A patriot some other day?

According to one California high school student, the five boys suspended for wearing U.S. flag images on Cinco de Mayo were in the wrong because they picked the wrong day to show patriotism.

"They can be a patriot on some other day. Not that specific day," sophomore Jessica Cortez was quoted in media reports as saying.

Worse than the whole brouhaha that school officials now have to admit that THEY themselves caused is the attitude of Miss Cortez and, apparently, others like her. Are entire generations of Americans of Hispanic heritage being raised to think of themselves as Mexicans, Spaniards, Guatamalans, Brazilians, etc. first and THEN Americans?

There was a time in American public schools when patriotism, civics, government or whatever name you want to give it was an integral part of every child's education. Students received in-depth schooling in the documents produced by the Founding Fathers, the national anthem was a no-brainer at every single sporting event, and the Pledge of Allegiance was expected to come from the mouths of every single child.

History textbooks touted the accomplishments of the men and women who made our country great, the ones who sacrificed everything, the people of color (think Harriet Tubman or George Washington Carver or Martin Luther King, Jr.) who braved the tide of bigotry and ignorance to make our society more fair for everyone.

No one contested the wording of the Pledge or argued that George Washington was being given way too much space in the history books.

That era is over and in its place we have moral relativism, wishy-washy history instruction, incomplete and, at times, downright idiotic textbooks, and a pervasive attitude among children whose ancestry is not Anglo that they should be celebrating something other than the country that gives them the best possibility to fulfill their dreams. They seem to think that being white equals being American when nothing could be further from the truth.

Who is feeding these children like Miss Cortez this crap? Who has told her that commemorating an obscure battle in a country she will likely never live in or benefit from is more important than celebrating and supporting her heritage as a child of America?

Shame on her school for silently standing by while she and her fellow Hispanic classmates left class to protest in the streets. Shame on her school for opening a can of worms that wasn't even trying to explode until officials said something on their own. Shame on the education she's receiving that either explicitly or implicitly tells her that all things are equal.

Because when it comes to America versus Mexico (or pretty much anyplace else for that matter), that's just not true.

Don't take my word for it. Look at the thousands of people who immigrate to our borders legally or not every year in search of something better. Those numbers say it all.

My ancestors hail from England, Wales, and Holland. But you'll never catch me calling myself anything but American. Why?

Because not one of them is responsible for giving me what I've had since birth -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I daresay Mexico hasn't given any of these things to Miss Cortez, either.