Posted on 11/13/2001 9:23:12 AM PST by healey22
Monday, November 12, 2001 - Maria Chavez painted a mural on her high school wall last spring that was intended to promote unity - within families, at school, in communities and between nations. But that mural has recently sparked some disunity.
Chavez's mural depicting the Delta High School panther mascot between two flags - the Stars and Stripes and the banner of Mexico - has raised a protest from some veterans because the two flags are given equal representation. When facing the mural, they say, the American flag should be on the left rather than the right, and the American flag should be larger or somehow more prominent.
At least one vet doesn't believe the Mexican flag belongs there at all.
"My main gripe is some foreign flag taking the same prestigious position in a school as the American flag. A foreign flag doesn't belong in our schools in a permanent mural," said World War II veteran John Sukle.
Chavez, 18, said she never dreamed she would be creating controversy when she painted the flag on a hallway wall at the school for her senior art project. Chavez was a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a national organization with local chapters in schools, so she painted a mural that would represent the league's ideals.
"I never intended to do anything to make people offended. That's so not me," said Chavez, who now attends the Delta Montrose Voc-Tech School.
There was no offense taken until Sukle recently saw a photograph of the mural in a local newspaper and contacted the American Legion Post 65 in Delta.
Gordon O'Brien, commander of the post, met with school officials, Chavez and some other members of the league last week.
"We weren't upset. We just brought it to their attention," O'Brien said.
Chavez agreed to paint gold fringe on the American flag to make it look larger. School officials also decided to place a plaque in the front of the mural explaining the goals of the League of United Latin American Citizens and Chavez's motivation for painting the mural.
Chavez said she wanted to show understanding, cooperation and unity of two nations in a school where nearly 20 percent of the students are Hispanic. The plaque will say: "Working together as a family, school, community and as a country to make a difference in our youth."
That settled the matter as far as most people were concerned.
Not Sukle, though.
Sukle, 89, said he fought in four key World War II battles. He helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp. And he is not going to back down from defending the honor of his flag now.
"I intend to fight on. I don't mind yelling as loud as I can," Sukle said. "Too many people don't understand what our flag stands for."
School Superintendent Bill Carlquist said Friday that he understands that the flag means different things to different people.
He said the school's 30 or so members of the Latin League are very patriotic: They recite the Pledge of Allegiance before every meeting and handed out miniature flags in the school after Sept. 11. He said the group promotes leadership, community service and the importance of education.
Carlquist said he can also understand the veterans' deep-seated feelings about proper protocol for display of the flag.
Carlquist contacted school attorneys for advice and delved into the details of the U.S. flag code. They found that there are no rules specifically addressing flags in murals. The district, however, agreed to make changes that would satisfy the majority of the American Legion members.
No one, including Sukle, knows what his continuing protest will lead to.
Carlquist said right now he considers the entire matter a good learning experience for students.
"It's been a great civics lesson," he said.
However, another factor is the unrelenting flood of immigrants who naturally tend to group within their particular culture. It's my position that we should halt all illegal immigration, deport those who are found (let them apply legally), and limit legal immigration to 200,000 or less per year with an emphasis on skilled persons. I live in Southern California and have seen a balkanization occuring in my lifetime. This can't be good.
That is a problem. But it should be viewed for what it is -- a failure of administration and willpower on both sides of the border -- rather than something endemic and peculiar to Mexicans. I find it alarming how justified anger at illegal immigration so easily translates into a low-grade xenophobia. I'm half-Mexican, and my family did its part to make this country. We should be allowed to fly a Mexican flag if we like -- as a banner of pride, not allegiance. Believe me, when the Stars and Stripes fly, we know that's our country, and we act accordingly.
I don't have an easy answer, here....just pointing out one of the difficulties.
Personally, I'd combine a thorough physical tightening of the border with a series of measures designed to force all illegals to seek citizenship (for example, denial of all public services and money-transfer abilities). The path to that citizenship, as mentioned previously, would preferably include rigorous instruction in English and US history/civics.
