Don't wear the American Flag on your shirt in California schools, you might offend the Mexicans.

[orangeban]

It would be like me going down to Mexico and saying "please remove all instances of the Mexican flag, I find it offensive while I am staying here in Mexico" which is absolutly ridiculous.

First, you are missing the point. Nobody ever banned the US flag. The school asked two particular students, during only one particular day, to change T-shirts because they had a history of harrasing mexican students using the US flag. It was only a matter related to the specific use of a piece of clothing by two students. It could have been pink T-shirts, it would have been the same thing. The offense was in the use of the clothing under specific circonstances, not in the fact that the clothing displayed the US flag.
As far as the rest of the flags in the schools are concerned, they stayed where they were, for what we know.

And as far of the display of the flags on pieces of clothing, it is precisely forbidden by the flag code so it should be banned on any clothing altogether if people are to use the US flag properly, but it's another matter.

The actual issue is that we've gotten so out of control on the liberties front, that this kind of complaint became viable, and now we see people trying to exploit it in order to get attention.

No. Check your facts. Nobody "complained" (not even the mexicans for what we know). The only "complaint" in this case is from the kids who were wearing the flags and their parents.

For people visiting the country from outside, those that are here on a temporary basis are being even worse about it since they are guests. We're nice enough to let them use our schools and actually stay here for a while while they do whatever it is they want to do, they shouldn't be crying about us wearing our own flag. [...]
With those who aren't citizens, and are somehow using our schools, it's even more straighforward. You don't even have the issue of having to remove citizenship, they need an impromptu ride back to the border and a heave over it. Nothing they could be doing here in any way justifies saying we can't fly our own flag for fear of offending them. If we bother them so much, then by all means they can GTFO.

No, it's not "We're nice enough to let them stay". They have the right to travel and stay in the US under international law as a basic human right. Now, that's a right that is controled and knows some limitations under the juridiction of the US governement, but don't be so fond of your country as to think that it is a priviledge. It's an act of reciprocity with their country of origin which in exchange let american stay.
And by the way, they are using not "your" schools, but schools that happend to be located in the US and for which they pay for.

Also remember that the soil of a country do not "belong" to it. It is the territory on which the State exerts its sovereignty, which means that if the State decided to give the right to someone to live there, his right to be there is as good and valid as the right of anyone born in the US.

And as far as "removing citizenship" is concerned, it's an idea as antiamerican as it can be. Take another look at what's written on the west facade of the US supreme court building and think about it... And remember that if all immigrants in the US had to loose their citizenship, you would also loose it.

If they are citizens, this is their country... period. Arguements about how "We don't like the US acting like it's better than our country" pretty much shows that they aren't properly assimilated into America. If they want to be Mexican, they belong in Mexico

Again, we are talking about mexican international students, not citizens. And even americans shouldn't act like that.
And no, they can be Mexican and live in the US. That's called permanent residence, and it's often required for work... because you may not have experienced it, but we actually happen to live in a globalized world where we are required to work all over the world...

You may just be my new favourite person. That is the logical and well thought out answer this thread has been crying for. Good show.

 

[OneTwoThreeBlast]

OP: great job purposely excluding key parts of the story in order to make it seem like this was a simple case of a school merely asking students not to display the flag. Judging from the responses, you did an excellent job of convincing people that it was just that. Maybe next time you'll feel confident enough in your views to give people the entire story and still trust that they will side with you.

Now, a few points:

1. People in this country have a fundamental misunderstanding of "free speech." You are not free to say anything you want anywhere you want to say it. See Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick. This leads to my second point

2. While the OP purposely left out a key part of the article in order to mislead as many people as possible, the article notes that, "The previous year, in 2009, a group of Mexican students marked the holiday by walking around campus holding a Mexican flag. A group of white students responded by hanging a makeshift American flag from a tree and chanting "USA." According to the Chronicle, tensions flared and the two groups faced off with profanity and threats. Little wonder that when some students showed up at school wearing T-shirts with American flags on them administrators decided to err on the side of caution.

Now, to simplify part of the Morse v. Frederick opinion, a key element in deciding whether a school was within its rights in a case such as this is whether or not the government had a "compelling interest" in stopping the activity targeted. Though the OP conveniently left out the true reasoning behind the school's decision, it appears that this reasoning would and should hold up in court. The school has a compelling interest in stopping violence and ethnic strife on school grounds. It's as simple as that.

