The increased frequency of an offended minority – sometimes a single individual – has gone too far. Some are offended by someone wearing a cross; by anything bearing the words “In God We Trust;” by the 10 Commandments; any outward showing of American flags in recognition of our troops; and most recently Bibles in the night stands of rooms in a college campus hotel.
Student in flag shirt (wtvr.com photo)
On May 5, 2010, Cinco de Mayo, students wearing American flag shirts at a California school were told to turn them inside out, take them off or go home.
The recent decision by the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals upholding the ban raises an interesting history question.
Which of the three statements below is correct?
- Mexican students were offended by the American flag because Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexico’s Independence.
- The school was concerned the flag shirts would incite violence because it is another reminder of Mexico’s unsuccessful attempt to retain land now part of California and Arizona.
- The shirts are a reminder of America’s victory in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48 in which the Mexican militia was humiliated.
If you chose any of these you are wrong. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration that actually originated among Mexican-American communities to commemorate the Mexican Army’s victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Cinco de Mayo does not signify Mexico’s Independence Day. That’s celebrated on Sept. 16.
French flag (commons.wikimedia.org photo)
I wonder what would happen if students wore shirts bearing the French flag. Would Mexican students recognize it as the flag of the enemy of the Battle of Puebla, or would they see its red, white and blue colors as American flag colors?
