Well gosh darn it if on the next St. Patricks day I see anyone wearing Orange rather than Green I am going to file a charge that they are hurting my feelings.

mary on May 6, 2010 at 8:21 pm

In 1957 President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne to protect Blacks and to prevent the denial of education by racists. In 2010 Asst. Principal Rodriguez ordered students sent home to prevent angering racists.

tehag on May 6, 2010 at 8:52 pm

Excellent post, Debbie.

I know that this has already been said on this thread, but I want to say it anyway as it can’t be said often enough:

I say to anyone living in the United States and who is offended by the United States flag, that if they don’t like it, then they can leave. In fact, I want them to leave, as I am offended at their presence.

JeffE on May 6, 2010 at 9:33 pm

If that teenager in the picture is a fat slob now, just wait until she’s an adult. It’s good thing she’s living off our welfare in the USA. Otherwise, she’d be very thin in Mexico – where she belongs.

Mike on May 6, 2010 at 9:51 pm

I’m so proud of these kids and the parents that got together and went to the school to face the VP. Schools are here to serve our communities, not some left wing agenda.
Here in WNY where we have people of many backgrounds there is always some kind of ethnic parade or festival. Starting with St Patrick’s day for the Irish to the Italian, Polish, Helenic, etc. and up until Octoberfest for the German folk, they all have one thing in common. Among the little flags of their fatherland the American flag always stands the tallest. What makes these people rightfully proud is not so much where their families came from but what their countrymen contributed to make THIS nation great. Unlike the illegals, it’s what they did FOR and not TO America.

theShadow on May 6, 2010 at 10:19 pm

Sue. Yeah, I think this was a 1st ammendment violation, sans any extant dress code banning the clothes (which if there is, it sure wasn’t applied to clothes with the Mexican flag). But I live in this struggling state of California and our tax dollars just go down the rabbit hole. So I’d rather see the principal and assistant principal sued as individuals for civil rights violations than see the potential plaintifs go after the states deeper pockets. 9.25% sales tax in LA County.

Richard on May 6, 2010 at 10:24 pm

OK… so you guys didn’t get the Zachary Taylor thingy.

How ’bout they wear tee shirts saying “REMEMBER THE ALAMO!”

I suppose that would have gone over the school teachers’ heads too!

There is No Santa Claus on May 6, 2010 at 11:29 pm

Was the American Flag flying outside that high school that day or was it too offensive?

Bob on May 7, 2010 at 3:05 am

As someone who went to Live Oak, I have to say this is a common occurrence there. Actually the administration was in the right to do what they did considering what has happened in the past.
Oh, they didn’t cover that on Fox? No problemo, let me fill you in:
Every year, there is always a group of redneck kids who decide to try to start fights between groups at school.
One year, some of them even broke onto campus early and painted a confederate flag on school.
I personally know one of the kids involved (Matt). I know what he was trying to do and I know that there was nothing innocent behind the whole ordeal.
I know this may fall on deaf ears, but this is something that’s happened many a time before and the administration had had experience dealing with the issue and it had worked well so far.

megapenguinx on May 7, 2010 at 3:22 am

i think his actions were necessary. i definitely identify as an american, and i love my country and if those boys had happened to wear the clothes they did that day, i wouldn’t see that as wrong. however, they wore them knowing they would provoke certain reactions out of people. that’s not expressing patriotism, that’s showcasing immaturity. i … See Moreunderstand that they probably didn’t have any racist intentions, but it isn’t exactly hard to imagine that they could have. this would definitely make them a target of Live Oak’s mexican students. so Rodriguez pulled them in to his office to ask them to either change, or to leave. he gave them that choice. he knew that, should he not give them this ultimatum, that a fight or some sort of riot or chaos would break out, so he took the necessary precautions to prevent that. the boys chose to be obstinate and remain in their red white and blue clothing. that was their choice.

they then chose to take it to the next level and alert the press about their “right to express their love for their country”. they thought they would get some attention. turns out, the entire school did. and the repercussions were extremely negative. all day i’ve heard about cruel hate messages that teachers that aren’t even a part of this have been receiving. their actions went past immaturity in to ignorant selfishness.

like i said, i am a patriotic citizen of america. however, i do not use, and look down upon those who use patriotism as a guise for malice and purposely provocative actions.

Tammy on May 7, 2010 at 3:33 am

I absolutely do not agree with what Mr. Rodriguez did. If his intention was to prevent any fights breaking out because of the societal unrest plaguing the country caused by immigration, then not only did he fail, but he also added more fuel to the fire; case in point, this post, and the comments on it.