3. This school has never before tried to stop students from wearing shirts with the flag on it, and there has not been a report of them ever doing so again. They did it this one time, and they did it not because it was Cinco de Mayo; not because it was necessarily an American flag; not because it wants to stop expressions of patriotism; but simply because, due to a previous incident, it foresaw violence. It thought this violence possible not because these students were expressing partriotism, but because they were building off a previous incident by attempting to rekindle hatred between the two groups.

4. Again, the purpose of these shirts was not to express patriotism. Unfortunately, to understand this, you have to read the article for yourself instead of relying on the OP here.

I have no problem with expressions of patriotism, nor does my country or government. However, when the flag is being used in an effort to spark hatred between two groups and attempt to hurt another ethnic group -- something that works against the very foundation of our democracy and immigrant-built country -- I do have a problem with it. Everyone else should as well.

EDIT: Most of these comments are basically, "they were wearing the flag simply to show patriotism in their own country and that is free speech even though it can offend others etc. etc." I imagine that most of the people saying this would understand that this was not the case and change their views accordingly if they read the full story. Because I agree with them in theory: If it's merely to show patriotism, it's fine; if it's to incite violence/ethnic strife, it's not.

 

[Patrick Buck]

Welcome to the modern world. Everything offends someone. But the stupid thing is, most of the time it offends people who have nothing to do with it, becasue they think it MIGHT offend someone else, so they take it as a moral obligation to become offended themselves.

LOGIC.

 

[Patrick Buck]

OP: great job purposely excluding key parts of the story in order to make it seem like this was a simple case of a school merely asking students not to display the flag. Judging from the responses, you did an excellent job of convincing people that it was just that. Maybe next time you'll feel confident enough in your views to give people the entire story and still trust that they will side with you.

Now, a few points:

1. People in this country have a fundamental misunderstanding of "free speech." You are not free to say anything you want anywhere you want to say it. See Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick. This leads to my second point

2. While the OP purposely left out a key part of the article in order to mislead as many people as possible, the article notes that, "The previous year, in 2009, a group of Mexican students marked the holiday by walking around campus holding a Mexican flag. A group of white students responded by hanging a makeshift American flag from a tree and chanting "USA." According to the Chronicle, tensions flared and the two groups faced off with profanity and threats. Little wonder that when some students showed up at school wearing T-shirts with American flags on them administrators decided to err on the side of caution.

Now, to simplify part of the Morse v. Frederick opinion, a key element in deciding whether a school was within its rights in a case such as this is whether or not the government had a "compelling interest" in stopping the activity targeted. Though the OP conveniently left out the true reasoning behind the school's decision, it appears that this reasoning would and should hold up in court. The school has a compelling interest in stopping violence and ethnic strife on school grounds. It's as simple as that.

3. This school has never before tried to stop students from wearing shirts with the flag on it, and there has not been a report of them ever doing so again. They did it this one time, and they did it not because it was Cinco de Mayo; not because it was necessarily an American flag; not because it wants to stop expressions of patriotism; but simply because, due to a previous incident, it foresaw violence. It thought this violence possible not because these students were expressing partriotism, but because they were building off a previous incident by attempting to rekindle hatred between the two groups.

4. Again, the purpose of these shirts was not to express patriotism. Unfortunately, to understand this, you have to read the article for yourself instead of relying on the OP here.

I have no problem with expressions of patriotism, nor does my country or government. However, when the flag is being used in an effort to spark hatred between two groups and attempt to hurt another ethnic group -- something that works against the very foundation of our democracy and immigrant-built country -- I do have a problem with it. Everyone else should as well.

EDIT: reading through these comments, it makes me really sad when I see just how many people can be misled by one person purposefully trying to skew opinions by leaving out relevant facts. People need to do research (e.g. read the article) on their own, rather than rely on others. Most of these comments are basically, "they were wearing the flag simply to show patriotism in their own country and that is free speech even though it can offend others etc. etc." I imagine that most of the people saying this would understand that this was not the case and change their views accordingly if they read the full story. Why? Because I agree with them in theory. If it's merely to show patriotism, it's fine. If it's to incite violence/ethnic strife, it's not.

Wow. Good job OP.
Tricking all of us. I feel i bit stupid now....

 

[tehroc]

Putting the flag on a t-shirt is a desecration. American flag is never to touch the ground but I bet rednecks will just throw their shirt to the ground and not treat it respectably.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

(Face palm) Sometimes I hate people. I really do. Are people nowadays really that thin-skinned?

Capcha:

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TYPE THAT!?!?

