The students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill have had a very busy week. It seems five students wore T-shirts to school depicting the American flag on May 5. Why was that a problem? Because it was Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday and the assistant principal decided that wearing the American flag might be offensive to some Hispanic students, causing violence to erupt in the school. The principal asked the five students wearing the American flag to turn their T-shirts inside out for the day. At least one student responded that he thought it would be disrespectful to the flag to do so. That is when the assistant principal sent those five students home.
What should the assistant principal have done? I think I know how my uncle, who was an award-winning teacher and principal would have handled it. He would have summoned everyone to the auditorium, and then he would have called to the stage the students with the American and Mexican flag T-shirts. He would have encouraged them to talk about why they wear these flags, he would have asked the American flag wearers to share their ethnic backgrounds and he would have spoken of his ancestors and why they came to the United States. Then he would have suggested to the Hispanic students that although their allegiance to Mexico was strong now, in a few generations those ties would lessen and eventually cease to exist. They would feel no more allegiance to Mexico than his family now felt to Germany.
He would explain the concept of E Pluribus Unum, which translates to “out of many, one.” He would have also spoken about the American melting pot and how important it is for these students to acculturate themselves so that their children will have a better life here. He would suggest to the students that the real strength of America is that we do have people here from all over the world, and that is what makes our country so special. He would also encourage them to honor their roots, but understand they are not the first or last immigrants to this country and they need to follow the example of earlier transplants that came legally and learned English.
Unfortunately, the assistant principal at Live Oak did not have the intelligence or commonsense to identify this valuable teaching opportunity. Instead, he decided that if the American flag might offend some Hispanic students then we should banish that flag. I would like to remind the assistant principal that he is living and working in the United States, not Mexico. If any flag is to take second place here it should not be the American one and I was very offended by his actions as I”m sure many Americans were. It seems clear to me that this assistant principal is not up to his job and should be terminated.
I”m not sure when insane political correctness overtook our country, I only know it has. To suggest that any American not wear or display our country”s flag on any day is absolutely ludicrous. Several years ago I traveled to a country that shall remain nameless. I found the people there to be intolerably rude and they were extremely offensive to me. However, I did not expect this country to change to accommodate me. I did not scream in the streets how offended I was. I did not tell them to change. I did not suggest they fly my flag instead of their own. What I did do was get on a plane and go home, never to return.
I want to say this as nicely as possible. If you are offended by Americans in America flying or wearing the American flag; perhaps you should do as I did and return home. You might be happier, I know I will be.
Mary Becker is a former San Francisco business owner who now lives in Lake County. Contact her at mbnorthernlights@gmail.com.