But at the same time, instead of looking at how things are and accepting them as if they have always been this way negates the rich history of this Nation and that of Mexico as well. For, California, and most of the western United States was not always part of the United States, and the treaty that transfered this huge chunk of land to this country, signed in the name of all Americans and all Mexicans (that is the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed in 1848) mandates the recognition of Mexican traditions in this area.

But aside form that mandate, these feelings of anti-immigration, racially enshrined into law in Arizona, and indivisible from human nature is not new either. Remember the Dustball during the Great Depression? Well, then, these same feelings you are all expressing had other Americans (mostly people from Oklahoma and other Appalachia regions) as their victims. The basic formula for anti-immigration sentiments does not change regardless of who the antagonist or the victims are. Majority Distinctive group A + Minority Distinctive group B + Limited economic opportunities= discrimination.

The problem with immigration with Mexico is more complicated than the action of crossing the border. Blame can be spread across all Nations in North America, and across all peoples. Among these problems are the heavily subsidized agricultural goods (the Federal government literally PAYS farmers to farm corn, if they did not receive a subsidy, farmers would be paying for farming instead of receiving an income) dumped in the south of Mexico have forced people to migrate in order to survive. Additionally, the vast appetite for Cocaine in this country fuels so much violence in the country south of the border, that for every gram this country consumes, gallons of blood have been spilled. Lets not even get into NAFTA where multinational corporations robbed Americans of their jobs only to enslave Mexican workers a few miles away from their intended markets. Did you know that among these companies is Sony, Panasonic, Ford, etc and that the people working in said factories have developed kidney problems because they are not allowed to drink water so they don’t take bathroom breaks? If you are over 35, you are fired. If you are a women, and I hope that I can appeal to the women who read this, and you test positive for pregnancy in a company mandated test you are automatically fired.

Similarly, the corruption of the Mexican government has prevented that country from adopting policies that would benefit most of the population instead of just an elite few.

So, instead of blaming individuals for structural problems in the economies of the regions which for the most part we do not have direct control nor can we immediately change, lets look at the roots of the problems, and attempt to mitigate them.

For those who feel this or that way about immigration and claim a birth right to be in this country, I simply ask you this question. Didn’t your people come from ships across vast oceans, and as such, shouldn’t Native Americans be allowed to express and seek to implement policies similar to what you are attempting to do, that is, if we are to accept them as just (I’m not saying they should, but rather I am attempting to point out the fluidity with which ethnicities and the configurations of lands change)? Further, what’s really the difference between you and the beautiful hispanic decedent girl in your picture? Is her love for her family any different than yours? If you shoot her, or cut her, or ban her, any different than if the tables would turn and you would be the focus of said actions? Is her need for nourishment rich food and clean water any different than yours?

It is easy to channel the unfairness of life, of the recession, and other problems on those who look differently than one does. But easy is not what America is all about. America is better than this. America is the place with “liberty and justice, for all.” I believe in you! For those of you who have read this far, thank you. For those of you who disagree with what I am saying, you can email me by making an acronym of my “name” and sending it to where the mails are hot (the server owned by hotmail) dot com. Please refrain from any hate mail.

Calling loosly on signs nativist are interpreting on May 7, 2010 at 4:03 am

I find it very sad that the United States is becoming a society of whiners and complainers. By that I mean anyone who subscribes to being “politically correct (PC)” and who is to offend others from various countries, cultures or heritage.
In our history we have made good decisions (i.e. Louisiana Purchase, Alaska purchase)and poor decisions (slavery). However, the past is the past. It can neither be changed or erased. If someone comes to the U.S. from another country it makes the statement that they intend to become a citizen and obey the laws established here. It also implies that they accept this country for what it is and can be not what it was or should have been.
If asking individuals to accept the past and move forward is too much then such individuals need to evaluate why they are in this country and direct their lives accordingly. The U.S. offers freedom and numerous opportunities. If that is not worth supporting then a person should choose a country that better suites their needs. I personally cannot imagine living anywhere else in the world. Do I love everything about the U.S.? No, but no other country comes close to offering what it does.

Charlie on May 7, 2010 at 12:52 pm

Greetings from 4Chan 🙂 Are you guys into traps?

Anonymous on May 7, 2010 at 3:11 pm

obvious troll is obvious

Anonymous on May 7, 2010 at 3:12 pm

this debbie bitch is fucking stupid

nazis ftw on May 7, 2010 at 3:13 pm

I’m Rick James, bitch.

