Cinco De Mayo And The American Flag: Why Can’t They Coexist? :(

A really ridiculous example of educational administrators using bad judgment is what happened on Wednesday in the suburbs of San Francisco.

May 5 was the celebration of Cinco De Mayo, the Mexican national holiday. There is nothing wrong with Mexican Americans celebrating their national heritage!

But a group of high school boys came to school on Wednesday wearing clothing bearing the American flag. They were ordered to remove the flag items or turn the shirts inside out to hide the flag symbol. They were threatened with suspension or being told to leave school for the day.

The story was that supposedly some Hispanic students would be affronted by the flag clothing. There was concern that there could be confrontations between Hispanic and white Anglo students.

The school apologized for the action against the white Anglo students, as well they should. One must not give in to threats or intimidation from any source!

The answer is that this situation was a perfect opportunity to promote tolerance, open mindedness and patriotism to both the Hispanic students and the Anglo students! It should not be that students are denied the right to express their patriotism just because of an ethnic holiday!

In the future, there is a need to hold assemblies for students, in which both tolerance of cultural diversity and demonstrations of patriotism by people of differing ethnic backgrounds should be seen as positive matters that do not conflict with each other’s sensitivities. These students must enter a world in which understanding and appreciation of others who are different than us is essential to promote good will and peace in our society and in the world!

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