Cinco de Mayo vs American Flag
 

NBC Bay Area: On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing t-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population.

Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the Vice Principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag t-shirts inside-out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal’s office.

“They said we could wear it on any other day, but today is sensitive to Mexican Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today,” Daniel Galli said.

Some Mexican students said they were offended by the American flag shirts being worn on Cinco de Mayo. I wonder, if Mexico is so wonderful and America is so offensive, what are they doing here?

I wonder if this would happen in Arizona?

Hmmmm....5 kids with identical t-shirts and bandanas? looks like they were trying to get some attention.

Wish one of them was my kid... Cha Ching $$$$

Yea if there were in OK they'd be getting investigated for being a gang/militia!

Were I one of these kids parents we'd have a lawyer and I'd be after that Vice principals job...freaking unbelievable :mad:

I don't care what day it is/was if the 1st amendment protects hipply freaks burning and walking on old glory it certainly protects anyone wearing the American flag anywhere they want on any day they want....

To the VP of that school......THIS IS NOT MEXICO, people are allowed to celebrate whatever they want, but if they want to raise hell when they feel their day is disrespected....then they can suffer the consequences….do not pass go…go directly to jail. You don't take away someone else’s rights just to appease some little $#!?heads. If they feel that strongly about the cinco de mayo I'd just as soon they move to Mexico and celebrate it there, because if they're willing to assault someone else based on their feelings of loyalty to another country we don't need them here.

It could in my HS! My principal drives a Prius with an Obama-Biden sticker. She dedicated a staff restroom, with a key, for a "transgender" student (pre-op). She gets, and passes along, emails from Aztlan movement people.

Yeah... it could happen here.

Live Oak Dress Code here - http://liveoakhs.ca.campusgrid.net/h...dress_code.htm

• Most schools don't allow bandanas - anti-gang related (see Dress Code).
• Context is missing regarding the student's behavior/remarks at school but IMO they were purposefully seeking attention and, thus, their actions (for unclear reasons) became and were distracting to the learning environment (see Dress Code).
• The Asst-Principal did not handle the situation well.
• It was yet another slow news day

MOO - these guys showing up wearing bandanas (see Dress Code) and the shirts shown meant they were seeking attention for whatever reason(s) - and they got it.

And so it goes...:rolleyes:

Richard

But does that make it wrong?? getting attention by wearing the flag doesn't seem like a punk move to me. They were probably making a statement, but I think its a good one and worth making. Cinco de mayo is not a high holy day.
The real shame is that the offended kids see themselves as mexicans and not Americans.

You have to be kind of careful about people's holidays. How about the Chinese New Year? All Saints day? Tet? How about St Patricks Day? There are plenty of ethnic holidays observed in this country. They don't bother me. Some of them I find interesting and fun.
Nobody said CDM was a high holy day. Mostly just a harmless celebration.
Would these kids wear their t-shirts and bandannas on St Pats day? Probably not.

I've really been working at moderating my use of profanity lately, but I'm not going to do that right now: Eff those Mexican students, and eff that principal. The flag of the country you're fortunate enough to reside in, arguably the country in the world that has the most freedom, offends your tender sensibilities? Maybe you should GTFO. I'd have told that principal where he can stick it.

If someone is concerned about some kids who might wearing the flag of the nation they live in to make some kind of a political statement, perhaps they might consider shifting their gaze to the other kids wearing the flag of a foreign nation, who might also be doing it to make a political statement.

America certainly isn't perfect, but our nation is a product of the hard work and dedication of our people. We come from many diverse cultures and unify under one flag. There are factions out there that would see us divided or would subvert our culture so that it looks more like theirs.

I've said before that I recognize and appreciate strong roots to one's culture. Be proud of where you came from. But don't foist your culture upon me. If I want to participate, I'll do it on my own.

Those Mexican students, I wonder if they've ever considered which direction most of the migratory traffic travels across our southern border, and why?

These guys came to school in flagrant violation of the school's Dress Code and looking for attention - a chance to be the 'cool' guys of the moment among their peers - and when they got the attention they were seeking and became a distractor to the learning process (which further violated the school's code) and then refused to compromise, they recceived a bit more attention than they had anticipated. Such is life.

IMO - the school could have handled it better but the kids were not entirely innocent in this 'mole hill' of a non-affair, either.

Anybody who has ever had to deal wth such issues as either a school administrator or teacher would understand.

I wonder which parent called the local news. :confused:

And so it goes...

Richard's $.02 :munchin

The only thing identical in their clothing were stars and stripes. The violation, bandannas were a violation of code, but it was refusal to turn their t-shirts inside out that seems to be the primary incident. They were also told they could wear those items any other day, but not the 5th of May.

Mexican students were carrying flags and wearing colors and flag clothing as well.

Now I think incendiary would have been wearing French flagged clothing. But I wouldn't have been surprised that Mexican students here wouldn't have known the reason.

Interesting one of the boys sent home is son of a legal immigrant.

I agree they were seeking attention...and they got it; they probably should have stuck with the T-shirt and not the bandanas. However, that still doesn't change the fact that they were exercising their freedom to wear what they wanted. My question would be if they did not wear anything inciteful yet protested the hispanic students choice of clothing on May 5th...would it still be news? Probably not, I suspect the administrators would have explained the sensative nature of their "holiday" and how we have a responsibility to promote it...with extended happy hour at the bar and reduced prices on tequila and dos equis.