Posted on 10/07/2005 3:42:08 AM PDT by Man50D
A high-school senior who stayed seated during the playing of the Mexican National Anthem at a campus ceremony – fearing if he stood he might jeopardize his upcoming enlistment in the U.S. military – was reprimanded and sent to the school office.
The 17-year-old son of Robert Bedard of Elgin, Ill., a Chicago suburb, made the choice to stay seated during a ceremony honoring Mexican Independence Day at Larkin High School last month, the Daily Herald reported.
Bedard says his son was in the process of enlisting in the military and feared honoring another nation's anthem might jeopardize his status.
The boy's father, a lieutenant with the Elgin Fire Department, questioned how far cultural sensitivity has gone in his local schools.
"I am concerned that the Mexican Americans have unfairly monopolized the teaching of cultural awareness at this school," Bedard told the suburban paper. "At least that's the perspective of a parent. I'd love to be corrected."
According to the report, Latino students orchestrated an assembly for Mexican Independence Day, just as black students host an assembly commemorating black history month in February.
School board President Ken Kaczynski defended the celebration of different cultures.
"If we were teaching one culture's history over another, then we have an issue. But I don't think that's the case," Kaczynski said.
Last spring, a Larkin student wrote an essay lamenting the celebration of Mexican holidays in American schools, the Herald reported.
The teen faulted Mexican students, saying they shouldn't have lowered the American flag in favor of a Mexican flag on Sept. 16, 2004. School officials later said the American flag was raised again before class began.
"Of the ethnic groups at Larkin," Principal Richard Webb is quoted as saying, "the Hispanic group is growing at the most increased rate, and of that Hispanic group, the vast majority of students are Mexican-American."
Of the 2,550 students at Larkin High last year, 38.4 percent were Hispanic and nearly a quarter were new to English.
"If they have an assembly, I would be happy if they will not try to force students to honor patriotic elements of another culture unless they also honor our flag, our anthem as well," Bedard said. "It's just respect for both cultures."
Lots of good comments here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1497979/posts
They would burn our flag and effigies of Bush. The young man was right not to stand to honor anything about Mehico.
Remember The Alamo,
NSNR-CSAOTL
It all started with the Pan-Africa movement, many years back. If you didn't stand for "their flag/fist salute".. the snidey at you was that you were a racist.
Stupidity is a social disease largely communicable via pub ed institution of so-called education.
And you just know that if the scenario were reversed and he sat out the Star Spangled Banner, they'd have honored his "right to protest." Sickening.
Why the hell should we honor Mexico anyway? Their drug and human smugglers are mounting daily attacks on our borders!
We were up there several times when my son was in bootcamp and A-school at Great Lakes, ILL this past spring and summer. We went to the local Walmart and thought we had stepped over the border into Mexico. Most of the employees and shoppers were Mexican. Some of the announcements were made in Spanish. Many of the signs were in Spanish. People shopping around us were speaking spanish! It was just weird!
Liberals with the help of the ACLU have defended students & others who refuse the stand for the Star Spangled Banner.
If he had wanted to spit on the US National Anthem, he would be praised as a hero.
I stand with the kid. He has no obligation to show any respect tot he flag of another nation - especially when that nation has deliberately engaged on policies to encourage their own citizens to violate our laws and our sovereignty.
The school was wrong to discipline him or agree to any respect for Mexican Independence Day. This is sheer BS.
We get offended when the hockey teams from Canada disrespect our national anthem.
Common courtesy demands we respect other flags or anthems at appropriate times.
We were at a baseball game in NY recently and there were four young adults from Canada in front of us. They came to see the Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) When our national anthem was played, they stood up, took off their baseball hats and showed respect.
When the game was over I spoke to them and thanked them for being respectful.
"When in Rome..."; the kid is in Illinois, if he were in Mexico then it would have been different.
Doesn't surprise me one bit.
Here in Ft.Walton Beach, FL, I refer to Wal-MArt as "Little Mexico". On Saturdays you'd think you were in Tijuana..........
Think of standing up and saluting in 1944 when the rising sun and the little swatiksa passed by, or do you sing the praises of the iranian revolution and the coming of islam. We are at war with the foreign cultures trying to replace our multi cultural life style. Dont try to indoctrinate our children and lower our culture or dumb them down. Think about it how many of those mexicans want to stay in mexico?
Wish I knew the boys address. His status in the US Military was safe even if he would have stood up.
But he was 100% right in refusng to stand. Multicultural Awarness is a great thing to inform others of different cultures.
But to Mandate the honors to the Mexican Anthem is stupidity in action. I wonder if the school plays the US National Anthem at all?
'We were at a baseball game in NY recently and there were four young adults from Canada in front of us. They came to see the Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) When our national anthem was played, they stood up, took off their baseball hats and showed respect.'
But they were not made to stand , that is the difference there in my opionin.
Whjen our local Major League baseball team hosted a Latin night, I couldn’t help but think had they of hosted a European night, the outrage that what have taken place, even if it were voluntary to attend....
very doubtful and they probably have a ramadan celebration planned or a Kwanza dinner.
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