has done something goofy with the name Cesar Chavez
I’m a Social Studies Teacher in Florida. I could understand the “problem” if the students had worn French flag apparel. As it is, the United States Government was on the side of Mexico in it’s dispute with France. Go figure. You have to know the history. And none of the participants did.
Conservatives – all symbol, no principle.
Liberals — all interest, no principle.
skeeziks,
no brains
no principles
skeeziks – All stink, no sh*t.
Draft off me, boys. Follow my lead. Take my bait. And fall short of independent original thought. Atta boys. You never disappoint.
Oh, I almost forgot . . . urd-tay.
Does anyone know what the hell he’s babbling about?
And your ‘comment’ is appropos of .. what?
You wouldn’t know a principle, much less a first-principles argument if it bit you. Go home, little boy.
Here’s an argument for you to draft off:
“Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.”
(USAT)
Wait, let me guess . . . flag pins!
Um, and your point and it’s relation to the discussion again is?
Not only is Skweez-um the king of non-sequiturs, he can’t even get his facts straight. How sad to live one’s life in a perpetual fog of self-hate, willful ignorance and narcissism. You know, I’d almost buy the proposition that liberalism is a mental disorder – except for the fact that it lets them off the hook by ‘theraputizing’ what should be considered evil.
Flag pins! Ole Glory! Duh red, white and blue, with a fife and drum and a couple of corn dogs thrown in for good measure.
I have lived overseas for many years and have spoken to many people who have visited the USA. The vast majority are struck by the level of patriotism visibly evident in most places. I see the same when I go back to visit family in Maine and the MidWest. What a shame that this special part of our country is eroding in a cess pit of political correctness.
Someone should have responded to the marching truants – NO SE PUEDEN IDIOTAS, ANDALES A COLEGIO O QUEDAN EN CASA. NO SOPORTAMOS TONTERIAS DE ESTE NATURALEZA – NI HOY NI NUNCA.
Has there ever been a more telling indictment of our education system than what we see being played out of these incidences? It is astounding, and the frequency is growing rapidly!
You know, one of these days someone wealthier and smarter than I am will realize that the continued survival of this great nation depends upon an educated and well informed citizenry, and will seize upon that as an imperative to create a highly accessible (and dare I say, – profitable) documentary TV series entitled, “The United States Constitution.”
Hell, I’d even put up the first $1000.
Great writing as usual, Vic.
I don’t get why this is a big deal.
1.As someone pointed out earlier, wearing US flags is something we shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Plus the kids in question were being provocative in a largely latino district. Why ask for trouble?
2. More importantly, English is the language of the US and especially in business. All meaningful jobs (everything from doctor to engineer) require English. All that this Spanish speaking blather promotes is a class of people who will be gardeners, maids, or work at meat packing plants. Want to be part of the movers and shakers? Speak English. Want to be permanently lower working class? Insist on speaking Spanish.
The kids who yammer about respect certainly aren’t going to compete for the well paying jobs. Less competition for my kids.
Win win.
It is not wrong or against protocol to wear an image of the flag; like a flag pin or image on a t-shirt. It is against protocol to use an actual flag for decoration (like a table cloth) or cut it up and make clothes from it (like the 1960′s boxer shorts).
What’s wrong with being provocative?
Once we give in to the notion that we must never do anything that’s provocative, we have ceded all initiative to others. For they get to decide when what we do provokes them.
Beyond that, everyday on the calendar is special to somebody. If you posit that you can’t wear the flag on a day that is special to someone else, then you have ruled that you can never wear the flag.
If those kids get upset at seeing the American flag, then they have admitted that they are in the wrong country, and it’s up to them to do something about it.
“Plus the kids in question were being provocative in a largely latino district. Why ask for trouble?”
Why is it ‘provocative’ for American citizens to wear images of the US flag in the midst of other American citizens?
Your point about English being the defacto language isn’t a great one. First of all, we don’t have a declared national language (I’m sure I’ll be corrected if I’m recalling that wrong, not to mention pleasantly surprised).
Secondly, Spanish is rapidly gaining ground as a required language to know in many areas, espeically in public service or interaction jobs, from bank tellars, to para-professionals such as medical receptionists or techs, to EMTs, to policemen- you can’t get hired as a cop in cities like Houston if you don’t speak spanish, etc, and you can bet your butt that an engineer that speaks spanish passably to fluently has a much better job prospect than one that doesn’t. There have been some news reports of border areas where the language of daily life was becoming Spanish (confirmation either way, anyone?), and I’d wager there are some pockets of populations in the Southwest and Colorado that speak pretty much only Spanish as the standard language (remnant mexican populations that have been here since before the areas were states, as well as newer quickly grown immigrant dominated areas).
