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.
May 7, 2010
Mexican flags, si. Jolly Ranchers, non.
Must be a phase of the moon or else the horsemen of the Apocalypse are shinin' up their saddles.
A third-grader in one of my city's local school districts has received detention for a whole week because she was caught at lunch in the possession of . . .
A PIECE OF JOLLY RANCHER CANDY!
That's right, a piece of candy. The student is all of ten years old.
The school is defending its decision based on a Texas law that prohibits minimally nutritious foods from being served to students.
The girl's parents didn't send the candy to school with her. Another child gave it to her.
The audacity of that child to share candy with a friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I could make a snarky comment about the highly touted socialization skills kids supposedly get only from public school, but I won't.)
The student will be separated from her peers at lunch and recess for a week. (Still biting back my urge to snark . . .)
A third-grader in one of my city's local school districts has received detention for a whole week because she was caught at lunch in the possession of . . .
A PIECE OF JOLLY RANCHER CANDY!
That's right, a piece of candy. The student is all of ten years old.
The school is defending its decision based on a Texas law that prohibits minimally nutritious foods from being served to students.
The girl's parents didn't send the candy to school with her. Another child gave it to her.
The audacity of that child to share candy with a friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I could make a snarky comment about the highly touted socialization skills kids supposedly get only from public school, but I won't.)
The student will be separated from her peers at lunch and recess for a week. (Still biting back my urge to snark . . .)
Texas, California -- It's all the same to me
Looks like the Cinco de Mayo madness has leached out of California and made its way to the little community of Klein, TX just up the road a piece from where I live.
A student was suspended for three days for yanking down a large Mexican flag his high school had prominently displayed for the 5th of May holiday.
I don't condone willful destruction of property, and I don't think schools ought to let anarchy rule the day, either.
But I do question the school's decision to put the flag up in the first place. In California, students wearing U.S. flag shirts were deemed "incendiary" and were suspended. Ironic.
In Klein, it was the Mexican flag and the student who made it go away was suspended. Irony heaped up high.
Public schools across the country would do well to remember two things: They are in the United States of America and they are paid for entirely by U.S. taxpayers and the taxpayers in their respective states.
Fly the American flag always. Fly the flag of your state always. Honor the people who make your jobs, your facilities, your raison d' etre possible.
Save foreign flags for international festivals or focused in-class cultural studies, and if you're going to put up a big flag of another country know that someone at some point is going to demand you put up a flag of theirs.
Israeli flag for Hanukkah? I think we should.
Saudi Arabian or Iranian flag for Ramadan? Why not?
Confederate flag for Robert E. Lee's birthday? Won't happen unless you live in backwoods Mississippi but it's an intriguing idea nonetheless.
Indian flag for Diwali? You betcha, if only to honor the culture that has brought us the beautiful sari, Bollywood, and my favorite Indian dish chana masala with raita and hot naan on the side.
It'll be interesting to see what the school in Klein does to explain away its foray into the world of political correctness. Even more interesting will be its defense of its school motto, "Excellence Without Compromise."
A student was suspended for three days for yanking down a large Mexican flag his high school had prominently displayed for the 5th of May holiday.
I don't condone willful destruction of property, and I don't think schools ought to let anarchy rule the day, either.
But I do question the school's decision to put the flag up in the first place. In California, students wearing U.S. flag shirts were deemed "incendiary" and were suspended. Ironic.
In Klein, it was the Mexican flag and the student who made it go away was suspended. Irony heaped up high.
Public schools across the country would do well to remember two things: They are in the United States of America and they are paid for entirely by U.S. taxpayers and the taxpayers in their respective states.
Fly the American flag always. Fly the flag of your state always. Honor the people who make your jobs, your facilities, your raison d' etre possible.
Save foreign flags for international festivals or focused in-class cultural studies, and if you're going to put up a big flag of another country know that someone at some point is going to demand you put up a flag of theirs.
Israeli flag for Hanukkah? I think we should.
Saudi Arabian or Iranian flag for Ramadan? Why not?
Confederate flag for Robert E. Lee's birthday? Won't happen unless you live in backwoods Mississippi but it's an intriguing idea nonetheless.
Indian flag for Diwali? You betcha, if only to honor the culture that has brought us the beautiful sari, Bollywood, and my favorite Indian dish chana masala with raita and hot naan on the side.
It'll be interesting to see what the school in Klein does to explain away its foray into the world of political correctness. Even more interesting will be its defense of its school motto, "Excellence Without Compromise."
What he said
On the heels of the recently-declared-unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, I offer up this quote from former U.S. House Speaker Robert Winthrop circa 1850:
"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."
The way things seem to be going, the bayonet (figuratively speaking, of course) seems to be gaining the upper hand.
"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."
The way things seem to be going, the bayonet (figuratively speaking, of course) seems to be gaining the upper hand.
May 6, 2010
And now for the Jesus cartoon. . .
There's really no point in asking for a halt to the madness. In fact, I'm actually pondering the worth of finishing this 'blog post. True to form, though, once I start something I like to complete it so I'll go on and gripe about the NEXT slap in the face of those who either love our country or profess the Christian faith -- or both. (Two for ones are highly coveted but harder to achieve.)
Turns out the creators of the intellectually deficient adult cartoon South Park have tired of trying to pick on the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Now they've turned their sights to a much less aggressive bunch.
That's right. They're gonna make a cartoon about Jesus Christ and it's gonna be offensive.
From the Hollywood Reporter.com site comes this:
Turns out the creators of the intellectually deficient adult cartoon South Park have tired of trying to pick on the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Now they've turned their sights to a much less aggressive bunch.
That's right. They're gonna make a cartoon about Jesus Christ and it's gonna be offensive.
From the Hollywood Reporter.com site comes this:
May 05, 2010
Comedy Central developing Jesus Christ cartoon
Comedy Central might censor every image of the Prophet Muhammad on "South Park," yet the network is developing a whole animated series around Jesus Christ.
In the show, God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ, "the ultimate fish out of water," tries to adjust to life in the big city.
"In general, comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable," said Comedy Central's head of original programming Kent Alterman.
When asked if the show might draw some fire, especially coming on the heels of the network's decision to censor the Muslim faith's religious figure on "South Park," Alterman said its too early in the show's development to be concerned about such matters.
"We don't even know what the show is yet," he said.
Like all Comedy Central executives, Alterman declined to address the recent controversy over "South Park," where the network aired a heavily redacted episode after the show's creators were threatened by an extremist Islamic Web site.
"JC" is produced by Reveille ("The Office"), Henrik Basin, Brian Boyle ("American Dad"), Jonathan Sjoberg and Andreas Ohman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)