Students Kicked Off Campus for Wearing American Flag Tees

[Intrepidation]

By George Kiriyama

NBCBayArea.com

updated 35 minutes ago

On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population.

Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal's office.

"They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."

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The boys said the administrators called their T-shirts "incendiary" that would lead to fights on campus.

"They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended," Dominic Maciel, Galli's friend, said.

The boys really had no choice, and went home to avoid suspension. They say they're angry they were not allowed to express their American pride. Their parents are just as upset, calling what happened to their children, "total nonsense."

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel's mom, said. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They're expressing their individuality."

But to many Mexican-American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.

"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."

As for an apology, the boys and their families say, 'fat chance.'

"I'm not going to apologize. I did nothing wrong," Galli said. "I went along with my normal day. I might have worn an American flag, but I'm an American and I'm proud to be an American."

The five boys and their families met with a Morgan Hill Unified School District official Wednesday night. The district and the school do not see eye-to-eye on the incident and released the following statement:

The district does not concur with the Live Oak High School administration's interpretation of either board or district policy related to these actions.

The boys will not be suspended and were allowed to return to school Thursday. We spotted one of them when he got to campus -- and, yes, he was sporting an American flag T-shirt.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36981179?GT1=43001

[AAS]

I can understand people observing a foreign holiday within the ethnic community and I can understand a public institution supporting public observation, but it (the holiday) being foreign means that not everybody observes it and those that don't shouldn't be punished. I can see why these kids might have worn that stuff (to piss off foreigners) and why they got sent home (for their protection), but the foreigners can't expect to have their holiday 'protected' in a sense.

[Robert Hall]

Impressions: something very wrong about this.

I hear Cinco de Mayo is not a big deal in Mexico, not a major holiday the way it's percieved here.

Personally, I'd never wear a flag on a T-shirt..seems tacky to me. (though I do have a couple old concert t-shirts that have designs that sort of have the Union Jack).

[Intrepidation]

What country are you in? America

Do you have a problem with people wearing the American flag? Yes? Well then you're free to go back to your country since you like it so much.

[CSpec]

This is pretty ridiculous, though I would suspect there's more to this story than initial media reports suggest.

[balthazar]

^^ San Fran Bay area = nuff said.

-- -- -- -- --

>>"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, we have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."<<

[vonVeezelsnider]

Puts me in mind of an incident that happened up here a couple of years ago where there were some students at Mount Royal University (the crosstown rival of where I go to school) here in Calgary who lobbied and succeeded in getting the great big Canadian flag that hung in the student center removed- on the grounds that it is a symbol of oppression and exclusion. This led to a school-wide referendum on whether or not the flag should be flown at all in Student Union buildings. Then the media got wind of this and it became a national news story and the school got so much negative feedback and public pressure that they decided to put a new flag up, but the compromise is that is was only 1/4 the size of the old one.

The world has gone nuts.

[the_yellow_dart]

I don't understand this....

If they were wearing t-shirts that disrespected the Mexican flag or Mexicans, then okay, I understand what the school's on about. The comparison to the 4th of July is apt - what would be wrong with a Mexican student wearing a Mexican flag on the 4th of July? Sure, they might get beat up, but is it the school's place to tell them that is wrong? No.

[balthazar]

The irony of Mexican students... in AMERICA... feeling "offended" by the flag of AMERICA... boggles the mind. You know where the border is- feel free to leave for a place you can 'not be offended' day after day.

[Nick]

This is absurd. There is absolutely no justification for this.