Related Story: California Students Sent Home for Wearing U.S. Flags on Cinco de Mayo |
GLENN: From the Bay Area, California. On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T shirts with the American flag on them. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day on this campus. Galley says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when — brunch break? Well, there's step — there's problem number one. Brunch break? When the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove their American flag bandanas and that wearing — that they were wearing on their heads and for 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 was sensitive to Mexican Americans." Why would it be sensitive to Mexican Americans, the American flag? If you were a Mexican American, you wouldn't have a problem with the American flag, would you?
PAT: Wouldn't think so.
GLENN: But it was offensive to Mexican Americans because it is their holiday. I'm — excuse me? Then maybe Mexicans should celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Mexico because technically it is their holiday. It is their Fourth of July. Our Fourth of July in America happens on... the Fourth of July. Do they celebrate the Fourth of July and ask their students in Mexico to remove Mexican shirts? The boys said the administrators called their shirts incendiary, the American flag. They said if we tried to go back to class with our American T shirts not taken off, it would be defiance and we would get suspended. The boys saw really no choice. They went home to avoid suspension. They say they are angry that they weren't allowed to express their American pride. How about freedom of speech? How about the damn American flag? Their parents are upset, calling what happened to their children total nonsense.
Excuse me. Should we elevate total nonsense maybe just a bit? Do you think it's a little more as a parent than total nonsense? It's absolutely ridiculous, said one of the mothers. All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature; they're expressing their individuality. But to many Mexican American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They said they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors in America on a Mexican holiday, end quote. "I think they should apologize," says one Live Oak student. It's a Mexican heritage day. We don't deserve to be disrespected like that. As for the apologies, the families say fat chance. "I'm not going to explode, I'm not going to apologize, I did nothing wrong — I'm going to explode." I went along with my normal day, said one of the students. I might have worn an American flag, but I'm an American and I'm proud to be an American. The five boys and their families met with Morgan Hill unified school district. The district released a statement saying it does not agree with how Live Oak administrators handled the incident. As for the boys, they will not be suspended and they will be going back to school later today. They may even wear their red, white and blue colors again, but there won't be any controversy because today is not a Mexican holiday.
PAT: Can you imagine being sent home for wearing an American flag on St. Patrick's Day? I can't, I can't fathom it. I can't — how did we get to this point?
GLENN: You know how we got to this point. Again, the story comes from the Bay Area. I'm going to — you know, we love immigrants in America. We're not France. We're not France. We're not Germany. We're not England. We're America. We were built by Americans. But immigrants that want to be here because they want to be Americans. We've gone from a country that people used to — they loved it so much, they wanted to blend in so much, they would change their name from Jorge to George. They would change their name so they would sound more American. Now, I don't think we need to change people's names, but I don't think that we should be celebrating Mexican holidays at the expense of America. We used to be something called a melting pot. Melt in! You don't melt in by being offended by people who are wearing the American flag. If you want to be an American, it's your flag now, too, not the Mexican flag. You want Mexico? Go back to Mexico! You want Germany? Go back to Germany! You want Sweden? Go back to Sweden! Canada? Go back to Canada!