 

[WOPR]

*snip*

This is the same state where you get suspended for wearing a Green Day shirt because it has a grenade on it; but wearing boots with pot leafs printed all over them it perfectly alright (yes I live in Humboldt).

So yeah, pretty screwed up state... I'm not surprised.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

You should definatly think about stopping jacking of on stars and stripes at every corner of every city. The obsession with that rag is really kinda strange.

 

[winter2]

* SNIP *

It's also in the Flag Code, which is strictly voluntary, but I wonder if any of these alleged patriots have ever read it.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general

I have often wondered that myself. I get annoyed when I see people wearing the flag as a clothing item. Really? You are going to get your sweat and dirt all over the flag?

 

[Chaos Inverse]

* SNIP *

It's also in the Flag Code, which is strictly voluntary, but I wonder if any of these alleged patriots have ever read it.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general

I have often wondered that myself. I get annoyed when I see people wearing the flag as a clothing item. Really? You are going to get your sweat and dirt all over the flag?

I could be wrong in my interpretation, but I believe that applies specifically to an actual flag, not a shirt. As in you can't use it as a cape or make it into a shirt.

 

[WeAreStevo]

Spoiler

Oh yeah, I wore a Gravity Kills T-shirt the day of the 9/11 attacks. I and another person wearing a shirt with a plane on it received flak as if my taste in music and his wardrobe malfunction were malicious in intent. These things happen and even if the intent is not genuinely malicious, you must have the common sense to be polite enough to turn your shirt inside out with or without being asked by a school figure.

Totally.

I wore a trench coat to school the day after Colombine and I got searched by the police on the way into school. I also was told that I could not wear it on school grounds.

Hell, more recently while in England coming back to the US my friend was asked to turn his Vandals shirt inside out because it had a picture of an AK-47. They said it would possibly "incite violence."

This kind of stuff happens all the time. I didn't complain, I understood why they were upset. I think people just hear "Mexican" and get completely bent out of shape

Hahahh, one of my buddies was searched and had his Metallica Kill Em All and I believe a Pantera CD confiscated after the Columbine shootings as he fit the demographic of "non preppy" at his school. As an inconvenience as it may be to the innocent the public schools do have to do their job to prevent conflict among students and, you know, shootings and such.

Exactly! See, there's my point in this current situation. Seeing the response from the American Students when the Mexican students carried a Mexican flag, I feel that the school was simply covering their ass to prevent future conflicts.

What I don't understand is that in the incidents that both you and I expressed, we said "ok cool.." and complied.

People are all up in arms because the incident included a foreign nationality and the American flag. Then the best of our xenophobic responses come out as a result...

 

[Varrdy]

If I were to go to Great Britain and demand that the British flag be covered because it might offend me on the 4th of July, it would cause an uproar.

Oh don't panic mate, we've already had that shit here for years! Flying the St. George Cross or Union Flag is "uninclusive" and "opressive" at best and "fascism" and "racist" at worst. People are constantly told not to flap the flag around in case it offends the Muslim down the road...I would put good money on a bet that the offended minority in question either doesn't exist or couldn't give a flying fart.

One thing I liked very much about the 'States on the two occasions I visited was that, misplaced or not, people flew the flag and did it proudly. And how moved was I when I got to the house I was to be a guest at to find the Union Flag flying on the small flagpole outside? VERY! Putting aside the fact I was very moved by the sentiment, I was glad to see the bullshit we suffer here wasn't an issue in the USA.

Quite frankly the whole idea of not flying your country's flag is bollocks. As I said, I would bet a lot on the fact that the minorities it's supposed to offend really couldn't give a fuck and were not offended at all.

And what if it did? Tough nookies! I didn't expect any special concession when I went to Germany - I just ate my bratwurst, drank my wheat beer (quite a lot of it!) and enjoyed!

Fly your flag and bollocks to anyone who says you shouldn't!

Wardy

 

[WeAreStevo]

*snip*

This is the same state where you get suspended for wearing a Green Day shirt because it has a grenade on it; but wearing boots with pot leafs printed all over them it perfectly alright (yes I live in Humboldt).

So yeah, pretty screwed up state... I'm not surprised.

Well...one is a drug, the other is violent imagery, so I can somewhat understand...

Although I think it's subjective to Humboldt County because I wore a Pantera shirt in HS that had a huge pot leaf on it and was asked to turn it inside out, yet I wore a GWAR shirt with this:

Spoiler

on it and it was ok.

