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Home Front: Culture Wars
Tensions High at California High School Following Flag Flap
2010-05-07
Tensions are rising at a California high school where five students were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo.

More than 200 Hispanic students reportedly skipped class on Thursday and marched to school district headquarters while chanting "we want respect" and "si se puedes" -- "yes we can" -- the Morgan Hill Times reported.

"We did this to support the Latino/Hispanic community," Francine Roa, a 2005 Live Oak High School graduate, told the newspaper.
How, exactly?
Ms Roa graduated in 2005. Doesn't she have college classes or a job that needs her presence?
At least six Morgan Hill police vehicles traveled alongside the students, many of whom carried Mexican flags. No arrests were made related to the march, the newspaper reported.

Police have been told to be on alert for gang-related retaliation against the boys, according to Ken Jones, whose stepson, Daniel Galli, was one of the students who refused to turn their T-shirts inside-out when asked by a vice principal on Wednesday.

"We just want this whole thing to die down," Jones told FoxNews.com. "We're not trying to keep these flames firing."

The five teens were sitting at a table outside Live Oak High School Wednesday morning when Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez asked two of them to remove their American flag bandannas, one of the boys' parents told FoxNews.com. The youths complied, but were asked to accompany Rodriguez to the principal's office.

The students were then told they must turn their T-shirts inside-out or be sent home, though it would not be considered a suspension. Rodriguez told the students he did not want any fights to break out between Mexican-American students celebrating their heritage and those wearing American flags, the parent said.

But Jones said the preemptive action was unnecessary, and that Rodriguez "overstepped his bounds."

"The issue was, there was nothing going on," Jones told Fox News on Friday. "There was no sense of violence at all amongst the students, there was no conversation, there was no bullying.

"We just feel like the vice principal overstepped his bounds. He jumped in too quickly. We can understand he might be concerned something would happen, but there was no indication that was going to happen at all."

Officials at the high school, a 1,300-student institution in Santa Clara County, near San Jose, have not returned several messages seeking comment.

As of late Thursday, Jones said the five boys' parents have no plans to sue the school or Morgan Hill Unified School District, which has characterized the incident as "extremely unfortunate" and is conducting an ongoing investigation. Several attorneys have contacted the families offering to represent them pro bono, Jones said.

"We're keeping an open mind," he said. "We want to stand up for our First Amendment rights."

He said the families are seeking an apology from school officials and want the students' unexcused absences for leaving school to be expunged.

Galli said he frequently wears the American flag T-shirt to school and that he wasn't trying to incite any tension. Asked if he wore the shirt to make a statement related to the ongoing immigration debate, Galli said, "No, it had absolutely nothing to do with that."

District officials, meanwhile, sent a voicemail message in English and Spanish to all parents late Thursday.

"The Morgan Hill Unified School District does not prohibit nor do we discourage wearing patriotic clothing," the message from Superintendent Wesley Smith said. "The incident on May 5 at Live Oak High School is extremely unfortunate. While campus safety is our primary concern and administrators made decisions yesterday in an attempt to ensure campus safety, students should not, and will not, be disciplined for wearing patriotic clothing. This situation and our response are under review."

Asked if the district will be taking any steps to quell rising tensions at the school, a district official told FoxNews.com in an e-mail, "Our focus for [Thursday] was student safety. Students are safe and administrators are continuing to work through the investigation."

Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at UCLA, said the students are protected under California Education Code 48950, which prohibits schools from enforcing a rule subjecting a high school student to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that, when engaged outside of campus, is protected by the First Amendment. If the school could point to previous incidents sparked by students who wore garments with American flags, they could argue that the flag is likely to lead to "substantial disruption," Volokh said.

"If, for example, there had been fights over similar things at past events, if there had been specific threats made. But if [school officials] just say, 'Well, we think it might be offensive to people,' that's generally speaking not enough."

Volokh said the students and their parents likely have a winning case on their hands if they decide to take the matter to court. "Oh yes, it's almost open and shut," he said.
Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC

#10  "I love the fact that they were afraid Mexican American students would be offended since it is a Mexican holiday."

There is no such thing as a Mexican-American. There are just Americans. They may be Americans of Mexican descent, but they're either Mexicans, or they're Americans. Period.

I don't call myself a German-American, or an Austrian-American, or an English-American, or a Welsh-American, or a Scots-American, or a Dutch-American, or an (American) Indian-American (I'm a mutt - so sue me.) I'm an AMERICAN, period.

If somebody wants to be a whatever-American, I'd suggest that he/she move to "whatever," since America obviously isn't good enough for him/her.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2010-05-07 19:25  

#9  I love the fact that they were afraid Mexican American students would be offended since it is a Mexican holiday.

The problem with that is that it's not a national holiday in Meh-heeee-co, just in the state of Puebla. The multi-culture crowd in US schools have co-opted it for their own idiotic indoctrination purposes. Take for example, people from other Hispanic nations whose kids are, in effect, Mexican-ized on May 5th. In the interests of multi-cultural correctness, all Hispanic kids are lumped into the Mexican category. In true Left Fashion, int's not about getting it right; it's only about feeeeeeeeeeeeeelings, which supplanted facts along time ago with this bunch.

I used to pull my kids out of school on May 5th and take a day-trip down to the San Jacinto Battleground Monument, drive over to the Alamo in San Antone or just hang out at the Texas History Museum in Austin.

Of course, in Texas schools, Texas Independence Day, March 2nd, or San Jacinto Day, April 21st, are no longer celebrated... for the same reason these kids in California got tossed out of class: people of Mexican descent might be offended. Oh, they never mention the great Texian hero, Juan Seguin, for some reason either...
Posted by: Dash Rip Van Winkle Rock   2010-05-07 18:58  

#8   many Mexican American students at Live Oak

Fixed.
Posted by: Glenmore   2010-05-07 18:35  

#7  Wonder where they picked up that phrase?

Same place Obama did: Cesar Chavez.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2010-05-07 18:07  

#6  In a way I'm somewhat relieved that Hispanic kids in the US are as ignorant of the Mexican history they profess to celebrate as all kids here are of our own.
Posted by: AzCat   2010-05-07 14:53  

#5  Except it's not a Mexican holiday. It's a state holiday in Mexico, but not a national holiday of celebration or recognition. It's about division and rule here, created to fight assimilation. My tribe against your tribe.

Let's review Mexico's own law and Article 33 of their Constitution -

"The Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.

Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country."
Posted by: Procopius2k   2010-05-07 13:46  

#4  One wonders why a US high school was celebrating a holiday whose primary purpose is to promote Corona beer.

You must have missed yesterday's comments on this:

But to many Mexican American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.

"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2010-05-07 13:30  

#3  One wonders why a US high school was celebrating a holiday whose primary purpose is to promote Corona beer.
Posted by: AzCat   2010-05-07 12:49  

#2  More than 200 Hispanic students reportedly skipped class on Thursday

How could they tell?
Posted by: gorb   2010-05-07 11:56  

#1   "si se puedes" -- "yes we can"

Wonder where they picked up that phrase?
Posted by: Besoeker   2010-05-07 11:19  

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