School Suspends Student for Removing MEXICAN Flag

General General Discussion
1

What have we allowed our Great Nation to become? It is a sad day in America when our schools are suspending students for showing love of our Flag and Country. I hope everyone calls (I am) and I hope you pass this on to others.

Local School Suspends Student for Removing MEXICAN Flag

Yesterday, a listener’s son was offended that his school, Klein Collins High School, displayed the Mexican flag prominently. His mother called to complain, and the school wouldn’t return her call. The student took the sign down.

The school pitched a fit, reviewed the surveillance tapes, found the student, and suspended him for 3 days. AND he has to pay for the flag. In light of the SF story of students sent home for wearing the AMERICAN flag because it offended the Hispanic students, I thought you’d like to know about a story closer to home.

Right here in our community. Feel free to let the school know what you think. You pay their salaries.

Klein Collins High School (832) 484.5500. Assistant Principal handling the case: Mr. Shelly Dick. Seriously. Call Mr. Dick and let him have it. The Superintendent is Jim Cain.

You realize, I assume, that if a student removed – or even burned – the AMERICAN flag, they wouldn’t do anything about it, I’ll bet.

2

You should post a link to the referenced article, here’s a different one. http://www.click2houston.com/news/23491132/detail.html

HOUSTON – A Houston-area student was suspended for taking down and throwing away a Mexican flag, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated and recognized in numerous local schools, but for 15-year-old Nicholas Morris from Klein Collins High School, the Mexican flag hanging from his school’s hallway was offensive.

“It could have been a Russian flag or French flag, I still would have taken it down. If you looked at the American Flag and Texan flag, in another part of the building, the Mexican Flag was much higher,” said the 10th-grade ROTC cadet. “Before I took it down, I sent a picture of it to my mom and she called the school to tell them we were offended and they hung up on her.”

So, Nick decided to take the flag down himself and put it in the trash.

“Nick sent me a text message and he told me what he did. I told him I support him but he had to be ready for the repercussions,” said Stephanie Morris.

Nick told KPRC Local 2 that he was punished with three days of in-school suspension and he was to pay restitution for the flag. The incident created a furry around the country and sparked heated debates on national and local radio stations.

One local radio station put a picture on its website of a Mexican flag being flown on a pole above an upside-down American flag.

Many who saw the picture thought it was at the same school.

“That never happened. We didn’t do anything on this campus or any other district building to dishonor the American or Texan flag,” said Trazanna Moreno, Klein ISD’s spokeswoman.

The picture of the two flags was from a school in California.

KTRH talk-show host Michael Berry said the picture has been removed from his website.

“I don’t think anyone was offended by what we put on the website. People are offended by what Klein ISD is doing to this student. I think what he did is heroic and I think the community of Klein agrees and does not approve of what the district did,” said Berry.

Nick said he’s been harassed since the incident, but he’s also received support.

“I’ve been called a racist. I’ve been called a lot of things and I’ve received threats from people who want to fight me. I also have had a lot of people tell me I did the right thing and they would have done the same thing,” said Nick.

“It’s a national flag and I know we are not in Mexico, but we should respect all flags from every country,” said Alfredo Torres, a student’s parent.

Klein ISD said it displays several flags from other countries to celebrate different cultures and holidays throughout the year. The district has sent out a letter to all parents for clarification.

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Although I object to the display of the flag I don’t have a problem with the kid being suspended. Had he taken the flag down and taken it to the office and voiced his problem with the display, that would have been one thing but he took the flag and threw it in the trash. Regardless of whose flag it was that was a sign of blatant disrespect to the national colors of a nation. I would expect the standard of ANY nation be afforded the same level of respect we convey upon our own.

4

This still is the U.S.A. Not stink en Mexico or any other Country. Try flying the US flag in a Mexican school.

5

I have a problem with him trashing the Mexico standard, but my issue is really why it was there to begin with. or a Holiday! Really, I am a firm believer that the only flag to be flown or displayed in any US institution that is government run or subsidized should be our own FLAG! Any other nations standard has no place in our schools, capitols, dmv, etc… If you are a private citizen then fly what you want, but if you fly both your “old nation” flag and the US flag. Be sure to fly the US properly and above all other standards in accordance with the law.

6

they did it for cinco de mayo… if you go to mexico on the Fourth of July, you WILL see American flags all over the place. we’re too countries very closely linked, and it’s very common to see each others flags around.

sounds like the little shit got what he deserved for his highschool prank… in-school suspension is good, too- you don’t actually miss any school. you just spend the day sitting around studying/doing your assignments/homework.

7

I understand it was for Cinco De Mayo, and yes I have been to Mexico several times. However common sense and political prudence would suggest that school admins. should take note of the political and racial message that is sending in light of the current events. With everything going on is it wise to yet pour more fuel on a fire, especially in a school with many impressionable young minds? I for one would keep things toned down until things blow over. Yes the kid got punished for what he did, however it wasn’t the smartest idea for the school to display the Mexico flag with being in such close proximity to the epicenter of a powder keg called the US-Mexico border.