I lived in the Bay Area too, so I think it's entirely up to the school and the officials.

However, as with all my previous points on here, these are not terribly comparative to this situation unless you're measuring appropriate response. In my previous yet similar stories of wearing a pot leaf shirt, a trenchcoat after colombine, a Vandals shirt in an Airport with an AK-47 on it, these were isolated incidents.

In the story, the Mexican students walked around with a mexican flag and the American students made a makeshift American flag and chanted USA! USA! at the other students. This was clearly an act of aggression towards Mexico and I'm assuming the current immigration debate. I'd put down money that if it was a Canadian flag, a British flag, a Greek flag etc. that there would be no response by the American students.

Then, after this escalation between the groups, those same American students knowingly wore American flag shirts on Cinco De Mayo (most likely to incite the same ire from the Mexican students) and then play the victim card saying "but this is our country!!!"

Just because this is our country and that is our flag doesn't allow them to utilize our imagery in order to harass and express xenophobic views carte blanche.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

The previous year, in 2009, a group of Mexican students marked the holiday by walking around campus holding a Mexican flag. A group of white students responded by hanging a makeshift American flag from a tree and chanting "USA." According to the Chronicle, tensions flared and the two groups faced off with profanity and threats.

The article directly implies that the two incidents are linked and also implies that the students are of that variety.

Also responding to your post about your Irish ancestry, how would it feel to have a group of marchers going into a St. Patrick's Day Parade flying the Union Jack?

So this wasn't an isolated event, and it's likely that the school believed that another escalation would ensue.

As a Mexican-American I wouldn't be offended if someone wore an American Flag on Cinco de Mayo. I would be somewhat vexed if someone went around singing this:


And sadly hardly anyone would know why.

Hahaha, yeah. During high school our history teacher went around the classroom went and asked who knows what Cinco De Mayo commemorates. Most of us thought it was the day Mexico became independent from Spain. Sadly, as a Chinese-American I believed the same.

 

[CODE-D]

This is why aliens wont visit us.(the space kind)

 

[Therumancer]

It would be like me going down to Mexico and saying "please remove all instances of the Mexican flag, I find it offensive while I am staying here in Mexico" which is absolutly ridiculous.

First, you are missing the point. Nobody ever banned the US flag. The school asked two particular students, during only one particular day, to change T-shirts because they had a history of harrasing mexican students using the US flag. It was only a matter related to the specific use of a piece of clothing by two students. It could have been pink T-shirts, it would have been the same thing. The offense was in the use of the clothing under specific circonstances, not in the fact that the clothing displayed the US flag.
As far as the rest of the flags in the schools are concerned, they stayed where they were, for what we know.

And as far of the display of the flags on pieces of clothing, it is precisely forbidden by the flag code so it should be banned on any clothing altogether if people are to use the US flag properly, but it's another matter.

The actual issue is that we've gotten so out of control on the liberties front, that this kind of complaint became viable, and now we see people trying to exploit it in order to get attention.

No. Check your facts. Nobody "complained" (not even the mexicans for what we know). The only "complaint" in this case is from the kids who were wearing the flags and their parents.

For people visiting the country from outside, those that are here on a temporary basis are being even worse about it since they are guests. We're nice enough to let them use our schools and actually stay here for a while while they do whatever it is they want to do, they shouldn't be crying about us wearing our own flag. [...]
With those who aren't citizens, and are somehow using our schools, it's even more straighforward. You don't even have the issue of having to remove citizenship, they need an impromptu ride back to the border and a heave over it. Nothing they could be doing here in any way justifies saying we can't fly our own flag for fear of offending them. If we bother them so much, then by all means they can GTFO.

No, it's not "We're nice enough to let them stay". They have the right to travel and stay in the US under international law as a basic human right. Now, that's a right that is controled and knows some limitations under the juridiction of the US governement, but don't be so fond of your country as to think that it is a priviledge. It's an act of reciprocity with their country of origin which in exchange let american stay.
And by the way, they are using not "your" schools, but schools that happend to be located in the US and for which they pay for.

Also remember that the soil of a country do not "belong" to it. It is the territory on which the State exerts its sovereignty, which means that if the State decided to give the right to someone to live there, his right to be there is as good and valid as the right of anyone born in the US.

And as far as "removing citizenship" is concerned, it's an idea as antiamerican as it can be. Take another look at what's written on the west facade of the US supreme court building and think about it... And remember that if all immigrants in the US had to loose their citizenship, you would also loose it.

