A Sad State of Affairs

Five students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill (California) caused an uproar this past Wednesday, Cinco de Mayo, when they had the audacity to wear T-shirts with the American Flag to school. The students were asked to turn their shirts inside out, so as to not "offend" their fellow Mexican-American students on this, one of their supposed holidays.

There's only one problem. Cinco de Mayo is NOT a Mexican holiday. It is a celebration of the Mexican Army's defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862; celebrated primarily in the Mexican state of Puebla but is of little importance to the rest of the country. In the United States, it's yet another reason to drink.

Yet, the Mexican-American students felt disrespected and slighted. Biana Coreas, a sophomore, expressed her dismay: "We respect them on Fourth of July. We don't go with our Mexican flags waving it up that day, so why can't they respect us too?" They respect "them?" Why can't "they" respect "us too?" Wait! What??? THEM?!! US?!! Ms. Coreas, young as she is, gives clear voice and definition to the problem before us. She and those of her ilk; those who aren't of the WASP denomination, do not consider themselves "Americans." They only see themselves as Hyphenated-Americans. Still, I have to throw down the Bullshit card here. I posit that Ms. Coreas, and the vast majority of Mexican-Americans are ignorant as to what Cinco de Mayo really represents.

The five students chose to go home rather than submit to the unreasonable, mephitic and intolerant demands of Principal Nick Boden and his racist Vice Principal, Miguel Rodriguez. It should come as no surprise that the parents of the students and many others around the country are incensed at the actions of the school administration; and rightly so.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of and celebrating your heritage. It's the conglomeration of cultures that makes the United States great. Where else in the world can you go and experience hundreds of different cultures in one country?

This incident however, is simply more evidence of the massive chasm that exists between people and their cultures in this country. Hyphenated-Americanism has taken over and its tentacles of poison have had an almost irreversible, ruinous affect on the the country. The onus to rid ourselves of this curse; to reverse and eradicate the menace falls primarily onto the hyphenated peoples/cultures themselves. Until such time as they make the conscious decision to primarily become an "American" first, the chasm will remain.

There is no room in this country for Hyphenated-Americanism.