Mexican flag burned at a High School...

[Ianofsmeg16]

I am currently endeavouring to have my school's Rector fly the Union Flag on those days that Her Brittanic Majesty requests and requires that the said flag must be flown from all public buildings. And that other flags be flown on their respective days such as Her Majesty requires i.e. the Red Ensign on Merchant Navy Day (3/9)...

We always have The Three Legs flying at our school, three of them in fact

Quocunque Jeceris Stabit
Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand

As for this burning thing, I'm in two minds, For one thing they shouldnt have been burning the flag of a country where there is a large population of immigrants from said country, thats just stupidity

But yeah, they really shouldve been flying the stars and bars

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The Hispanics were also responding to what I presume were racial insults (read the article). I think both should be punished equally.


It's not like you're supposed to have a lighter at school either...

[Tribesman]

A foreign flag should NEVER be flown in the United States at a public school over the US flag or instead of the Stars and Stripes. What's you opinion?

Your article has a 16 year old saying that he heard that the flag was higher , is there any comfirmation on that actually happening ?

Capo , you talk of treason and such . There was this fire truck in a Columbus day parade , it had a pair of those flags that you fix on vehicles on its roof , stars and stripes flavour of course , and on the side that I was on it had a huge stars and stripes covering a good part of the side (I guess it had a matching one the other side ) , on a big staff flying above them all was the Italian flag , isn't that treasonous ?

Flags , patriotism , what a load of crap

Flag burning patriotism , small minded feckwits , you see extremist idiots doing it all the time

[Don Corleone]

I wish people didn't burn flags: USA's or anyone elses. That being said, people will do it no matter what you do. Ask them not to nicely, but there's not much else to do...

[SwordsMaster]

It's one thing to fly it for a holiday. It's another thing to claim a public building as a little piece of Mexico because a bunch of immigrants don't want to assimilate.

Yeah. I mean. Americans should go there and assimilate them all. Mexico has some oil, surely.

As of being a "little piece of Mexico"... a third of the US population speaks spanish. A flag or the absence of one doesn't change anything. A third of the country is a little bit more than a little piece.

[SwordsMaster]

Where the hell do you get a third? It's not even a fourth. And a large quantity of that is illegals, who should be booted out anyway. When you come to America, you're agreeing to be an American. Spanish is fine, but they should be learning english as well, and certainly ensuring that their children learn english. Flying the Mexican flag in schools is not fine.

Well, noone can force them to learn english more than force them to learn corean, so that is up to them.

How is it possible that a country formed with emigrants from the whole world is so closed to other emigrants?

Fine, a school is government property and all, I see your point.

Is it fine to fly a mexican flag above your house?

[solypsist]

public schools still fly confederate flags - and yet i see no outrage over that. i imagine if someone took one of those down and burned it there'd be many irateusers here wanting the burner jailed. this sort of thread is rife with potential double standards.

[Watchman]

This thread stinks of pungent jingoism and barely concealed racism, IMO. Which doesn't surprise me one bit given the topic, and duly does nothing to improve my abysmally low opinion of nationalism and the associated paraphenelia which people insist on taking altogether too seriously.

I'm really starting to see where that Sleuthing the Alamo book got its part about the developement of anti-Mexican sentiments from...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Question - since you're not big on nationalism, can I have your country plz????

[Tribesman]

Flying the CSA is harmless. It doesn't exist any more.
Damn , I could have sworn that you had confederate political parties over there , you know the ones that want southern independance , use the stars and bars instead of the stars and stripes .
Better tell them that they lost their war just like the mexicans and they had better get rid of them flags eh

[Soulforged]

Flying the CSA is harmless. It doesn't exist any more. Mexico, however, is very real and very nearby.

How is that flying a flag, carrying a certain sign, or shouting certain things, will change your country from USA to Mexico? Really the strange connections that can be done when one is willing to look for them. And advice on further discussions, culture is not something stagnant and something that you can ancor forever, as a tradition, traditions are part of culture, however that doesn't mean that certain traditions cannot live together with others. Your culture will change, probably assimilating mexican and canadian culture, mexican culture will (and is in fact already merged in plains like music) assimilite yours, my culture will take a portion of every culture around the world. Today we live on that world, we've to accept that times of isolation and rigid traditions are over, probably forever. Is this really something to worry about? No, your economy will still be the same, and you and other "natives" would still believe in your ideals and practice your traditions, there's nothing on multiculturalism that obstaculizes that.