If they are citizens, this is their country... period. Arguements about how "We don't like the US acting like it's better than our country" pretty much shows that they aren't properly assimilated into America. If they want to be Mexican, they belong in Mexico

Again, we are talking about mexican international students, not citizens. And even americans shouldn't act like that.
And no, they can be Mexican and live in the US. That's called permanent residence, and it's often required for work... because you may not have experienced it, but we actually happen to live in a globalized world where we are required to work all over the world...

You may just be my new favourite person. That is the logical and well thought out answer this thread has been crying for. Good show.

Actually if someone in authority says you cannot wear the US flag and prevents you from doing it, under any pretensions, that's a ban. Perhaps a limited ban, but a ban none the less.

It is not a basic human right to come into someone's country and do whatever you want, nations have the right to control their borders and set laws and policies, which people have to follow or risk penelties including being thrown out of the country.

Removing the citizenship of people is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. Nobody is talking about removing it from ALL immigrants, merely those that do not assimilate into the US. I believe fully in giving anyone who wants to come here a chance, but it is possible to blow that chance by not fitting in to become an American, by doing things like say favoring your parent nation and it's customs over the one you are making pretensions of wanting to join. The US is not an international "meals on wheels" people should not be coming here simply for the benefits they can gain from it, they should be coming here to become Americans, if they do not want to, then they should GTFO, if you want to be a Mexican, Chinese, Korean, etc... so badly, then stay in those countries, if you insist on favoring that culture once you come here then that's why we need to be able to remove citizenship and deport people.

Honestly the removing of citizenship is not the really nasty part of what I suggest in of itself, after all in the worst case scenario it amounts to putting people on probation for a few generations. For the people coming into the country fresh, it's pretty straightforward. For the people who were/are born here it's a worse case because they face more of a general exile and wind up with no country to call their own, being told pretty much "we don't want you, go anywhere you want but here".

That said, right now the current laws and policies favor your point of view. I simply think they need to be changed. We can argue the spirit of American until your blue in the face, but the bottom line is things aren't working, and the country is increasingly in a shambles above and beyond this paticular incident. Like it or not things do need to change, and the US needs to start acting in it's own interests. I'm of the opinion that not only should we start getting more hardcore about the immigrants that are here, but no matter what might be engraved in various places in the country, we need to shut down immigration entirely. We can barely support the people here now and are falling behind without taking in more people that have absolutly nothing. It's one thing to give charity when you can afford it, which we could in better times, it's another when your economy is already on the verge of breaking. Really, anything that gets rid of people, especially those on the bottom rungs of society that are trouble makes or are not contributing is a good thing, that might be evil and draconian, but it's a simple fact. Getting rid of the people who don't really want to be Americans and object to things like the display of our flag is a place to start before you have to start weighing even more ambigious questions.

 

[Therumancer]

OP: great job purposely excluding key parts of the story in order to make it seem like this was a simple case of a school merely asking students not to display the flag. Judging from the responses, you did an excellent job of convincing people that it was just that. Maybe next time you'll feel confident enough in your views to give people the entire story and still trust that they will side with you.

Now, a few points:

1. People in this country have a fundamental misunderstanding of "free speech." You are not free to say anything you want anywhere you want to say it. See Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick. This leads to my second point

2. While the OP purposely left out a key part of the article in order to mislead as many people as possible, the article notes that, "The previous year, in 2009, a group of Mexican students marked the holiday by walking around campus holding a Mexican flag. A group of white students responded by hanging a makeshift American flag from a tree and chanting "USA." According to the Chronicle, tensions flared and the two groups faced off with profanity and threats. Little wonder that when some students showed up at school wearing T-shirts with American flags on them administrators decided to err on the side of caution.

Now, to simplify part of the Morse v. Frederick opinion, a key element in deciding whether a school was within its rights in a case such as this is whether or not the government had a "compelling interest" in stopping the activity targeted. Though the OP conveniently left out the true reasoning behind the school's decision, it appears that this reasoning would and should hold up in court. The school has a compelling interest in stopping violence and ethnic strife on school grounds. It's as simple as that.

3. This school has never before tried to stop students from wearing shirts with the flag on it, and there has not been a report of them ever doing so again. They did it this one time, and they did it not because it was Cinco de Mayo; not because it was necessarily an American flag; not because it wants to stop expressions of patriotism; but simply because, due to a previous incident, it foresaw violence. It thought this violence possible not because these students were expressing partriotism, but because they were building off a previous incident by attempting to rekindle hatred between the two groups.

