Kids Kicked out of School for Wearing American Flag Tshirts

[Mickey's Minion]

DawnCT, can I ask what nationality you are?

Are Irish people allowed to celebrate St.Patrick's Day here?

What about Oktoberfest?

Does an American have to forgo their ethnicity to become an American citizen? I thought this country was a salad of many cultures and ethnicities that allows a person to celebrate their heritage without fear but still also being proud of being from this country.

Absolutely.

However, in this incidence, American citizens were asked to refrain from being proud of this country.

Therefore, it was actually the students who wore the American flag that were not allowed to celebrate their heritage without fear of reprisal. There was a reprisal, the school tried to suspend them for being proud of their country.

The school was trying to force these boys to pledge their allegiance to the country of Mexico for one day.

The Mexican-American students should absolutely be allowed to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in its full glory.

What they should not expect is to force everybody to celebrate with them by insisting on no shows of their country of citizenship.

Last I knew, you could still wear a t-shirt with an American Flag to Oktoberfest and still be able to love and appreciate the culture and heritage behind it. People would laugh their heads off if the German-Americans insisted on no displays of the United States of America during their cultural celebration.

 

[robinb]

if they were, in fact, trying to stir up trouble or show disrespect towards those celebrating Cinco de Mayo, then I feel this is a disrespectful use of our flag and NOT in ANY way patriotism. This is clearly a misuse of our flag and everything it stands for. Pride is one thing; hubris is another.

just by simply wearing the Flag - they are not automatically showing patriotism, this goes to intent - I'm not sure there's was benign or positive.

Thank you for putting into words exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well, if you want to get technical about it, no one should ever be wearing the American flag. Section 8d of the U.S. Flag Code states that the flag should never be worn as apparel. Just sayin'...

The flag...prints of the flag are fine. You can't go and take an American flag and make a dress out of it.

A shirt with a screen print picture of a flag is not a flag.

 

[OceanAnnie]

That is completely different. Your example bears absolutely no relevance to the discussion and the display of the official flag of the United States of America.

The confederate flag is not the flag of this country.

Indeed.

Any day of the year should be a good day to wear the American Flag in America.

 

[DawnCt1]

Why should it be a melting bowl where everyone is a homogonized mixture of Americana?People can not only live amongst one another but also keep their heritage due to the fact that everyone else's culture is distinct. To be an American does not mean that a person has to give up what unique heritage they have as this country allows people to preserve their cultures as well as being a community within this country and making the U.S. great.

I didn't see nor hear that the American flag was taken down on the 5th at the school. I think this is yet another assumption.

Of course the flag wasn't taken down. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of the principal.
We are a melting pot because we come together from different cultures and heritages and become Americans, with all those cultural nuances, regional differences and customs that are celebrated. Our country has assimilated new citizens from all over the world, welcomed them and we have excelled at that very thing. The Balkinization of America is not the direction I want to go in. There are neighborhoods in Paris that the police won't even enter because they are so seqregated ethnically and culturally. Remember the riots a few years back. We should be Americans first.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Why should it be a melting bowl where everyone is a homogonized mixture of Americana?People can not only live amongst one another but also keep their heritage due to the fact that everyone else's culture is distinct. To be an American does not mean that a person has to give up what unique heritage they have as this country allows people to preserve their cultures as well as being a community within this country and making the U.S. great.

I didn't see nor hear that the American flag was taken down on the 5th at the school. I think this is yet another assumption.

That's the irony. I don't believe it was either. So how can a principal in good consicous claim these boys are causing trouble to other Mexican American students (given at least one of them is Mexican American himself)...when the school likely still displayed the American flag?

 

[Mermaid02]

Perhaps...but these kids should NOT be allowed to have on both american flag shirts AND bandanas that are worn specifically because it's Cinco de Mayo and specifically to inflame and disrespect their mexican-american peers.

It was a t-shirt with the American Flag on it- we all live in America- at NO TIME should our flag be banned. Mexican-Americans ought to rethink why they became citizens if the sight of our flag upsets them so on Cinco de Mayo. The American flag does NOT disrespect American citizens. What a preposterous thought.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

if they were, in fact, trying to stir up trouble or show disrespect towards those celebrating Cinco de Mayo, then I feel this is a disrespectful use of our flag and NOT in ANY way patriotism. This is clearly a misuse of our flag and everything it stands for. Pride is one thing; hubris is another.

just by simply wearing the Flag - they are not automatically showing patriotism, this goes to intent - I'm not sure theirs was benign or positive.

I disagree that it is disrespectful. Unless the flag now be only used as a tool per your definition of pride, not anyone elses.