Rick James on May 7, 2010 at 3:13 pm

American Flag should be banned from school. Fox News poll agrees

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/06/american-flag-banned-america/

Safety First on May 7, 2010 at 3:17 pm

Guys, I was just trolling lol, i actually hate America haha

Debbie Schlussel on May 7, 2010 at 3:17 pm

debbie should post nudes if she wants attention, she should know women can’t think for themselves

4chan isawesome on May 7, 2010 at 3:20 pm

GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN BITCH!

anon on May 7, 2010 at 3:22 pm

I encourage my readers to go over at 4chan and view pictures of traps.

Debbie Schlussel on May 7, 2010 at 3:26 pm

As a veteran and an American I am very concerned about all of the intolerance. Before you call me a liberal, which I am not consider this. This country was founded on the principles liberty. The idea was to create common American ideal. However, it did not mean that our personal traditions from our ethic heritage where to be discarded. The attitude that they can go back to Mexico shows no respect for their culture or for them. In addition, does not mean they are any less proud to be an American. If you think so when your celebrating St. Patties day next time around, why don’t you go back to Ireland were in a America. The fact that these boys choose this particular cultural holiday to wear their American Flag shirts to school was without a doubt was done to demean and antagonize the Mexican-American students. Which could create or incite violence, the schools responsibly to protect those 5 students and others from harm required that they act as they did. If this happened on any other day of the year, I would have a problem with the schools actions. If five students came to school with Wicca t-shirts before Christmas and were sent home you applaud the school district even though one could argue freedom speech. The fact is we do not have absolute freedom of speech. We cannot yell fire in crowded movie theater when there is not fire. In truth, a lot issues like this could be solved by going back strict dress codes in schools like there once were. If these sorts of things continue to go on everyone will lose there right to speech and free expression.

Jim on May 7, 2010 at 4:15 pm

I agree that the students should not have been sent home for wearing the American flag but after reading similar articles, I do have one question- Why are people referring to the Hispanic students as “Illegals”? There is no proof that any of the Hispanics involved were not here legally and in objectively written articles it refers only to “Hispanics” being upset. If you want to fight against social injustice and protecting our freedoms I will stand behind you 100% but if people keep insisting on using this (and other similar instances) to fuel their bigotry than I will not support that. You claim to be promoting American values when in fact this article is only propagating racism and hatred, principles in direct conflict with what the American flag actually stands for.

Nathan on May 7, 2010 at 11:49 pm

These parents are weak. They should have stayed with their kids in the school until the news trucks and cops arrived. I remember in the early 70’s my school closed for MLK day even though it was not an official holiday.
She made the janitor open the school and me and my brother sat and did our homework on the school grounds. My parents are tough people and wouldn’t stand for this garbage.

If that was me going to that school my mother would force them to remove me and then make the biggest stink possible. The principal and the district would be toast. Hell, both my parents would sit in the school and probably wrap themselves in the US Flag. My father would say if you don’t like it lump it. It would be something you couldn’t repeat because of the curses.

As a WW2 vet he would tell me to where the US flag shirt every day. That if anything happened to me they could expect retaliation. I love these situations because my parents would NEVER BACK DOWN AND MAKE THE SCHOOL CRY UNCLE.

spaceship22 on May 7, 2010 at 11:58 pm

I think it is disgusting that these kids were told to go home that were wearing an American Flag that may offend someone. How many of the offended Latino’s were illegal and if so why are they being educated at tax payers expense? What else liberal CA that will not admit that they are bankrupt and that the illegal population contributes to their demise.

Mongoose on May 8, 2010 at 2:31 am

To everyone who is claiming that these kids are in violation of the Flag Code, you are wrong. The Flag Code states you cannot wear a FLAG as clothing. These kids are wearing clothes that have a print of the flag on them. There is nothing wrong with how they are dressed. I suggest that people need to actually read and understand what is written before opening their mouths.

Dave on May 8, 2010 at 6:00 pm

ANYONE who is here (ILLEGALLY) needs to go the hell back from where they came from.

wroberts31 on May 13, 2010 at 6:57 am

Well u guys know damn rite them boys were tryna start something why didnt they wear their shirts the next day i bet they didnt even sport the flag on 4th of july they’re racist parents probably put them up to it i have no problem w the flag but hey that’s jyst what happens when u come from a racist family the principal saw right thru those boys tryna start shiiit and ha this was oir country before u were born so ha just remember the first will be last and the last will be first its in the bible read it we are all one stop the fights one love

locs on August 3, 2014 at 2:52 pm