An NBC affiliate released one of the more disturbing news articles I have read in quite some time. The full article is available her e , but it goes something like this. On May 5, or Cinco de Mayo five students wore American Flag apparel to high school and were asked to remove or turn inside out their t-shirts because the administrator felt that on this day those items would be incendiary and start a fight (but any other day it's ok). I do believe this may be the straw that breaks my back. ARE YOU #*!@*% KIDDING ME ?!!? It is obvious that this predominately Hispanic school decidedly left out the Americans involvement in their great holiday. How this administrator or his misinformed "offended" students could interpret US citizens wearing the flag as disrespectful to them is completely beyond the scope of even PC. It is total and utter poppy cock. They should feel privileged and grateful for being in a country that even recognizes/tolerates another nation's holiday. To expect the US flag to take deference to that holiday or any other flag is plain unpatriotic. For a school administrator to encourage and support that behavior and not educate the students to what happened on May 5, 1862 and the camaraderie that was shared between Mexican and American forces is at the very least irresponsible and at most deliberately subversive. I am willing to bet that most of the students at that school with a large Hispanic population know nothing about Cinco de Mayo, except for what they see in commercials encouraging alcohol consumption. The quoted comments of the students certainly seem to indicate as much. I commend the students for refusing to apologize for being patriotic. I encourage them and their parents to scream as loud as they can for as long as they can about the obvious discrimination against Americans in their own country. I encourage everyone else to flood the Live Oak High School communications facilities with emails and phone calls until they fire this nimrod for being too ignorant to know what is truly incendiary. It is time to start realizing that we are Americans. Unless you directly emigrated from another country there is no hyphen involved in that title. I am not Scotch/Irish- American. I may enjoy my family's heritage and remember the culture associated with that, but I am American. Sure I celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but I don't take my American flag down in deference to the Irish flag. Nor do I ask Americans with different back grounds to stop and show respect to my Irish holiday. And expecting - not asking to put away the American flag because it's an Irish holiday is totally out of the question. I wonder if they did not fly the US flag on the school flagpole on May 5th? If you are offended at anytime by the American Flag flying or being displayed proudly, then you need to rethink your location and place of residence. To those of you that may criticize me for being too nationalistic: Limiting the 1st amendment to the point of limiting patriotism is the quickest way to start problems that are not easily solved. I have a US flag on my vehicle, I have a US flag on my Facebook page, I have US flag shirts, and I have a hand painted US flag on my SOAP BOX. I will add more and encourage others to do so as well. If any of these flags or displays of patriotism upsets you, offends you, angers you...too bad, you will have to learn to have more confidence in yourself and not let the actions of others affect you. In other words get over it. If you don't like that option, then choose the country that flies the colors you like and go there. Let's try this together: I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America To the Republic for which it Stands One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All!
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Steve Edmonds is running for Florida State Senate District 24. This is a series of his views on how he perceives that government should work.
Steve Edmonds is running for the Florida State Senate District 24. To find our more on Steve Edmonds and his stand on issues, visit him at www.edmonds4senate24.com.
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