[john mirse]

"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican heritage day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, told NBC. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."

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This is one of the weirdest statements I have ever read, because I thought the young woman was an American.

I live a long way from California where there is a very tiny Mexican-American population, so I am not quite sure what the controversy is all about.

Concerning this bizarre controversy: I thought the high school students who complained about the American flags were themselves Americans of Mexican background.

Myself, I am baffled why an American student wearing an American flag shirt would be an insult to another American student at all.

For instance, can you imagine Irish people being insulted if other Americans wore American flag symbols on St. Patrick's Day?

For instance, can you imagine Italian-Americans being insulted if other Americans walked around with American flag symbols on Columbus Day?

I don't know what the answer to this problem is, but for Mexican-Americans to be insulted when an American flag is displayed on their special day is a bizarre situation to me.

To me, Mexican-American students should take the opportunity to celebrate BOTH flags on their special day: A flag representing Mexico, the country of origin of their parents or grandparents, and a flag representing the country of their new and future home, the United States.

My suggestion: Next year during this Mexican-American celebration, the Mexican-American students should invite and welcome all those other Americans wearing American flag symbols to share the special Mexican-American day of celebration.

Who knows. Both groups of American students might come to enjoy each other's company on that special day.

[Bob]

Concerning this bizarre controversy: I thought the high school students who complained about the American flags were themselves Americans of Mexican background.

Americans of Mexican background? That's not a very common point of view among the Mexican population in Gilroy,CA (just a bit south of Morgan Hill).

A tee shirt that I frequently see being worn has the words "Not Mexican-American", "Not Hispanic", and "Not Latino" with lines through them. At the bottom of the shirt, in larger letters with exclamation points is "Mexican!".

One of the phrases chanted by the students on Thursday as they marched was "Give It Back!", presumably meaning California and the entire southwest.