My Country Tis of Thee

Last Friday, during a grueling physical torture session, my therapist mentioned that he had heard that some California high school students were sent home on Cinco de Mayo for wearing American flag shirts to school. It came up because every Friday I wear the same shirt-an American flag shirt, to show support for out troops. A lot of stuff was going on so I didn’t actually get to follow up on it until today, when I watched a video clip on CNN about the incident. 

The high school where this occurred is something like 40% Hispanic and the principle felt that the student’s (White)  choice to wear the Stars and Bars on that particular day was incendiary and asked the students to turn their shirts inside out or face suspension. 3 of the 4 students chose to leave school in protest of  being asked to hide their pride in their colors. Maybe it was a bit over the top, but it seems to me that the principle making a big deal out of it has been even more explosive.

I’m not usually the type of person who makes waves or tries to draw any attention to myself and as a parent, would have probably advised my kids not to make trouble. We also live in the South and still proudly wear the rebel flag without a whole lot of concern about who we may or may not offend. And that is the bottom line….The principle felt that those shirts, on such a huge Mexican holiday would be offensive. And when people are offended tensions mount and well, we all know what happens after that.

This is not the first time American’s have been asked to tone down their pride and put the flags away. Shortly after 9/11, when American pride was at it’s peak, our flag was everywhere. There was a very strong concern that lapel pins might be offensive to the Arabs in America that many were asked to quit wearing them. So a standard was set, do whatever it takes not to offend non-Americans, even if it means limiting the freedoms American’s are entitled to under the constitution.

This is only serving one purpose. Our country is more divided now than it ever has been. American’s a quickly becoming second class citizens in our own country. On 9/11, Arabs hijacked planes and destroyed our sense of security, yet, my 75 yr old mother is almost strip searched at the airport trying to fly from Florida to Virginia. If only Arabs were scrutinized they might be offended by racial profiling, so we have to scrutinize everyone. It’s only fair. Bullshit, it’s not racial profiling, it’s statistics. Plain and simple. Statistics show that Arabs hijack planes and fly them into buildings in the United States. Not 75 yr old grandmothers. So don’t target the grandmothers, target the fucking Arabs.

Arizona just passed a law that gave law enforcers the right to request proof of residency and the nation is in a uproar. California (detect a pattern) has voted to boycott Arizona. Yep, the whole state. Lets dissect this….Arizona borders Mexico. Arizona has a large number of illegal crossing and a large illegal immigrant population….Statistics show that Arizona is a good place to start getting a handle on the influx of illegal immigrants flooding our system. Aside from shooting all Mexicans in Arizona, law enforcement officers having the right to ask for proof of legal residence is a good start.

Our country has the most lenient policies on illegal immigration in the world. In some countries it’s permissible to shoot your sorry ass for sneaking over the border and people (probably illegal's) in this  country are up in arms over simply being ask to provide proof that they’re here legally. Oh give me a break and get over yourself. If you are so fucking offended by it go the fuck back home. Send me pictures of the happy reception you get back there.

As for me and my Friday shirt, thanks to leap years it’s a really long time before Cinco de Mayo fall on a Friday, but next year, I think I’ll buy a new shirt for Thursday.