4. Again, the purpose of these shirts was not to express patriotism. Unfortunately, to understand this, you have to read the article for yourself instead of relying on the OP here.

I have no problem with expressions of patriotism, nor does my country or government. However, when the flag is being used in an effort to spark hatred between two groups and attempt to hurt another ethnic group -- something that works against the very foundation of our democracy and immigrant-built country -- I do have a problem with it. Everyone else should as well.

EDIT: Most of these comments are basically, "they were wearing the flag simply to show patriotism in their own country and that is free speech even though it can offend others etc. etc." I imagine that most of the people saying this would understand that this was not the case and change their views accordingly if they read the full story. Because I agree with them in theory: If it's merely to show patriotism, it's fine; if it's to incite violence/ethnic strife, it's not.

If displaying the flag of your own country can spark hatred and violence within that country that is a problem with the people being offended, not with the display of the flag.

Understand that the fundemental issue here is a bunch of students wanting to celebrate a foreign holiday, that has anti-American undertones in it's current form, even if the actual holiday and it's meaning do not. They are upset because they identify as Mexican, and do not want to see the flag of the country they happen to be in, and are allegedly citizens of (or even worse are the guests off and receiving an education) displayed for that reason.

Otherwise your correct about free speech to an extent. The actual issue here however comes down to rulings saying that students do not have the full protection of the law, and schools can do things that would violate their civil liberties, including forms of free speech that would be protected for adults. Outside of a school, this issue would likely not have been upheld.

 

[Therumancer]

EDIT: I removed this post. I need to escape this thread before I get banned again.

OT: OP manipulated many people into thinking in the way he wanted. Wonderful manipulation, OP, I take my hat off to you!

Other people have been racist, getting dragged into this will not end well. I advise anyone who actually read the article to leave.

Ahhh, I wondered what happened to the post I was looking to quote and respond to.

To answer your general question though I'm 36 and have read the article. As far as I'm concerned anyone in authority preventing someone from displaying the flag successfully is instituting and enforcing a ban, perhaps a limited one, but still a ban.

I'd wonder if you are aware that this is NOT the first time this issue has come up. One of the reasons I am so militant about it is that we have been dealing with this several years now come Cinco Del Mayo.

Here is one article dealing with last year, around this time, in this case however the kid in question wound up winning and getting an escort from some bikers back to his school.

http://usridernews.com/2010/11/16/bikers-escort-boy-to-school-to-protest-flag-ban/

The point being that this is not an isolated incident, many schools are trying to ban students from displaying the US flag during this holiday for fears of offending Mexicans who do not identify with the US.

This paticular celebration was not inherantly anti-American until recently, but has become a sort of blunt object used by Mexicans to attack the US both here and abroad. It's gone from it's original intent into something else. Here is a basic run down of what the holiday is supposed to be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_del_Mayo

In short it's been accepted in the US due to the simple fact that it can be acknowleged that the battles in question benefitted the United States. Likewise the intent was for it to be celebrated similarly to Saint Parick's day or Oktoberfest.

Since 2005 when it was accept however the holiday has been becoming increasingly militant and anti-US, with the complaints about the US flag, and similar things. One of the reasons why it's confused with Mexican independance day is that it's increasingly been turned into a celebration of Mexicans being better than everyone else. Rather than focusing on the cultural aspects, it's been focusing on the NATIONAL and political aspects, and demonstrating how many Mexicans in the US, despite having citizenship, are Mexicans first and foremost and have little support for the US other than what benefits they can personally accrue from the higher standard of living present here.

If it was a case of people wearing little sombraros or sarapes or whatever similar to wearing a Shamrock on Saint Patrick's day, and maybe having tacos for lunch, and a bit of stuff on TV and in classrooms talking about Mexico it would be one thing, but when it goes so far as to a fear of violence leading to schools routinely trying to stop the display of the US flag, that's a problem. Personally I feel the issue goes well beyond these incidents, to a problem with mexican immigrants and legally visiting labours in general, with this celebration simply being an excuse to cause even more problems, hence my comments about repealing citizenship and tossing people who don't want to be culturally American out of the country. Simply put if you love Mexico that much, and favor it over the US, then you really belong in Mexico. This same thing can be applied to immigrants in general where there are similar kinds of issues... while it goes beyond the context of this arguement I look towards things like Chinatown districts and similar things where problems like this also occur, albiet on a smaller scale that rarely gets this level of national attention.