By: Daniel Nardini
The California 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Live Oak High School where school officials told three high school students they could not display the U.S. flag in any form on Cinco de Mayo. The three kids in question wore t-shirts emblazoned with the U.S. flag on them. However, because the Latino students might “object” to them, and there might have been violence, the court ruled that the officials had every right to tell these three students not to wear t-shirts with the U.S. flag on them. The three students’ lawyers will appeal this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I hope they do. I do not know the situation in Morgan Hill, where the school is located, but unless I miss my guess it is still in the United States. It should NOT matter whether the flag in question on any shirt is either that of the United States or of Mexico; the students should indeed have a right to display that flag—whether it be on a t-shirt, a pin, or the actual flag itself. In my view there is NO contradiction about either displaying the U.S. flag or the Mexican flag on Cinco de Mayo or any other day. What it is telling me is that too many of our children have not been properly educated in the history of the United States or Mexico. I shall reiterate that without the United States, Mexico would still be a French colony.
After the U.S. government defeated the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), the U.S. government threw in its total support of the Mexican government under Benito Juarez trying to kick out the French. It would be this aid that eventually forced the French out of Mexico, and helped Mexico regain its independence. To me not knowing this is a serious sore point in that school’s curriculum. Here in the Chicago area, there is no problem of both the U.S. and Mexican flags standing together. The judges’ ruling to maintain order over freedom of speech is a very troubling one, and tells me that the school itself has failed on a number of levels to try and deal with student unrest. Granting high schools a wide latitude of control must not be allowed to challenge one of our fundamental beliefs to the freedom of speech for patriotism.
Free Speech vs. Order in the Schools
By: Daniel Nardini
The California 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Live Oak High School where school officials told three high school students they could not display the U.S. flag in any form on Cinco de Mayo. The three kids in question wore t-shirts emblazoned with the U.S. flag on them. However, because the Latino students might “object” to them, and there might have been violence, the court ruled that the officials had every right to tell these three students not to wear t-shirts with the U.S. flag on them. The three students’ lawyers will appeal this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I hope they do. I do not know the situation in Morgan Hill, where the school is located, but unless I miss my guess it is still in the United States. It should NOT matter whether the flag in question on any shirt is either that of the United States or of Mexico; the students should indeed have a right to display that flag—whether it be on a t-shirt, a pin, or the actual flag itself. In my view there is NO contradiction about either displaying the U.S. flag or the Mexican flag on Cinco de Mayo or any other day. What it is telling me is that too many of our children have not been properly educated in the history of the United States or Mexico. I shall reiterate that without the United States, Mexico would still be a French colony.
After the U.S. government defeated the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), the U.S. government threw in its total support of the Mexican government under Benito Juarez trying to kick out the French. It would be this aid that eventually forced the French out of Mexico, and helped Mexico regain its independence. To me not knowing this is a serious sore point in that school’s curriculum. Here in the Chicago area, there is no problem of both the U.S. and Mexican flags standing together. The judges’ ruling to maintain order over freedom of speech is a very troubling one, and tells me that the school itself has failed on a number of levels to try and deal with student unrest. Granting high schools a wide latitude of control must not be allowed to challenge one of our fundamental beliefs to the freedom of speech for patriotism.