[Divinus Arma]

public schools still fly confederate flags - and yet i see no outrage over that. i imagine if someone took one of those down and burned it there'd be many irateusers here wanting the burner jailed. this sort of thread is rife with potential double standards.

True. However, and you may correct me if I am wrong, I believe this flag is flown below the U.S. flag.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Don't know why he'd put the flag up in the US. I don't think it's wrong, but I don't see any point. It's just stupid.

I don't know if you should go as far as burning it though. Maybe taking it down, don't know. I wasn't in the situation.

[Major Robert Dump]

Mexico has a flag?

I'm going to start a rumor that there are a lot of free flags and tanktops being given away in Mexico, and when the foreign occupiers all run across the border to get some free flags we can, like, shut the door real quick and lock it.

[Major Robert Dump]

And I think the confederate flag thing varies from area to area, county to county and state to state, but for the most part you will be hard pressed to find confederate flags flying on public buildings.

By most states own rules a capitol flies all the flagsx that have flown over the territory, so it is somewhat ridiculous to leave out the confederate while including the cherokee, the seminole or whatever. If you dont want to hurt anyones feelings, then change the criteria of what flies where, dont just ominously omit one flag while pretending you are following tradition. Change the rules. And if those are the rules, and a mexican flag flew over the territory then so be it, but never to be flown over the national and current state flag.

Anyway, flag burning is a protected from of speech, no matter how tacky. If we can villify our own country by burning its flag, we should certainly be able to villify others by burning theirs. The line has to be drawn at personal property laws though, as you dont burn someone elses flag.

I left skid marks in American flag swimming trunks once, is that treason?

[Banquo's Ghost]

Flying the CSA is harmless. It doesn't exist any more. Mexico, however, is very real and very nearby.

This perspective interests me. The topic at hand, I would argue, is about the symbolism that flags embody. They derived from heraldic emblems, and continue to be invested with that 'us' as opposed to 'them' significance. Regiments in the British Army, for example, still use colours (battle standards) to represent the soul of both current members and their illustrious forebears, and battle honours are proudly sewn into them. Like all symbols, they are invested with as much significance as the group whch adopts them wishes. I would have died for my colour (were they still taken on the field - I'm not that old ) more so than for my 'country' as the regiment was my family, but most people would not invest such signficance into an ancient piece of cloth.

However, I don't think anyone can deny that they are very powerful symbols, even if you personally do not accept them. Just think about one's emotional reaction to the flag of Nazi Germany - an extreme example perhaps, but illustrative. In the north of my country, flags as symbols of identity for republicans or unionists are widely used, widely abused, and are incredibly provocative to even peaceable communities. Even for me, happy in my free republic, the sight of the Union Flag flying in Ireland gives me a brief twinge of patriotic angst, and I'm several generations away from when it mattered. My grandfather killed and died to get rid of that piece of cloth, but his grandson shouldn't really care, should he? But that old grainy film of the Union Jack being replaced by the tricolour at Dublin Castle still means a lot, to me at least - and this is a very weird state of affairs, for I have served the British flag as well as the tricolour. Ah well, no-one said patriotism was a rational thing

So I can well understand the emotions provoked by seeing the flag of a nation which is causing some contentious issues being flown over a building like a school, and why it is right to remove it forthwith, though without the provocation of burning it. (I like Lemur's perspective of it being respectful though )

So, taking this viewpoint further, I have always been intrigued by the apparently acceptable use of the Confederate flag. As an outsider, remember, it strikes me that it is the symbol of a movement that sought to destroy the USA, caused a war that killed many thousands and represents a racist doctrine that must be deeply offensive to many citizens of the US, black and white. To me, an Irishman interested in the US, it is deeply offensive whenever I see it, and is still used in many parts of Europe as a neo-nazi emblem. In the US, which actually suffered the effects of what it represents, it should be reviled as much as the Nazi flag is reviled in Germany, surely?

If we accept the symbolism of flags in terms of representing our countries and values (and therefore defendable, and to some extent sacred) then the Confederate flag should be anathema to all US citizens, and because of its racist symbolism to many fellow citizens (one side of whom may use it as a rallying call for their evil, the other side who are reminded of cruel times) certainly not harmless in any way.

[Ironside]

A question:
Does it exist any symbol in America that says "proud Hispanic American"?

Because I've got a feeling that the Mexican flag is used like that in those parts.

