So, as we were saying, the other day a quartet of boys at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA, wore shirts with the American flag on them. Being that this was May 5th--or, as the Germans call it, Cinco de Mayo--the assistant principal saw this as an "incendiary" act, and told the boys to either turn the shirts inside out or go home.
(Digression: Why Germans feel the need to celebrate a sinkful of mayonnaise is beyond us, but as long as they're not annexing the Sudetenland, we suppose they can have their fun. EOD)
OK, OK. In all (semi)seriousness, we understand that immigration is a hot-button issue, particularly Mexican immigration and particularly in California. And we suppose we can understand--well, not understand, but there it is--that some Mexican students might have been offended by white students who might have been wearing American flag shirts as a sort of subtle protest against the rights of Mexicans--particularly since two of the flag-wearing students were of Mexican descent.
Wait, huh?!?
OK, never mind, we don't understand. Does this mean that if a Mexican student wears a Mexican-flag themed shirt on any day other than Cinco de Mayo, he can be suspended for inappropriate jingoism? Or would it only be inappropriate on the 4th of July? Or would you only get in trouble for wearing the Union Jack on July 4th?
On the news, a reporter was soliciting feedback from parents of Live Oak students. One gentleman said he thought--correctly, in our opinion--that there is nothing inherently wrong with wearing an American flag shirt. Trying to trip this obvious fascist up in his own hypocrisy, the reporter ambushed him: "Well, what would you think if a student wore a flag emblazoned with the Japanese flag on December 7th?" Disappointingly, the parent seemed flummoxed. We wish someone had asked us that question: We would have no problem with it on patriotic grounds, and as for worrying about inflaming the student population, we would be thrilled if any of the students (A) recognized the Japanese flag and (B) realized that there was a reason they should be offended by that.
"Whoa, Dude, awesome shirt. Love the whole red circle on white background thing. Rockin'!"
We have no enthusiasm for knee-jerk patriotism, but if people want to wear shirts with flags on them, who cares? Don't you think school administrators have more important things to worry about?
No comments:
Post a Comment