Posted on 04/06/2006 6:55:56 AM PDT by Unam Sanctam
PHOENIX - 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."
Huerta, who spoke from her home in Bakersfield, Calif., carried the Mexican flag during the farm workers' movement in the 1960s, and she carried it more recently during rallies in Los Angeles and Tucson.
"Pride and roots is what it is," she said. "It definitely does not mean separation or nationalism in the sense that we want to go back to Mexico."
Isidro D. Ortiz, a political scientist and professor of Chicano and Chicana studies at San Diego State University, said the flag is primarily a symbol of Mexican pride. But, in the current climate of the United States, Latinos also wave it to express dissatisfaction with how they are treated, Ortiz said.
"(Immigrants) have been trying for some time to imagine themselves as a part of the United States," he added. "What they've experienced is refusal."
Intentional or not, protest organizers acknowledge that the controversy over the Mexican flag is detracting from the message demonstrators want to send.
"(The flag) is a distraction," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. "What the marchers were marching for was to say, 'Hey, we are here, we work, we're tired of being made to blame for every ill that people experience.'"
Lemus said her organization is encouraging protesters to carry both the U.S. and Mexican flags to show their pride in both countries.
"The American flag is a symbol of what they are trying to become — a U.S. citizen," she said.
Jennifer Allen, executive director of the immigrant rights group Border Action Network, said she is not discouraging anyone from bringing the Mexican flag to Monday's march in Tucson. Rather, the protesters themselves are spreading the word.
"A lot of immigrant families in southern Arizona are telling one another to carry the American flag in their hands, but hold the Mexican flag in their hearts," she said.
I absolutely do, and I expressed that view here on St. Patrick's day. It was promptly deleted by a moderator (perhaps I was too mean-spirited?).
Well, it's not St. Patrick's Day, and I believe I am on-topic when I say right now that there are no hyphen-Americans. You are American, or you are not.
Leave your flag and culture in your old country, or do not come here.
Actually, the heavy emphasis on St. Patrick's Day here in Massachusetts has led me to fly the cross of St. George and St. Andrew on their respective feast days to honor my Anglo-Scottish heritage. I'm sure I'm the only one to do so.
I got a good look at that "patriotism" at the L.A. Coliseum in the late 90s during a U.S. vs. Mexico soccer game. Close to 100,000 people, and probably 90% of them rooting for Mexico. .....but that was the least of it. The American national anthem was booed mercilessly and "urine bombs" rained down on those (few) in attendance who had the guts to openly root for the "home" (American) team. At that point (almost a decade ago) I knew the invasion was close to being complete, and that America is despised by the invaders.
"Nobody gets upset with the Irish on St. Patrick's Day," said Gabriela Lemus
That's because Americans of Irish ancestry are legal citizens whose allegiance is (justifiably) unquestioned.
In the context of illegal immigration protests, the Mexican flag is a symbol of the soft conquest of the United States and its laws. Running the Mexican flag up a flag pole in the USA is not just about pride. That means something, and it isn't pleasant.
That pretty well sums it up. They need to go home, where the heart is.
But even if there is, it would be akin to what the Mexicans do here on May 5th, or 'Sinko Da Freaking Mayo'.
But the difference is the Irish never protested-marched-demonstrated en masse while holding the flag of Ireland and demanding 'rights' for a bunch of illegal Micks.
[ I can say that being Irish :-) ]
actually I don't care who says 'Micks', doesn't bother me a bit.
That's true, just like you you have a right to wave a KKK flag. What is your point?
Is anyone here questioning the Mexicans' right to wave their flag? (Didn't think so). Your statement is akin to those constantly made by leftist anti-war protestors about their having the "right" to protest. No one is questioning their "rights," we're criticizing their actions. Understand the difference?
Aww...poor Fonzie.
I think you've made a good point. The difference between an Italian flag being used in a Christopher Columbus parade or an Irish flag being used in a St. Patrick's Day parade versus the way the Mexican flag was used last week is that the Americans of Italian/Irish heritage aren't parading because of a reason that is directly hostile to the U.S. And, they aren't parading demanding special rights or amnesties for their group (although there might be some Irish-Americans begging amnesty from their spouses the next morning).
It's not unusual to go to backyard bbq parties where I live, hosted by BOTH hispanics and non-hispanics, and see the colors of the Mexican flag and/or little Mexican flag toothpicks, etc., used at a Mexican food-themed party. But, there's usually an American flag flying from the front porch. One local hispanic heritage organization (they do historical/genealogical stuff, etc.) uses American/Texan/Mexican flags in their special event centerpieces.
Worth repeating.
One good thing about last week's outrage is that it alerted previously ignorant Americans to the intentions/sentiments of millions of our "guest workers," which of course hurts the latter's cause immeasurably. No more flying under the radar for them.
Translation for lurkers from La Raza, MeCHA, etc.: Se chingaron con su pinché bandera Mejicana.
Is she really so dense that she does not understand the difference between a celebration and a protest????
Becki
Irishman Vicente Fox is the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Reconquista, however
if you go to the rest rooms at the fast food joints near the border, you'll see that they don't believe that our plumbing systems can handle TP, either
"Is anyone here questioning the Mexicans' right to wave their flag? (Didn't think so). "
To the contrary--a hell of a lot of people here were saying things like "get the hell out, if you want to wave that flag." So, you're wrong right out of the box!
"That's true, just like you you have a right to wave a KKK flag. What is your point?"
I guess now it's reading comprehension. Go back and review all the comments calling for the Mexican flag wavers to get the hell out of the US.
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