Did she go too far? A woman perturbed that her neighbor was flying the Mexican flag in her yard is receiving criticism for the way she handled the situation. Was her reaction warranted?
PAT: Local political activist was upset by seeing the Mexican flag flying in a front yard of one of her neighbors. And so she went up and confronted the homeowner on video. And it was a video she shot on her smart phone. And then she posted it on youtube and she said, hi, is that a Mexican flag in your front yard? And the person whose home it was didn't speak any English. So they didn't -- respond. And then she said, you know we live in America, right?
This is the United States. So why are you flying a Mexican flag in your front yard. So then she posted it and apparently that got the attention of a bunch of people who didn't appreciate what she did.
JEFFY: Oh, no.
PAT: And local Los Angeles news went out to talk to her. Spoke to her and the homeowner she confronted, and found out the woman doesn't speak any English and then this -- this woman confronted her a third time, I guess, and she said, this is America. Maybe you can move to Mexico if you want to fly your Mexican flag. Does that make sense?
(laughing).
PAT: Does that make sense? You know, that you'd move to Mexico and fly your flag there if you love it so much? Does that make sense?
(laughing).
PAT: A nice way to be really nasty.
JEFFY: That is a really nice way to be nasty.
PAT: That makes sense, right? If you love Mexico so much, just go back there and fly it there. That makes sense, right?
(laughing).
PAT: But apparently the homeowners didn't understand why she was making such a big deal out of it. The husband --
JEFFY: They're just flying their flag.
PAT: The husband says I don't think it's offensive because the flag doesn't do anything.
JEFFY: Thank you.
PAT: He said he and his anytime never meant to hurt anyone. They were just celebrating their Mexican heritage.
JEFFY: Thank you.
PAT: I've got mixed emotions about this because when you take the vow of citizenship, you pledge allegiance to the United States. To your new country. And you sort of disavow your old one. You don't have to leave your heritage behind. But you know, your allegiance should now be here because this is where you're earning your bread and butter, right?
JEFFY: I didn't read the details of this story, but we're positive that this person is an American citizen now?
PAT: Well, I don't know if they've actually become citizens or not.
JEFFY: Okay.
PAT: I don't know, but they're living here. And you know, I don't know. It's just -- it's that we're not --
JEFFY: I know.
PAT: We're not a melting pot anymore and we don't melt together to become one. And to me, that is kind of a problem. Now, I don't think you need to go up and confront people and say, 'hey, why don't you go back to Mexico if you like your Mexican flag so much.' Does that make sense?
(laughing).
PAT: But on the other hand, I'm not sure she deserved -- the woman who did it was fired from her job because of it.
JEFFY: Yeah?
PAT: Because of the uproar over this video she posted on youtube, which is stupid, if you're going to act like this, don't put it on youtube. It won't turn out well for you in the end. Yeah, her real estate company fired her.
JEFFY: Wow.
PAT: Yeah. I mean, that sucks, too. Now, I don't -- it's not great what she did. But it's not -- I mean, stupid to fire somebody for that.
JEFFY: Yeah.
PAT: But it's -- you know, it's -- this is a difficult question. And it's just better for people if we become one? If we become part of a whole? It's better for them, it's better for us. They go further. America goes further. That's kind of been -- you know, when people say, well, it's a nation of immigrants. It was built by immigrants. Yeah, but immigrants who came here legally for one thing. And immigrants who forsook their old country and devoted their time and allegiance to this one. And taught their children a love for this one. Taught their children and immersed them in the language. When my grandmother came here from Ireland, she wouldn't allow Gaelic to be spoken. That was her native tongue. She wouldn't allow it to be spoken. We're in America now. We're going to speak English. I -- you know, everybody doesn't have to forsake their native tongue. But you should certainly learn English if you're going to live here. Kind of makes sense, doesn't it? You will go further. You will do better. Your ceiling is much, much higher. And if -- like for instance, if I move to Spain and I don't speak Spanish, I'm not going to go anywhere because there's very few jobs that I can do and do well in Spain without knowing the language. So does that make sense? So I'm not saying you need to take your Mexican flag and go back to Mexico. Does that make sense? But I am saying, you know, it does help when you -- when you become part of us. But that's -- it's wrong to say that now.
JEFFY: Listen, wouldn't it be nice to just go back to Mexico and fly your Mexican flag?
PAT: I'm not saying that. She did and that's a problem. But is it enough of a problem that you fire her?
JEFFY: Come on.
PAT: I don't think so. It's too bad.
Watch video of the confrontation below: