American...Banned?

 

For the first time in ages, I read a news article that truly had me at a loss for words. Seriously, I sat in stunned silence for nearly an hour, absorbing what I just read with shock, disgust and outrage. As with any real story, I thought about much more than the content therein. I thought long into the night about the dangerous precedent it can set.  My offense at the story gave way to fear, fear of a precedent that is a huge tear in the fabric of what made this once-great nation great. In addition, I was saddened that I heard of the story three weeks after it broke. Apparently, the national media was more concerned with some hip-hop artist who was fighting with his in-laws. 

American students, on American soil, were banned from displaying an American Flag. Yes, you read that right and is my hope that you are as shocked as I was.

Now, let’s get into the story. The school where this took place is Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California.  On May the 5^th, school administrators were afraid of gang violence erupting as it had in the past. Apparently, some gang members had taken offense to the American Flag and committed acts of aggression on students who displayed the flag. Try as I might, I cannot understand why a court and a school district would choose to honor the desires of a gang member. Attacking someone displaying an American Flag is something that should not go unpunished but rather than punish the offenders and take a pro-active approach to ending gang violence, more rules were laid out. And I think we are all well aware what happens when making new rules is the only solution offered rather than enforcing the rules already in place.

The United States has always been known as a melting pot and although we are taught to appreciate all cultures, we are slowly but surely demonizing any show of pride in our own. Students flying the American Flag were accused of racial insensitivity, yet gang members who attacked those students were given sympathy and told they would not have to see the flag on their special holiday. Something is very, very wrong here.

If you have the inclination, look over your social networking newsfeeds and count the number of people who mentioned celebrating Cinco de Mayo earlier this month. Compare that to how many people talk about celebrating DRINKO de Mayo. To many, the only significance of drinko, I mean “Cinco” de Mayo is what country their beer comes from and what type of silly hat they wear.

After that, ask yourself how many of those people know what the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo is and its real impact on the United States. The battle took place during the American Civil War. And while history books (the same ones that tell us Christopher Columbus is worthy of the reverence awarded men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln) will tell us that it was a vital battle in the Mexican struggle for independence; we are not told that France invaded Mexico out of a desire to use our southern neighbor as a staging ground in hopes of supporting the Confederacy. It is hard to imagine what this country would look like had the French succeeded. I don’t like to think of what the outcome at Gettysburg would have been if the Union was fighting two armies instead of one.

 If a flag of ANY nation was banned from being flown on say, Memorial Day or the Fourth of July; you can bet there would be a national outrage. Yet banning the American flag was deemed appropriate. This is one of the most disgusting examples of double standards I’ve ever had the displeasure to witness

If a student is called racist for flying the Red, White and Blue, does this mean every Marine who fought at Iwo Jima is a racist? After all, they kind of had a dislike for the Japanese. And on that note, every yea our government issues an official apology to Japan for winning World War II yet we never hear that the Japanese committed atrocities that would make Hitler look like a schoolyard bully pushing a kid off the swing set. But that’s a rant for another time.

With most issues, if there is a positive resolution; it will be laid t to rest and put behind us.

 

If left unresolved, it will raise even more questions. The questions this story raised for me are what flag did Chesty Puller fight for? Which flag did my grandfather serve twenty two years under in the United States Navy? What flag did Dory Miller die for? If you ask the 9^th circuit Court and the administrators at Morgan Hill High School, their answer is “Not the one that matters.”
If anyone needs to contact me, you can find me over at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. I’ll be the guy with a bottle of Windex in one hand and a roll of paper towels in the other, wiping the brown stains off of the graves…