[Banquo's Ghost]

The lesson to be taken from our acceptance of the CSA Flag isn't a difficult one. The men fighting for the CSA were Americans, whether they thought it at the time or not. And while the years following the war were to be difficult for everyone, we've come to understand this far down the road that the Confederate Flag is just another American flag. Perhaps symbolizing the very will of the American people to fight for what they think is right, among other (sometimes less savory) symbolisms. It is not the flag of another nation, it's a flag of America.

I can see your point, but I would argue that it is not the flag of the United States of America. Indeed, it was the symbol of a group of Americans that wanted to be other than that which the United States represents - to be another nation entirely. Why is that different in symbolism to Mexicans pleading the 'reconquista' notion and using their flag? After all (if I may split hairs to make a point ) Mexicans are Americans too.

[Devastatin Dave]

public schools still fly confederate flags -

I'd looooove to see your proof on this statement...

[Strike For The South]

whats wrong with this flag I dont get it.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Flying one over your house is just as disrespectful, in my opinion

Is it just the Mexican flag you feel this way about, or does that include others too?

If I moved to the US, for example, but flew the Union flag over my property, would you consider that disrespectful?

they deserve whatever happens to them. Be it a race riot or a flag burning.

How on earth can you deserve a race riot?

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Is it just the Mexican flag you feel this way about, or does that include others too?

If I moved to the US, for example, but flew the Union flag over my property, would you consider that disrespectful?



How on earth can you deserve a race riot?

Good points. And how about the Confederate flags, huh?

EDIT: Did not read post above me before. Sorry. And, no I don't think that would be considered treason Major Dump.

[Strike For The South]

Good points. And how about the Confederate flags, huh?
.

different conotations. If they wanna fly a mexion flag fine but below the american one. The only flag that is allowed to be raised just as high is Texas!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yes we kick that much ass

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Im right look it up

[AntiochusIII]

Not to specifically pick on you, but...

We are not closed to immigrants at all! America was built on Immigrants who have accepted their new home with grace. Assimilating into the country and helping to make it what it is today. Many Mexican immigrants refuse to do that, which is detrimental. These are the same ones who fly a Mexican flag in a school.

Revisionist. "American" (often the self-proclaimed "morally superior" bunch) efforts to "assimilate" (discarding "un-American" practices, the term of which changes continuously) the immigrants, and the immigrants' efforts to preserve their native culture--not too mention the violence often involved in nativist riots--are, if I am so bold to claim, an integral part of American history.

The Mexicans are just today's Irish, Eastern Europeans, Japanese, etc.

Flying one over your house is just as disrespectful, in my opinion. It signals to me that this person is an ungrateful twit. But it's their right to be an ungrateful twit, especially in their own home. Which makes it all the worse, I suppose, since they're taking advantage of American rights and generosity.

Well, you could actually care less...

...flags are what you think what they are, nothing more.

Flying the CSA is harmless. It doesn't exist any more. Mexico, however, is very real and very nearby.

Are you indirectly claiming that there's actually a plausible threat of the Mexican takeover of American lands!?

[Mongoose]

As of being a "little piece of Mexico"... a third of the US population speaks spanish. A flag or the absence of one doesn't change anything. A third of the country is a little bit more than a little piece.

Question; when you say that 1/3 of the US speaks Spanish, are you refering only to Meixicans, or are you lumping people who learned it as a second language into the same group, despite the fact that they are in no way connected to Mexico?

[Kaiser of Arabia]

A foreign flag should NEVER be flown in the United States at a public school over the US flag or instead of the Stars and Stripes. What's you opinion?

Your article has a 16 year old saying that he heard that the flag was higher , is there any comfirmation on that actually happening ?

Capo , you talk of treason and such . There was this fire truck in a Columbus day parade , it had a pair of those flags that you fix on vehicles on its roof , stars and stripes flavour of course , and on the side that I was on it had a huge stars and stripes covering a good part of the side (I guess it had a matching one the other side ) , on a big staff flying above them all was the Italian flag , isn't that treasonous ?

Flags , patriotism , what a load of crap

Flag burning patriotism , small minded feckwits , you see extremist idiots doing it all the time

Was it a Parade, or something meant to be permenant?

Also, was the Firetruck a public building?

Two very different things.


In other news, can I come to Finland, take down the finnish flag over whatever you have as a congress/whitehouse type deal, and fly the Stars and Strips?