Thirdly, your kids, or grandkids, will likely be required to take Spanish in school before they can take another language besides English. It’s happening in poorer or cash strapped school districts, where language teachers other than Spanish get cut if the staff is downsized. Some southwest school districts are requiring bilingual education for most of the students (I’ve a friend that teaches in New Mexico)
Fourthly, the spanish speaking political block is growing – concurrently with the bowing and scraping in its direction by progressives and power minded republicans alike – and could concievably force a dual-language structure like you have in Canada with English and French, either at the state or, less likely, but still possible, federal level. If you look at a lot of official paperwork or official applications, we kind of already do have that. If everything is printed dual-language, how much farther off is the required ability to speak both to some degree? Again, there is no federal law mandating English as the national language that I know of, and if there is, I’m highly surprised we’re not hearing screaming about needing to repeal such a “racist” law.
Then the people in this “latino district”..should realize their little district is in the BIGGER district of the United States of America..NOT Mexico!
I think Latinos born here should be required to spent a year in the land their elders fled. Understand what they were fleeing, live the life, then come back and be more appreciative for what they have here in America.
We also need a president who is proactive in defending our borders and standing with the states, not mocking them in their efforts to protect US citizens. Illegals have no rights..in any country.
Cinco de Mayo can be blamed on the beer companies…
IT’S AN OFFICIAL AMERICAN BEER SALES DAY!!!! I spoke with several Mexican friends and they laugh at May 5th..they said they never heard of it being a “holiday” until they got here…
I am against “anchor babies”. They seem to grow up disrespectful of what their parents went through to get here. These students are trying to compare May 5th to July 4th..degrading to America and what America stands for.
Assistant Principal Rodriguez informed the boys that they would be graciously allowed to return to class if they’d turn the American-flag side of their t-shirts inward.
Why? Because Rodriguez assigned a higher human value to the complainers against the American flag than to the wearers of it. It was a perfect PC decision – he who claims the most distress at viewing a symbol is awarded the prize of supremacy by the referee of a conflct.
Let’s apply that rule against Mr. Rodriguez, stipulating that the five boys might have been anticapitalists who were devastated by the sight of his establishment suit and tie, brutal symbols of the exploitation of workers by men of disproportionate wealth. Words can’t express the anguish those boys would suffer. Here, with the proper referee present, the perfect PC decision would graciously allow Mr. Rodriguez to continue discharging his duties, if only he would wear his suit and tie inside out for the rest of the day.
G.L. Alston @38. You are a fine product of a FAILED education system in America. If you have no pride for the house you built, you should not live in that house. Conversely, if the house you living in is so… not into you, go to another house.
You are a fine product of a FAILED education system in America.
Like you have room to talk. You’re the product of siblings.
Would you like to elucidate a bit?
Im not looking forward to next Cinco de Mayo. The only way to avoid a bigger round of ugliness in the schools is to bring back uniforms to wear all year round… and that may not do it. (Even if I thought uniforms had a snowball’s chance in hell in Califoria)
Great VDH as usual – however, not only are they lacking in their American cultural knowledge and English grammar, they aren’t doing very well with Spanish grammar, either. Si se puedes is incorrect – it should be Si, se puede or Si, se peuden. Puedes is the familiar you form (tu) for the verb pueder. It is being used reflexively in the form shown above and would be Si, te puedes then. Sigh – an overall lack of education.
Argh – the verb is poder (to be able to) – not pueder – an irregular verb – sorry! No edit capability after the fact. Also, I would think it would be better to say Si, nos podemos which would mean yes, we can ourselves (weird translation to English without a to do verb, but nonetheless could be translated yes, we can do it ourselves)
Someone should explain the law to these so called teachers:
4 US Code 1, Section 7…
“(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations. “
Whats up with this Cinco de Mayo nonsense. In Mexico, it’s basically another day. I had the impression back in the late sixties it was an advertising ploy by a bar called Hussongs in Ensenada to come on down and get drunk on Tequila sunrises. Then it became another reason to party and get drunk in So Cal.
The accusation of Racism is, in this country, the ultimate form of emotional and social blackmail.
Since Prince Barry became president the weapon has been used against the American people every single day, over and over, by the Democrats and the Liberal Media.
Never in my life has there been such a withering broadside of character assassination against this country, its people and its history been unleashed.
