Posted on 04/06/2006 7:36:27 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32
Hundreds of protesters gripped Mexican flags as they marched for immigration reform in the past few weeks, but they say a display of cultural unity is being mistaken as a lack of loyalty to the United States.
The displays turned off many Americans. Conservative talk show hosts admonished the protesters, while everyday people wrote angry letters to the editors of their local newspapers.
Some called for those carrying the Mexican flag to return to Mexico. Others questioned why immigrants demanding rights in the United States would wave symbols of Mexico.
But those who carried them, and scholars of the immigrant community, say that pride in their culture should not be misconstrued as a lack of patriotism in their adopted nation.
"Nobody gets upset with the Irish on St. Patrick's Day," said Gabriela Lemus, director of policy and legislation at the Washington, D.C.- based League of United Latin American Citizens, the group that organized most of the recent protests and is heading the dozens of marches and rallies scheduled across the nation Monday.
Critics of waving the red, white and green have questioned marchers' loyalty to the United States, but Latino activists deny the implications.
"The Mexican flag is like a symbol of dignity and identity and pride for the people who carry it," said Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez. "If people try to read more into that flag than what it is, they're wrong."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
"The Mexican flag is like a symbol of dignity and identity and pride for the people who carry it," said Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez. "If people try to read more into that flag than what it is, they're wrong."
So is the American flag but we can't fly it out of fear of offending someone...
". . .but they say a display of cultural unity is being mistaken as a lack of loyalty to the United States."
Mule cookies. Their display of cultural unity is exactly
that: a lack of loyalty to the United States.
Righttackle44 in Phoenix
This is all 100% BS....all these illegals want to do is 'sh#t' in our backyard and take advantage of our health care and socialist programs....
Earlier thread here (same AP article, different title):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610241/posts
Amen and Amen. - OB1
As a matter of fact it is a duplicate. The title is a bit different (the portal was Yahoo) but it is just down the page a bit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610241/posts
"They came legally, respected our laws, and became Americans. Big difference."
I'm amused by this response because I'm quite sure that at least a few Irish came here illegally and I'm even more sure that they didn't all respect the law. I recall reading about a lot of gang wars, bloody fights, and other indications that the integration of Irish into America was not as smooth as you suggest. Moreover, you have no about the legal status or citizenship status of all those people carrying Mexican flags.
"Lemus said her organization is encouraging protesters to carry both the U.S. and Mexican flags to show their pride in both countries."
This is what they should have been doing in the first place.
It's the lack of American flags at these demonstrations that is noticeable. (aside from the anti-American slogans)
""It definitely does not mean separation or nationalism in the sense that we want to go back to Mexico." "
Of course not. It's in the sense that they want to bring Mexico here.
I'm hoping they keep protesting. The more they protest, the more Americans recognize the problem for what it is.
I was in MA last week - the People's Republic of Cambridge - and three people spontaneously mentioned the illegal problem. I was shocked because all these people get their news from the Globe and from NPR.
The tide is turning, even for liberals. 90% of the people up around Harvard Square are Dems and I didn't hear one person who supported Teddy's position.
The last time I looked, the Irish immigrated to the US legally, and they have most certainly earned the right to wave the Irish flag during St. Patrick's day.
MANY Mexicans, on the other hand, have most certainly NOT immigrated here legally, and as such need to STFU. They have not EARNED SQUAT.
Some of the Micks might have been illegal but at least they learned the language and didn't bankrupt the healthcare system.
Ther is only one flag that should be flown in this country and that has stars and stripes. I wasn't in uniform to protect the Fing MEXICAN flag.
There was a kid on Oreilly's show last night. She said that the hispanic kids started ripping the clothes of kids wearing anything that had an American flag on them.
As usual our open borders anarchists are too cowardly to comment on that sort of thing.
Nothing like the numbers from the countries to our South and the culture clash is minimal but there are substantial numbers of Irish here illegally.
From geneaologyblog.com:
The following is an excerpt from an interesting column published in the Galway Advertiser.
In the past few weeks, two men who live in America could not return to their father’s funeral in County Galway because they are illegal emigrants. They feared - very justifiably - that if they returned they could not go back to the States. I cannot be precise about the details for obvious reasons. However this is not an isolated situation. These men are two among thousands of Irish people in the United States who are undocumented - they do not have citizenship, a Green Card or any official status. But they have lived and worked in America for many years. Read the full article on the illegal Irish immigrants in the October 7, 2004 edition of the Galway Advertiser.
How would Meixcan authorities and the Mexican people react if one-million norteamericanos marched through the streets of Mexico City carrying American flags?
Sorry, Dolores, but what you suggest is sophistry.
Yes, just a few Irish, not the MILLIONS of Mexicans that blantently disregard our immigration laws. The Irish wanted to be Americans, the Mexicans want Americans to be well....Mexicans. There is a big difference.
"To ordinary Americans, the definition of “immigration” is very specific: You come here with absolutely nothing except a burning desire to be an American.
You start off at some miserable, low-paying job that at least puts a roof over your family’s head and food on the table. You put your kids in school, tell them how lucky they are to be here – and make darn sure they do well even if that means hiring a tutor and taking a second, or third, job to pay for it. You learn English, even if you’ve got to take classes at night when you’re dead tired.
You play by the rules—which means you pay your taxes, get a driver’s license and insure your car so that if yours hits mine, I can recover the cost of the damages. And you file for citizenship the first day you’re eligible.
Do all this and you become an American like all the rest of us. Your kids will lose their accents, move into the mainstream, and retain little of their heritage except a few words of your language and – if you’re lucky—an irresistible urge to visit you now and then for some of mom’s old-country cooking.
This is how the Italians made it, the Germans made it, the Dutch made it, the Poles made it, the Jews made it, and more recently how the Cubans and the Vietnamese made it. The process isn’t easy – but it works and that’s the way ordinary Americans want to keep it.
....
But the millions of Hispanics who have come to our country in the last several decades – and it’s the Hispanics we’re talking about in this debate, not those from other cultures—are, in fact, two distinct groups. The first group is comprised of “immigrants” just like all the others, who have put the old country behind them and want only to be Americans. They aren’t the problem. Indeed, most Americans welcome them among us, as we have welcomed so many other cultures.
The problem is the second group of Hispanics. They aren’t immigrants – which is what neither the Democratic or Republican leadership seems to understand, or wants to acknowledge. They have come here solely for jobs, which isn’t the same thing at all. (And many of them have come here illegally.) Whether they remain in the U.S. for one year, or ten years – or for the rest of their lives – they don’t conduct themselves like immigrants.
Yes, they work hard to put roofs above their heads and food on their tables – and for this we respect them. But they have little interest in learning English themselves, and instead demand that we make it possible for them to function here in Spanish. They put their children in our schools, but don’t always demand as much from them as previous groups demanded of their kids. They don’t always pay their taxes – or insure their cars.
In short, they aren’t playing by the rules that our families played by when they immigrated to this country. And to ordinary Americans this behavior is deeply – very deeply – offensive. We see it unfolding every day in our communities, and we don’t like it.
This is what none of our politicians either understands, or dares to say aloud. Instead, they blather on – and on – about “amnesty” and “border security” without ever coming to grips with what is so visible, and so offensive, to so many of us – namely, all these foreigners among us who aren’t behaving like immigrants...
I know, I come from the first group.
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