Even if they wore it purposely on that day to demonstrate their own pleasuer with their country--it is not misuse.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Come on these boys did this to start trouble, what teen boys go around with their friends a dicide to were the same things? They were acting like smart a**. We all know this.

We do? I wasn't there, so no, I do not know this for certain.

Again, if the Mexican-Americans were truly celebrating their heritage, then they wouldn't have been offended by somebody wearing the flag of their country.

If they are truly offended (and I believe most Mexican-Americans wouldn't be), then the ones making an issue of it are the ones trying to start trouble. They are defiantly flaunting their heritage in other's faces and subtly saying that it is much better than the American Flag.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I disagree that it is disrespectful. Unless the flag now be only used as a tool per your definition of pride, not anyone elses.

Even if they wore it purposely on that day to demonstrate their own pleasuer with their country--it is not misuse.

again, I think you are confusing pride and hubris.....but maybe not and that is sad....

 

[OceanAnnie]

It was a t-shirt with the American Flag on it- we all live in America- at NO TIME should our flag be banned. Mexican-Americans ought to rethink why they became citizens if the sight of our flag upsets them so on Cinco de Mayo. The American flag does NOT disrespect American citizens. What a preposterous thought.

I agree. It's insane. Why couldn't those that wished to celebrate Cinco De May do so and those that wished to wear the American flag do so as well? Why would that be considered inflammatory? It doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't a person be proud to be both?

Why should one heritage usurp another?

 

[Scurvy]

again, I think you are confusing pride and hubris.....but maybe not and that is sad....

Why do you assume this was a display of hubris? I saw nothing to indicate that in the linked article. Do you have another source of information about this incident and the motivations of those involved?

 

[DawnCt1]

I wonder if those of Italian heritage will be welcomed to wear their Italian flag tee shirts on Columbus Day or is Columbus Day too un PC now? DS#4 has an Italian flag tee shirt. Should he leave it in the closet on Columbus Day?

 

[Mickey's Minion]

No, it's more like Red Delicious and Granny Smith. Someone would wear a confederate flag shirt to a MLK Day rally to stir up trouble. Those boys wore the American flag shirts to their school on 5/5 to stir up trouble. Luckily, the principal was enough on the ball to step in before trouble found them.

Since the district made a rare public announcement that they did not support the assistant principal's decision, perhaps Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez was not really on the ball and was showing reverse discrimination to the non Mexican-American students.

Makes about as much sense as claiming wearing a t-shirt with an American Flag and a caption that says "United We Stand" is racially motivated. Sounds like the boys were promoting unity of everybody under our American Flag.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

again, I think you are confusing pride and hubris.....but maybe not and that is sad....

Not at all. But there is no need to speak to me that way. But I have taken note of it.

In any case--again, you are applying a definition to these students--but you weren't there. Even if it was hubris, they were within their rights as it seems that the "hubris" demonstrated by the other students may have indeed been over the top for the AP to be concerned that they would be disrespected by the actions of these students.

Why is one over the top and not the other--considering cinco de mayo has nothing to do with any conflict between Mexico and the US?

 

[Shelton123]

So, in an American school, wearing clothes showing an American flag is racist??

It's different, they were all wearing it, and it was a specific group of kids protesting the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.

If it was just one kid, I would be outraged, but it's a group of kids who are clearly doing it to protest.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It's different, they were all wearing it, and it was a specific group of kids protesting the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.

If it was just one kid, I would be outraged, but it's a group of kids who are clearly doing it to protest.

But what makes it RACIST?

Is the school RACIST for continuing to fly the American flag?

FWIW--I Don't have a problem if it was a protest. And clearly, neither did the district.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Why do you assume this was a display of hubris? I saw nothing to indicate that in the linked article. Do you have another source of information about this incident and the motivations of those involved?

re-read my post - I clearly said "IF their intent........."

 

[OceanAnnie]

It's different, they were all wearing it, and it was a specific group of kids protesting the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.

If it was just one kid, I would be outraged, but it's a group of kids who are clearly doing it to protest.

I don't get it. Are those that are celebrating Cinco de Mayo not American also? The outrage makes no sense.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It may be hard to believe but some schools don't even say the Pledge. It is not required in our school district and my DD's first school did not say it. They played the National Anthem instead.

OUR National Anthem? "The Star Spangled Banner"? The song Francis Scott Key wrote because, after a night of fighting, he was grateful to see the American flag still flying in all its glory?

That song honors the flag; whatever reason these students wore flag-bearing clothing respectfully on any day, there was no reason to make an issue of it or to send them home. As I said early, it's good to know the school district has more common sense than this particular school.