8

The problem lies in the fact that this is not northern Mexico. American children should not be slammed for being patriotic and wearing Old Glory on a t-shirt, in the United States.

9

This is America.

Protocol is as follows. American flag highest. Then the state flag.

If you want to fly the Mexican flag that is OK too, just go do it in Mexico.

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Yup. I’m getting really sick of the leftist pandering to all cultures but American culture. These people would spit on Old Glory in a second, but would fawn over say- the flag of Pakistan… :rolleyes:

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Watch these videos and see what kind of respect the American flag gets from some people here in America.

http://www.youtube.com/user/StandWithArizona#p/a/u/0/mSuqU0Yx4jw

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i think opinions in this thread are more frustration with leftism than a true distaste for seeing the mexican flag flying in America.

imagine you’re in mexico, and you see someone disgrace the American flag by crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash… i think some of us would consider that grounds for opening fire. i’d be throwing punches, if nothing else. the kid pulled a prank to impress his friends, got caught, and has faced the consequences. you seriously think this kid actually went lone wolf and took one for the team to right a perceived wrong? bullshit. you have no love and no loyalties at 16.

i believe in assimilation, and it irks me when ANY immigrant tries to pretend they’re still ______ instead of making efforts to become an AMERICAN. don’t fly the damn mexican flag, fly the American flag to represent the love you should have for the country you’ve fled to to improve the lives of your children. but i see absolutely nothing wrong with a temporary display, especially for an important holiday like the remembrance of your motherland’s hard-won independence. remember, people- it was for cinco de mayo.

personally, all this anti-mexican sentiment is just making me swing the other way even faster than i already would have. i don’t have a problem with mexicans- i like mexicans. i love that they’ve brought mariachi, mexican food, and anejo to my cold corner of the world. they’ve got a shitty deal down there is mexihell, and all they’re doing is trying to do right by their families. crime follows, naturally, but the vast majority are just hardworking sonsabitches that cant help where they happened to be born. this hatred for them is bullshit. and keep in mind, i’m a construction worker- i’ve competed with them and dealt with them driving down my wages for almost as long as i’ve been a working white American. i don’t blame them- i blame the fucked up politicorporations and their neoliberalism that causes ALL of this. OUR government.

and now i’ll stop before i get even more pissed and say dumb shit.

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For clarification, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s independence day.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

hmm… so it isn’t. good lookin out. still a very important day for them, though.

15

If I remember correctly, it is to commemorate some battle. Their day of independence is in September.

Mostly yes but some no. You are correct but I think that it is also based on the fact that many of us are tired of seeing things that are important to us like our country, and symbols that represent what we hold dear, like the flag getting disrespected and replaced with something else. Whether or not that is the reality, I think that is how many feel.I could be wrong, it happened once before;) or was it that I was right once before… cant remember

16

While I echo a lot of your opinions in this thread, Cinco De Mayo is not that important to Mexico as a whole - most of the Hispanic folks who get in front of a camera or other media outlet and start claiming the sovereignty of May 5th don’t even know what the holiday commemorates (many of the Hispanic people in the media recently spouted off about how important the holiday was and when asked, couldn’t even describe what it represented).

I guess they are just like most citizens of the USA because I see a lot of disrespect to US flags by supposed lovers of liberty all the time.

If you’re going to display or even handle a US flag (or get into arguments about how flags should be displayed), then at least know how to properly display/treat it.

This is a basic thing that I see far more US citizens (who think they are patriots) screw up than any other group of people.

The school was guilty of displaying all the flags there (including the US flag) incorrectly and yet most of the news missed that.

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagcode.htm

Section 8. Respect for flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

Section 8b - The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

The flags in the school appear to have been displayed as attached to the guard-rail on the 2nd story’s floor and were technically touching the floor (I can’t see the US flag so I’m assuming that it was attached the same way the Mexican flag was).

Interestingly enough though:

When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

The Mexican flag can be at the same height as the US flag in the US per US law (just not on the same staff).

There are actually a couple of other border-line US flag code violations from what some of the thing’s I’ve read in this incident suggest.

17

Rational thought is so hard to find these days, thank you for proving there are still people out there that have the ability!

18

that’s obscene, that principal should be fired, and an apology should be made to all the students on behalf of the school board.

19

I’d give the kid a pat on the back for one reason: he knows that no flag is to be displayed higher than the US flag. Obviously he knows this because he’s in ROTC because I doubt schools would teach something as important as flag protocol.

He loses the pat on the back for throwing the Mexican flag in the garbage. He lost credibility when he needlessly disrespected one symbol to show respect for another.

20

Here is the kind of respect our flag gets, on American soil, from some people:

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/03/29/the-american-flag-comes-second/