Barack Obama has participated in it, and of course NEVER stood up for this country.
Right now, the American People need to stand up and give themselves a round of applause for not backing down.
We are a good people and a fundamentally good country. Remember that, because every day the Left will try to beat you down to make you give up.
Another great article, Dr. Hansen and thanks also to Mike McDaniel #3 for your astute analysis.
Dear Pretend Messkins who want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo:
This is, and has been, American territory for 162 years, because the country you claim to admire, but in which you will not live, got their butts royally kicked in a war all those many years ago. We won that one, and, like it or not, “we” includes you, so stop pretending you’re from somewhere else (unless you actually ARE from somewhere else — in which case, DO stop pretending you
‘re from here and go back to the place you claim to be proud of). Wouldn’t you rather be on the winning side? Just asking.
If they go back to their beloved Mexico they do not get free medical, food, housing, school etc..why would they go back. They are here trying to make America the hell hole they “long ‘ for and celebrate.
May 5 is a non holiday in Mexico and they are using any excuse to be “offended”. Their butts should be sent back where they or the parents came from.
VDH is a nice old guy, but he still seems puzzled that progressives are such blazing hypocrites in their dealings with the world. He is afraid to take that final mental step, that lies and double-standards are the essence of progressivism, not just some occasional aberration progressives would recant if it were only patiently explained to them. For the umpteenth time: the guiding principle of the progressive secular religion is equality of results in all things, both economically and culturally. Progressives must drag down anything that they deem “unfairly” successful, and elevate that which they view as “oppressed”. Equality of results can only be pursued by treating people, cultures, and societies unequally.
Once that is accepted, the air is finally cleared for action. What kind of action? Maybe you think that voting in November 2010 will be sufficient to turn this country around.
It will not.
Are you a Conservative?
Then it is time to stop playing defense.
Gird your loins.
Don your armor.
Never apologize.
Never explain.
Always attack.
When you meet a black for the first time, immediately ask, “Are you a Conservative?”
If the answer is no, then say, “You are a vicious racist because you believe that heredity determines culture.”
Then just walk away.
If you meet an Hispanic for the first time, immediately ask, “Do you think illegal aliens should be welcome here?”
If they say yes, then tell them, “You are a racist imperialist, because you don’t believe in the sanctity of this country. People who come here to replace this culture with their inferior one should go back to their original country.”
Then just walk away.
If you meet a progressive, ask them, “Do you believe that only God is perfect, or do you believe that mankind can be perfected?”
If their answer is the latter, then tell them, “We belong to two incompatible religions. Your religion is evil, and you are evil. The only solution is to have two different countries. You can move to yours and turn it into a progressive hell. I will stay in mine, and turn it into a paradise.”
Then just walk away.
Limited government is a necessary evil, big government is an inherent tyranny.
The old left media are corrupt. They should all be thrown into prison for the rest of their lives.
Obama is an arrogant, deceitful ideologue masquerading as President.
Keep it short, keep it straight, always attack. If you don’t, you will soon be forced to renounce Christ, your children will be taken away from you, and you will be sent to re-education camps for the rest of your life. If you don’t believe me, then you are living in a fantasy, still expecting the same old same old, still not understanding that your world has been turned upside down when you weren’t watching. And in the final analysis, you are not a Conservative.
Sinko de Mayo sez it all.
I’m just so tired of living in upside down world. From our ridiculous racial politics to our make believe entitlements to a foreign policy of estranging our allies and bowing to our enemies and economics that say to get out of debt you must spend vastly more money…and on and on and on.
It won’t surprise me to wake up and see Obama playing croquet with flamingos for mallets and hedgehogs for balls tomorrow morning.
It’s so topsy-turvy that I no longer watch or listen to any news coverage or punditry. Never thought we’d be here, afraid to glance up and see the Cheshire cat leering from the branches.
November 2010 can’t come soon enough. I hope we can find our way back through the looking glass.
Catherine, that is not the cheshire cat grinning from above, that is our elPresidente, with his trademark xxxx-eating grin.
Abolish the department of education. When those that present a clear and present danger (the parents) do that, set the dogs upon them. As for regular folks, let them live. We that actually are responsible for our offspring, understand that we are responsible, which means we should not have to pay for those, not responsible… Your kids are not are our responsibility….wake up !!
And, as a sad footnote to this thread, LA’s mayor is organizing a boycott of California’s sister border state.
