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| Mexican flag burned after students raise it over AZ school |
| 2006-03-31 |
| Following a week of massive immigrant rights protests, a group of students in Apache Junction burned a Mexican flag, reported a local newspaper. A Hispanic student had brought the flag to school Thursday morning in a response to what he said was a racist remark directed at him the day before. After he and other students raised the flag over Apache Junction High School, another group of students took it down and burned it, according to the East Valley Tribune newspaper. The burning and ensuing shoving match between the two groups of students happened before most students arrived at the school. The six students - three Hispanic and three white - will be disciplined, said school principal Chad Wilson. Officials with the Apache Junction Unified School District would not specify what kind of punishment the students face. "I know (they) shouldn't have burned the Mexican flag," said sophomore Jacob Stewart, 16. "I heard it was raised above the American flag, and that just irked me." The school will increase supervision because of the incident, Wilson said in a letter sent home to parents. The increased security will include four off-duty police officers the district hired as security guards, Wilson said. District spokeswoman Carol Shepherd said the additional security was being brought in as a precaution. "It's one of those situations where if you didn't have additional security and something did happen, we'd be challenged by parents about why we didn't do anything," she said. By early afternoon Thursday, district officials said the environment on campus had sufficiently calmed down. About 17 percent of the overall student body is Latino, according to the district. Wilson said he e-mailed teachers separately Thursday about the incident, but left it up to them to decide if and how they should address the issue in their classrooms. He emphasized that six out of the school's 1,618 students were involved in the flag fight, and many students might not have the same problems dealing with the racially charged immigration debate. School flagpoles have been lightning rods across the country this week, including an incident in which a Houston high school principal was disciplined after he flew a Mexican flag underneath his campus' U.S. and state flags. A new political awareness among high school students has also been grabbing attention, as thousands of teenagers in Arizona and other states have walked out of classes to join rallies nationwide. Last Friday, more than 20,000 people protested in downtown Phoenix against a bill that would have made it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in the United States. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #17 I would've put that burning flag out with water (after it had ran through my kidneys first). |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-03-31 23:38 |
| #16 Well, in Mexican movies, if they want a really evil villain, usually chief henchman, he will be an Apache. They often fought the Mexican army to a standstill. Very tough people. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-31 23:01 |
| #15 "Just above" or "far above" Anonymoose? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-31 22:21 |
| #14 First of all, Apaches see themselves as just above Mexicans on the food chain. As late as Pershing's expedition into Mexico after Poncho Villa, the Apache tribes just assumed that they would be accompanying the US Army. When politely told that their services would not be required, there was considerable consternation, along with suggestions that they go anyway, if for no other reason than to preserve the balance of nature by culling as many Mexicans as they could capture. That being said, Geronimo was small fry. Far more impressive was Cochise, who was to Geronimo as a General is to a Captain. There is a reasonably good Wiki on Cochise, but it understates many of his accomplishments. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-31 21:04 |
| #13 ...by Mexicans |
| Posted by: Ernest Brown 2006-03-31 16:45 |
| #12 "Wait till the real native Americans start to way into the discussion. Many have no love for their former hispanic overlords and the tribes keep alive the memories." Geronimo was a medicine man until his wife and children were murdered during a "peaceful" trading encounter in 1858. |
| Posted by: Ernest Brown 2006-03-31 15:58 |
| #11 When I went to school, not hell or high water would postpone the ass kicking to follow. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-03-31 13:47 |
| #10 ungrateful brats, these people need to realize that they are illegally in this country, illegally! As in NOT legal...we need to realize that fact and face up to our own laws and enforce them accordingly instead of continuing to hire them and saving a buck, the real cost is born by the rest of "us" citizens, not that I dont like Mexicans and Mexico, it's the illegal part I have a problem with. Immegrate LEGALLY and more power to you amigos. |
| Posted by: bk 2006-03-31 12:50 |
| #9 massive immigrant rights protests Overstatement alert. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2006-03-31 11:50 |
| #8 When Vietnam fell, almost 60,000 Vietnamese relocated to the Valley of the Sun, and nobody noticed. Maybe that's because they settle in, go to school, learn english, get jobs and don't demand that everyone notice them and change their lifestyles for them. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-03-31 11:25 |
| #7 We only burn our own flags, we don't burn others. When we start, the world will take notice. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-03-31 10:55 |
| #6 Good. You don't go to another country, raise your country above the host country and expect to walk the next day. I would expect a severe beating or worse if I did that in Germany, France, China or others. I expect no less here. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-03-31 09:43 |
| #5 Apache Junction Wait till the real native Americans start to way into the discussion. Many have no love for their former hispanic overlords and the tribes keep alive the memories. |
| Posted by: Omaiting Shineper6088 2006-03-31 09:31 |
| #4 Demographic shifts in the Phoenix (sometimes pronounced "Pee-nis") Metro area have resulted in sometimes silly efforts to cater to (patronize) ethnic groups. One such example was Marcos de Niza high school, which when built was going to have an almost entirely Mexican-American student body and faculty. So the school was built and decorated with Mexican culture in mind. 10 years later, the school was almost entirely white. However, in that same time another school in the area which had been almost entirely white became both black and Mexican. With such demographic shifts, unless you are a longtime resident, you probably have no idea even where the local minorities live. This tends to take a lot of steam out of racial problems, except, ironically, in the high schools, where ethnic minorities are concentrated. Since the Metro area is in total almost 1,000 square miles, this can sometimes get weird. When Vietnam fell, almost 60,000 Vietnamese relocated to the Valley of the Sun, and nobody noticed. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-31 09:28 |
| #3 "I know (they) shouldn't have burned the Mexican flag," said sophomore Jacob Stewart, 16. "I heard it was raised above the American flag, and that just irked me." ItÂ’s called being a patriot son, listen to your instincts they are right on this one. And by the way, itÂ’s NOT WRONG to burn the flag of a foreign country that is flown above the American flag on US soil. Good job to you kid, you understand it clearer than most! |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-03-31 08:50 |
| #2 Battle of the burning flags in 5... 4... |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-03-31 08:50 |
| #1 Gee, wonder what "hate crime" the AZ Repulsive is going to whine about in the Sunday editorials.... |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2006-03-31 08:25 |