by Daniel Nardini
Not far from our house, a neighbor flies the flag of Sweden. He flies the Swedish flag on certain days when the Swedish flag is flown in celebration of public Swedish holidays. Our neighbor also flies the Swedish flag in honor of his Swedish heritage. Every now and then, our neighbor holds picnics in his backyard with members of his church, who are also of Swedish origin. Hence Swedish flags are everywhere, and no one takes a second look at all of the Swedish flags. It is simply considered a celebration of one’s own ancestry. Things like this occurs in countless places throughout the United States—we are after all largely (but not entirely) a nation of immigrants.
Hence, it was sad when a lady in southern California decided to record a rant against her neighbor’s Mexican flag. In the California town of Ontario, a lady named Tressy Capps decided to record on her iphone the fact that her neighbor, Maria Banuelos, was flying the flag of Mexico. Capps basically said that this is America, and that if her neighbor was flying the Mexican flag that she should do so in Mexico. This was without question in my mind a prejudiced slur that if you do not fly the American flag, and are not “American,” then you should go back to Mexico. How many of us have heard, when someone is ranting against our ancestral heritage, to leave this country and go back where we came from (even for those of us born and raised in this country)? There is no question that Capps is a bigot, and has a deep prejudice against Mexico and Mexicans. She posted her rant against her neighbor on youtube. For that rant she was fired from her job, and she has received death threats.
While I do not condone violence, this lady had brought her troubles on herself. Capps may call it freedom of speech, but that speech is full of hate and invective against a neighbor who did her no harm. Maria Banuelos’ husband, Sigifredo Banuelos, explained that they fly the flag of Mexico in honor of their heritage, and that the flag itself does no harm. I agree. In my view, the flag of Mexico is no different from the flag of Sweden that my neighbor flies in front of his house. How is it harming anyone? How does it show any less loyalty to the United States? It seems that Capps views Mexico and Mexicans as some type of “enemy.” That is the only explanation I can come up with. On top of this, it shows that relations between neighbors in parts of southern California have to be pretty poisoned for such a prejudiced reaction over a flag.
Prejudice Over a Flag
by Daniel Nardini
Not far from our house, a neighbor flies the flag of Sweden. He flies the Swedish flag on certain days when the Swedish flag is flown in celebration of public Swedish holidays. Our neighbor also flies the Swedish flag in honor of his Swedish heritage. Every now and then, our neighbor holds picnics in his backyard with members of his church, who are also of Swedish origin. Hence Swedish flags are everywhere, and no one takes a second look at all of the Swedish flags. It is simply considered a celebration of one’s own ancestry. Things like this occurs in countless places throughout the United States—we are after all largely (but not entirely) a nation of immigrants.
Hence, it was sad when a lady in southern California decided to record a rant against her neighbor’s Mexican flag. In the California town of Ontario, a lady named Tressy Capps decided to record on her iphone the fact that her neighbor, Maria Banuelos, was flying the flag of Mexico. Capps basically said that this is America, and that if her neighbor was flying the Mexican flag that she should do so in Mexico. This was without question in my mind a prejudiced slur that if you do not fly the American flag, and are not “American,” then you should go back to Mexico. How many of us have heard, when someone is ranting against our ancestral heritage, to leave this country and go back where we came from (even for those of us born and raised in this country)? There is no question that Capps is a bigot, and has a deep prejudice against Mexico and Mexicans. She posted her rant against her neighbor on youtube. For that rant she was fired from her job, and she has received death threats.
While I do not condone violence, this lady had brought her troubles on herself. Capps may call it freedom of speech, but that speech is full of hate and invective against a neighbor who did her no harm. Maria Banuelos’ husband, Sigifredo Banuelos, explained that they fly the flag of Mexico in honor of their heritage, and that the flag itself does no harm. I agree. In my view, the flag of Mexico is no different from the flag of Sweden that my neighbor flies in front of his house. How is it harming anyone? How does it show any less loyalty to the United States? It seems that Capps views Mexico and Mexicans as some type of “enemy.” That is the only explanation I can come up with. On top of this, it shows that relations between neighbors in parts of southern California have to be pretty poisoned for such a prejudiced reaction over a flag.