Seems, the drowning victim always tries to pull his rescuer underwater with him. Arizona is showing Sacramento the way out of its miasma. And, in return, Sac’s liberal machine is busy boycotting Arizona.
Stuck-On-Stupid!
Cinco de Mayo = beer sales, nothing more, nothing less.
These “offended” students need to go back to the land their parents fled from . Ask that country for free school, free medical, free anything, you will be laughed out of your precious country.
These kids are not offended, they’re just stupid. If not for America, mexico would have lost that little fuss with the French. I’d love to have had these offended kids explain Cinco de Mayo..uhuhuh…heritage uhuhuh well, it’s a national mexican holiday that only beer sellers in america celebrate uhuh….”
..Get a life folks, this is the future of CA and such. Kids that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, it needs to end now.
Saint Patrick’s day and Oktoberfest are the same thing.
I am a German-American and I demand respect for my race in October. ROFL. That wont fly far will it.
This is an example of what the CFR controled open border government wants. Diversity brings problems. Problems bring change.
Change you can believe in for the last nation state.
My grandparents were immigrants, and I grew up in an “ethnically proud” household. My WWII-era parents were completely loyal to the US, but in my younger days, I waxed nostaglic for the Old Country. I even went so far as to move there. Well, about one year in the land of my ancestors was all it took. I never referred to myself as a hypenated American again. Lovely scenery, but thank God my grandparents got out of there.
Maybe that’s what some of these Latino students need–an extended visit to the Old Country.
It’s an American holiday, not Mexican (except in Puebla). Those students deserved what they got. It was disrespectful and intentionally provocative. It’s like wearing Union Jack to a St. Patrick’s Day parade.
huh….it was disrespectful to call May 5 a mexican heritage pride day. The students didn’t wear a French flag. It’s a nothing holiday..not even where the little scrimmage happened. It’s a “beer on sale” holiday.
Frankly many of us are pleased to have all this attention now being called to a terrible situation where American’s are disrespected on a daily basis.
“It’s like wearing Union Jack to a St. Patrick’s Day parade.”
Let me help you get your analogy right: it’s like wearing the Union Jack on St. Patrick’s Day. In the UK. The horror!
Or sporting Orange in Ulster.
MarkTheGreat — What’s wrong with being provocative?
Once we give in to the notion that we must never do anything that’s provocative, we have ceded all initiative to others. For they get to decide when what we do provokes them.
Wrong argument. The school officials were charged with keeping order, and they did what they thought was proper to do so. That they reckoned that the latinos were so uncivilised as to present a clear problem says that the problem isn’t the school, but rather a culture of victimhood used as an excuse to threaten violence.
I don’t know what you expect the school officials to do; if they let the kids wear flag shirts and one of them were killed or maimed by a gang-banger, they’d be held as irresponsible. If they tell the kids to not wear their flag shirts, they’re stupid, weak willed, PC, un-American socialists.
A line needs to be drawn in the sand. This much is clear. A high school full of children isn’t the right place to do this.
I just sent the following E mail
Nick.Boden@mhu.k12.ca.us
Dear Sir
Having had it brought vividly to my attention that some high school students think displaying an American flag in America is disrespectful, my attitude toward those with Mexican origins is rapidly descending toward contempt.
I think an introduction to the country your students are living might be in order in some sort of geography class or perhaps civics. I will not rest on this issue. I wonder if you could enlighten the rest of the nation as to just what exactly you are teaching these young people.
Thank you
It is an ongoing problem with Hispanic students in our High Schools that they believe in the notion that there is something vitally important about Mexican culture. Years ago I taught High school literature and was once asked by a Hispanic why she was required to read an assigned story by a white American writer when “it is not of my culture?” In my reply I pointed out that it was a story about American culture, of which she was a part simply by being here, without pointing out to her that Mexican culture is considered a specialized field of study and was not formally taught at this High School. In response to this the female student, as well as several other Hispanic students in the classroom, stared at me as if I had uttered a blasphemy.
the problem is that never were brought here to be americans. they were brought here to take this country from the americans. their motto for thirty-five years has been “today this is your country tomorrow its ours.” all the while aided and abetted by the american politican. so you can complain all you want about “don’t they know what country they’re in,” hell yeah they know what country they’re in and they damn well know why they here. the only way to stop it is to get politicans who care about what the american people want.
I agree with it all except for the use of the word “deconstruct” at the beginning. Postmodernists deconstruct.
