Friday, May 7, 2010

The sadly obligatory kids-get-sent-home-from-school-for-wearing-American-flag-shirts-on-Cinco-de-Mayo post (UPDATED)


(please scroll to bottom for update)



By now you've probably heard about the 5 kids who got sent home from high school up in the Bay Area for wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. Story here.

And from the last paragraph:

The boys will not be suspended and were allowed to return to school Thursday. We spotted one of them when he got to campus -- and, yes, he was sporting an American flag T-shirt.


And home-schooling gets a rap because of what? For the sake of these boys continuing education, a permanent expulsion may have been in their collective best interest.

The article explains that many of the Mexican-American students were "offended" that these 5 students would fly their colors on a "Mexican holiday". It's bad enough these particular students don't know American history, they don't know Mexican history, either. Cinco de Mayo, to our knowledge, is not a holiday that is celebrated in Mexico. And other than wearing goofy sombreros to and getting half-priced Margaritas at Mexican restaurants, it holds no real cultural significance here, either.

But above and beyond the obvious lunacy of this incident, it provides a nice peek inside Arizona's illegal immigration law outrage. There are legitimate concerns over racial profiling, however, one does not have to scratch far beneath the surface to get to the latent anti-Americanism that is hostile to freedom and liberty (two concepts not to be confused with license) and capitalism.

The major players against the law, groups like La Raza, are racialist, if not racist, in nature that bow before the twin gods of diversity and income redistribution. They hold complete antipathy and contempt for American exceptionalism that is rooted not in race but shared cultural values of the rule of law and property rights (what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours). These concepts are not only foreign to them, they are to be struggled against.

Ultimately, this is what's at stake. Not whether some people will be rounded-up illegally or unjustly harrassed but rather whether we allow a culture of lawlessness and 3rd world socialism to further erode our sound, just, equitable and hard fought-for American culture.

Don't allow yourself to be distracted from the big picture. Yes, the potential for abuse of this law, any law for that matter, is real - just ask Congress. However, the larger backdrop is a set of people who through racial guilt, intimidation and victimization are waging a war of "social justice" against those who hold dear the rule of law, property rights, freedom of speech and a belief that this country is not great because of its diversity but rather this country is diverse because of its greatness.


(UPDATE #1): We think we've determinend who it is that should've been suspended.

About 200 Hispanic teens are marching in Morgan Hill yelling "We want respect!" and "Si se puede!" in reaction to a controversy ignited when the Live Oak High School principal effectively sent four students home for wearing T-shirts with American flags on them during Cinco de Mayo.

Mexican-American students felt the students were being disrespectful on the only day they celebrate their heritage while students sporting red, white and blue said it violated their First Amendment rights.

Six police cars and a Morgan Hill motorcycle officer have been cruising alongside the large group as it marches.

The group - mostly high school students - walked out of school this morning after the story of four students who were sent home because they wore American flag T-shirts went viral on TV and online. Many wear red, white and green and two large Mexico flags can be seen at the front of the line.

The students say they want people to know they're proud of their heritage and they believe wearing red, white and blue on Cinco de Mayo is disrespectful.


Need any further proof of the culture war going on here and how the playing field is skewed against believers in American exceptionalism?

Wear a t-shirt with an American flag on it, get sent home. Walk out of school on the tax-payer dime, get a police escort.

And we're sure the irony of people exercising the 1st amendment in order to deny the 1st amendment to others is not lost on you.

2 comments:

Harrison said...

Absolutely crazy! What country do we live in?

Road Dawg said...

Harrison is right. Advocates for these protesters are claiming disrespect and equating 5 May to our Independence Day.

5 May is not a holiday! To attempt to compare to our Independence Day is a poor analogy at least and ignorant at best. If it were a holiday in Mexico, then celebrate in Mexico and get the day off or what not. But celebrating your heritage because savvy marketers (mostly beer companies) have made the day popular for margaritas and guacamole seems a little misguided.

To compare our independence celebration and defiance of tryany to a day commemorating a single battle victory over the……French(!?) seems far more disrespectful than an American T-shirt whether in protest or support of a resolution to uphold our sovereign border.

Here’s inflammatory: How about a t-shirt with the American Flag on a map of the Southwest with the caption, "Thank you Zachary Taylor!"