Mexican Independence Trumps American Flag

By Elizabeth Nelson

I'm not sure many of you would remember earlier this year, when a Federal court ruled that a San Jose School had the right to tell a bunch of American kids that they had to turn their shirts, with the American flag, inside out or go home, during their Cinco de Mayo celebration.  You see, the school justified it by saying that there was a history of problematic racial gang members and they were afraid of a violent upheaval. Well yesterday a Federal Appeals Court refused to rehear the challenge to that case.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let stand its February ruling in favor of Live Oak High School administrators, who argued that a history of problems on the Mexican holiday justified the decision to act against the American flag-wearing students. Officials at the high school ordered the students to either cover up the shirts or go home, citing past threats and campus strife between Latino and white students that raised fears of violence.

Lawyers for the parents, backed by 20 Republican members of Congress, had asked the 9th Circuit to rehear the case with a special 11-judge panel. Three 9th Circuit judges dissented, saying they disagreed with both the court’s ruling in the case and its decision to not grant a new hearing.

William Becker, the parents’ lawyer, called the decision “outrageous” and vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court. “(We) will not allow the politically correct judiciary to insult our flag,” he said.

A unanimous three-judge panel had found that the school’s actions were reasonable given the safety concerns, which outweighed the students’ 1st Amendment claims. “Our role is not to second-guess the decision to have a Cinco de Mayo celebration or the precautions put in place to avoid violence,” the judges ruled. Continue reading PersonalLiberty.com

Okay, here's my major malfunction with this entire story. I understand life "isn't fair." However, if you're going to tilt the scales to one race or class, you're sending a wrong message entirely.  What message did they send here?  

It's the racial gangs that are causing all the problems here, and are now being given all the power to dictate the dress code, but hey, "Go ahead and sport your Mexican Independence;" no wait, go back to Mexico if you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which had nothing to do with any battle fought by America, in or about America, for Mexican Independence.  

Yet somehow our American flag, the symbol of the Country the immigrants wave when they get all their "free stuff," that very same symbol that has suddenly become "offensive and dangerous" to them and in doing so, our freedom of speech is further gagged? Someone explain this to me, please. #SMH