I almost hesitate to remind one and all of this, but Ulysses Grant, in his autobiography, the 2nd-best written by a POTUS yet, said of the Mexican-American war, in which he served as a young captain, that it had been the very epitome of a war of aggression and greed—on the part of the U.S., that is. The kids now demanding “respect” have never heard of him, but they’re nevertheless smarting from that long-ago land grab and some may believe history will reverse itself. Who is to say they’re wrong?
If I was them, I might think the same even if my thoughts were not based on any knowledge of history. If they want to take it back, lets fight for it. The problem is that we americans are bowing down to their approach rather then fighting back thus making their goal of retaking the southwest a lot easier. These people are not americans. Its time to treat them as such. If we do not, then they may well get back what they think we stole.
Oh, it’s just like when I was in high school 1958-1962 and special classes were taught celebration Scandinavian history and we flew the Danish flag on special Danish days….because I’m Danish….oh. Wait a minute. None of that happened.
Sorry. Forgot myself for a moment there.
Gotta remember how SPECIAL the hispanics are.
I sure hope they’re not all shocked and stuff when we actually, finally, practically DO get fed up and start fighting back.
It’s like that day when everyone decides to wear green and it’s a holiday and people have parades and drink a lot and dye things green like rivers and all because they’re Irish, Oh, wait, that happens every year. Those Irish must be extra special to deserve their own day and such.
Quit whining.
Hilarious. Article after article of pearl clutching offense about this nothing-case in a nowhere-school. And on the front page of PJM, a drawing of Mohammed as a centaur or something. You people are just plain too stupid for your own good; who could ever take you seriously?
“who could ever take you seriously?”
Yeah – it’s so trivial you just had to come here and snivel about its triviality.
Takes stupid to know stupid …
This was an important event as it is a picture of what is going on everyday in the US. Latinos demand something are not entitled to again. A holiday brought about by the US and grocery sales.
If these students wanted to “offend” someone they would have worn a French flag. However I doubt the mexicans would have even understood that. They aren’t informed enough to realize that without the help of the US they would not have defeated the French. So the are showing us no good deed goes unpunished. Note I said “mexicans”…these kids are not Americans, they look to the country their parents came from as their country and they need to be educated a bit better.
Great analysis. I would only add that its clear the adminstration lost control of the school a long time ago.
Agreed– on both points.
Agreed. These chldren are behaving like terrorists when the administration is so afraid of them that they will disrespect the American flag to keep the peace. Consider last night’s school board meeting. ABC7 caught and aired one of the don’t-wave-your-American-flag-on-my-day students at the podium. She was videoed in a verbal, threatening manner towards a member of the audience who had referred to the girl as a racist. This was on camera, in public, in front of her parents, the district administrators, and, most frightening, uniformed police officers. One can only cringe at the thought at what this girl is like at school.
Who is in charge?
That school is merely a microcosm of our country and the wave of illegal immigrants flooding it. It’s okay to have illegals parade in our streets with Mexican flags but not okay to wear the American flag on Cinco De Mayo. Chalk one up for the INS; 83% of immigrants to the US since 2001 are minorities. They are not bringing a tradition that encompasses the Uncertainty Principle, Fractal Geometry and spacecraft to Mars. They are bringing a tradition of crime, degrading our institutions without creating any and not liking the story of America, the country they can’t wait to get into and subvert into a minority friendly land. Minorities are to America what baseball players are to the owners; it’s the owners who do the real work – stadiums, promotion, TV contracts, organization of the leagues, everything. The players just show up and reap the rewards of others hard work.
It’s clear to me that the California lunatics are in charge of the asylum.
I live in NYC, where every year in March there’s a huge St. Patrick’s Day parade. Irish flags fly side by side with American flags. The Irish-American participants don’t find that “provocative”. But in all fairness, nobody finds the Irish ethnic pride provocative either. I think this whole thing is a bunch of people (on both sides) getting all worked up over nothing – but the bottom line is, the school was wrong to punish the kids for wearing the American flag. Now let’s move on and try to address the real problem, which is the need for a coherent immigration policy (and enforcement thereof).
Their mistake was using the American flag. They should have used the French tricolor and sung the Marseillaise. Then it would have been one grievance group against another.
Actually, it might not be a bad thing. Imagine high school kids all across the country rallying around the flag…in protest to the politically correct backward upside-down thinking adults.
Child psychology.
How Proudly It Waves
Leftists, liberals, “progressives” are all fond of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s definition of patriotism, that it’s the last refuge of scoundrels, and use it to attack conservatives, flag wavers, anyone with great pride in our country.
