[Polybius]

And did those Eastern European immigrants ever fly the flags of their former countries while in Cicero? Nope. Why? Because they were proud to be Americans in every sense of the word

Most likely, yes, they did, just as immigrants and their children and grandchildren do in the rest of the U.S., generations after they left the Old Country.

You are creating imaginary immigrants to populate an imaginary America that never existed.

Lithuanian Flag raised in Downtown Chicago ...... To commemorate Lithuanian Independence Day the Mayor's office of the city of Chicago has autorized the raising of the Lithuanian flag at the Daley Center Plaza. The flag will be flown on two days, Feb 14th and Feb 16th. Arrangements for the flag raising and it's provision were made through the offices of Lithuanian American Council. The 375 square foot flag will be flown from the five-story flagpole which flanks the world famous Picasso sculpture located on the plaza.

Now how about a modern day Pulaski Day Parade:

Or a modern day Columbus Day Parade:

Or a modern day St. Patrick's Day Parade:

Or going back in History to the days of the Irish Brigade:

Immigrants forget the Old Country of their ancestors and Old Stock Americans forget the regional heritage of their Old Stock American ancestors once they are so "Heinz 57" that they have no clue where their grandparents were born and where their grandparents grew up and they don't care.

Ethnic heritage and being "American" are not mutually exclusive.

A fifth generation Irish American that knows that his Irish immigrant forefather fought in the Irish Brigade under it's green battle flag adorned with the symbols and Gaelic language of the Old Country has a hell of a lot more "American heritage" than a "Heinz 57" American who has no clue where his ancestors were in 1863 or in 1917.

To such Americans, this is "heritage":

[longtermmemmory]

The Greek Flage is raised in may city halls in honor of Greek independence day on March 25.

In fact one of the FIRST foreign aid efforts of the United States was independence of the Greeks from the ottoman empire in 1821.

glad cnn was not around then.

[Mr. Mojo]

The pictures you posted and the examples you cited were of immigrants flying their flags of national origin in commemorative ceremonies on certain dates. That's quite different from flying those flags year-round, as the Mexicans in this story are doing.

Ethnic heritage and being "American" are not mutually exclusive.

Obviously, and no one disputes that. But being knowledgeable and proud of one's heritage and national origin is a far cry from having primary loyalties to one's former/ancestral nation(s).

[mrsmel]

It’s not the celebration of ethnic ancestry with which I dissent, it’s that in many cases these newer immigrants aren’t citizens, have no intention of becoming citizens, have no intention of assimilating into America while celebrating that heritage, don’t want to be American-instead, want America to change to what serves them, or in some cases assimilate America into a foreign culture or even separate regions, etc. That’s the difference.