“We wouldn’t do that on Fourth of July.” Oh, really?

As the Live Oak High School controversy continues to bring attention to the greater culture war, Mexican-American students demand an apology from the boys who dared to wear American flag t-shirts on a day that celebrated “Mexican heritage.”

by Michael Naragon

It’s funny how things can begin from a relatively minor event.  In my world history classes, we’re discussing the beginnings of World War I.  Invariably when discussing this topic, students marvel at how one assassination was the spark that threw Europe–and eventually the United States–into a bloody conflict.

Arizona passed a law allowing their law enforcement officers to do what the federal government should have been doing for years.  Chaos ensued.  Days later, on Cinco de Mayo–a holiday that Mexicans don’t even really celebrate, according to one of my Mexican-American basketball players–two students were forced to leave school because they had the audacity to wear the American flag on this pseudo-holiday for partakers of Jose Cuervo.

In the news story which initially covered the boys’ story, a Hispanic girl who was apparently offended by her adopted country’s flag being displayed told the reporter that the two boys were disrespecting her Mexican heritage.  “We wouldn’t do that [display Mexican paraphernalia] on Fourth of July,” she said.

Interesting that she would say that.  It turns out that Mexicans haven’t shown all that much deference to the American flag on days that aren’t devoted to a Mexican military victory over the French, who, incidentally, were trying to collect when our friendly southern neighbors defaulted on loans.

Exhibit A: This photo, taken at a July 4th parade in, of all places, Ojai, California.

That looks a lot like a Mexican flag being proudly displayed during a holiday to honor the foundation of the United States.  Hmm.

Exhibit B: Montebello (CA) High School on March 27, 2006.  In support of the Amnesty bill, which was ultimately defeated by conservatives though it had the support of Congress and President Bush, students across the country walked out of school.  In Montebello, they took down the American flag, turned it upside-down in a sign of disrespect, and raised it below the Mexican flag.

Exhibit C: A California billboard that proudly touted that Los Angeles was now part of Mexico.

Exhibit D: A pro-amnesty demonstration in which protesters replaced the American flag at a U.S. Post Office with the Mexican banner.  Notice the police officers protecting their right to do this.

And, finally, Exhibit E: The flags flown on the Fourth of July in Santa Barbara, CA.

So before Hispanic students or their supporters complain about two boys wearing American flag shirt as being somehow “disrespectful,” perhaps they should take a look at recent history.  Again, I return to the question I asked when I originally relayed this story here at the Alamo:  Whose country is it, anyway?