According to Thomas Boswell, Johnson’s biographer, the lexicographer never meant to impugn true patriotism but rather false, phony, insubstantial love of country, all of which adjectives perfectly describe the sentiments of leftists, liberals, and “progressives.”
Flags and patriotism have been very much in the news of late, principally relating to the uproar that has arisen on both sides of the issue of Arizona’s new immigration law recently signed by that state’s governor, Jan Brewer.
More so now than at any other period in the past six decades, a sense of true patriotism is a requisite for these times that are trying men’s souls and there is no better time to demonstrate that love of country and no better way than by displaying, waving, and defending the symbol of the nation, the flag of the United States of America.
The stars and stripes are currently under attack by a wide assortment of foreign and domestic enemies. We can and will defend the country against foreign foes which in some sense are more easily defeated than those already on our shores.
Homegrown enemies and the forces of foreign enemies who have invaded our land by the millions are more challenging and insidious since they eat at the very soul of America from within our borders, leeches who suck the life blood from America even as they show contempt for our values and our symbols. . .
(Read more at http://genelalor.com)
VDH:
“It is said that he [Mr. Rodriguez] meant well, by citing presumed provocateurs to avoid unnecessary tension. But I don’t quite accept that (I think more likely he did the math…”
As a figure of speech (no pun intended) “he did the math” works. Taken literally, and considering the complete lack of logic exhibited by Mr. Rodriguez and his fellow “educators”, the phrase is at best ironic. Doubt the officials at that school could figure anything mathematically, or logically.
Diversity-based thinking is fundamentally illogical, and the concept of diversity appears to be neurotoxic to many. Yet another generation of brain-dead students on its way to adulthood.
Ms. Nunez surely must be an American citizen. And yet she apparently feels the greater pride in the display of the Mexican flag, a symbol of a nation that her own ancestors fled; while suggesting that her own national holiday is in fact a foreign one.
VDH, this is a great article as always, but why are you convinced that Ms. Nunez is an American citizen? Who’s to say that she’s not here illegally, or at least an anchor baby? She certainly seems to have no allegiance in her heart to America whatsoever.
It’s time for a Constitutional amendment that closes the “anchor baby” loophole, i.e. babies born to people who are here illegally should not automatically become citizens by virtue of their birth.
I’m afraid that the situation is only going to get worse in Mexifornia. My daughter recently moved there and was shocked that when she went to register to vote, they asked for no ID whatsoever. They wanted only an address.
Sorry Doctor, the Supreme Court has already ruled, and you should know that, that the 1st Amendment proctections do not apply to students in school. The Administration can ban any expressions of political speech they deem offensive or disruptive to the classroom.
I’m actually shocked you didn’t know that.
I agree that the kids should have been able to wear the American flag shirt, but let’s stick with the facts and not engage in fantasy.
We’re better than they are.
In case it hasn’t been made clear, the central point is this: there is no right for anyone to avoid being offended by displays of American pride involving the use of the US flag on American soil.
There is, however, a duty incumbent on any who are offended to behave in an orderly fashion regardless of their state of offense. If they must, they can express their distaste through peaceful speech, including communication through various media. Whatever floats their boat.
No one else is obliged to either listen to them or adjust his behavior because of their reaction. This is America. We tolerate the displays of other nations’ flags. It is our sovereign right to display and be proud of our own. Period, no caveats. You’re offended, too bad. Go somewhere else.
The real problem is the education system being used as a petri-dish for social experiments. It is good intentions that cause havoc, diversity has turned into re-segregation of the schools. Brown vs Board of education elimnated segregation much to the horror of the Democrat party. MLK marched against the Democrats throughout the South, with the help of Republicans the civil-rights ammendment was passed over the objections of the Democrats. Now, they call themselves progressives and have coined the Hyphenated American, notice there are only “minority”-Americans! There is only a Congressional Black Caucus, only a Hispanic Caucus and they both exist in the Democrat party. Why? Also, to Russell comment 78, yes students in school do not have 1st Ammendment protection, however the school cannot give prefence to one group over another…..ie Brown vs Board of education, one has to look at all the pieces to the puzzle, then add the caveats added by subsequent Democrats (set asides, quotas) to undermine the original intent of the court.
i know the kids there stupid. theyre those immature kids that everybody knows. and they did it on purpose to try and start stuff with the mexicans (obviously)
To Mike McDaniel
No nation in human history has spent more, in blood and treasure, to save others and to ensure liberty;
The core or a very well explained position defining our heritage.
I too am proud that you are having influence in our high schools.