Not that this will happen....
First, I've never bought that reasoning for allowing illegals to stay. Who did these jobs before the flood of immigrants? The answer: teenagers, young adults, homeowners, housewives, African-Americans, young American craftsman (construction), poor white families (agriculture). With the huge labor pool of illegals, the wages have been driven down to unacceptable levels for the above. I'm currently in a class action suit against my house builder for inferior construction...that happens all over California due to unskilled low-paid workers. The illegals have all but replaced citizen craftsmen. As for agriculture, just how many *millions* do we need to pick our crops?
Secondly, I don't expect "masse" deportations, but when found, the law should be enforced.
We need to close our southern border, repatriate all illegals, and put an immediate stop to immigration before we lose what's left of our American culture.
BFD!
Buncha wanna be whiners!
Little girl didn't know what is really up.
You f*ckers want to slam her.
And I'm a vet.
I've lost friends who were vets.
Get with the times, get to know 'your country', approach the ignorant with kindness and understanding, not venom!!
Sounds like my cranky old man of a Korean War Vet who has no life and sits in front of the TV EVERY day!
Get a clue, Duhhh!
Ridiculous.
I wonder how many *LEGAL American Citizens* there are who want to those prestigious jobs as busboys, gardeners, maids, and dishwashers. I'm sorry, but illegal aliens aren't exactly getting the chance to take Fortune 500 jobs!
More ridiculous.
No it is not Mexico.
You can't give some ignorant little girl the benefit of the doubt?
Heh, heh, I've been dealing with 'little girls' (average age about 25) for a while and they aren't as 'clued in' as the little 17 year old mentioned in this article.
Educate them, don't ostracize(sp?) them!
Now if she is one of those "wanna take Cali(Kali) back for the 'atzlans' types, then I have no sympaty.
You are right. But the slap I feel comes from someone that you probably never saw. My self.
Why did'nt this young lady know that the Flag of The United States should always be displayed by it's self and to the right when displayed with other flags? It is my fault, and the sting hurts. Let's not have it happen again.
USAF 84-90'
I have to concur. I am a multiculturalist, so I don't agree with everything that jtrevino says .. but I have been given 'pause for thought', which is all that I can expect.
It has been particularly informative because we 'down under' are not given to such a virulent strain of patriotic expression.
As an aside, not everyone takes the flag / national anthem / overt patriotism bit as seriously as some of you guys.
An example? I was at a motor race recently, and your national anthem was played before mine. Did my fellow Australians riot in the stands?
Nope. We sat, in respectful silence, while your anthem was played, then stood and sang when ours was.
And your flag was flown next to ours. Was it on the left or the right? I dunno .. and I don't care.
While we Aussies are just as patriotic as you guys, it is a different form of patriotism.
So, thanks jtrevino and others in this thread for a (relatively) well-mannered discussion.
Regards
Graham
In other words, a monk's robe does not make a monk.
Even if I told you I did not merely travel but that America is the 4th nation to which I integrated (was previously widowed twice, once with a Malagacy, once with a French, now married to an American, I know how each woman thinks differently, not merely from a distance), it still is no proof whatsoever of anything about myself. You have not even paid attention to what I was saying.
IS that your version of tolerance? Whoever does not unionise with Mexicans is a hater of Mexicans? This article from a leftist paper is a lie. Average Mexicans may at times like America, but that is certainly not true of the white Mexican elite which were cheering when the WTC was bombed.
The Washpost is a paper that has connection with those haters of America that I have personaly met when I lived in Mexico city for 2 months at a Mexican dimplomat's house who had parties there. The Washpost is avoiding what some of the Mexican press is saying and what those diplomats are saying privately, and believe me, it is ugly.
This is not balanced report, it is disinformation. Like I said, there is a numerator and a denominator. Whoever does not balance things out is suspicious.
Again, there is a wide difference between unity and unionisation. But you won't address the bottom line. There are two sides to this story.
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