by Jack Lee
13 year old Cody Alicea had been riding his bike to school for about two months with the American flag attached to it. Earlier this week he was asked to remove it by a school yard supervisor.
“In this country we’re supposed to be free,” said Cody. “And I should be able to wave my flag wherever I want to. And they’re telling me I can’t.” Cody had to take the flag off his bike and put it in his backpack, where he kept it all week. This action came one day before Veterans Day. Cody’s grandfather was a WWII vet and he was lavid.
Ed Parraz, the Superintendent of the Denair School District reported that the yard supervisor asked Cody to take down the flag over concern about his safety. Some students had complained about it and had apparently made threats.
Parraz said all national flags were banned from campus after a Cinco De Mayo incident when tensions escalated between students displaying the Mexican flag and those waving the Stars and Stripes.
“I think it would be irresponsible of us if we kind of shined it on and let him have the flag and he got jumped or something like that and got hurt,” said Parraz. And this is true, but it would be even more irresponsible to force Cody to be deneid his right to fly the American flag and show some patriotism while giving a free pass to those who are upset and angry because they don’t like the American flag and want to fly the Mexican flag.
Here’s a news flash: Those Hispanic students are wrong and its time they were told they are wrong! This is still America and we have a right to fly the American flag here.
If after being advised in detail how they are wrong and they still object and wish to threaten others who fly the American flag or they demand to fly their former country’s flag then they should consider leaving this country! They are not welcome and believe I can safely speak for every sane American with an IQ over 80 and an ounce of patriotism when I say, we are a melting pot society and people either believe in it or they should get out.
No matter how hard working they are or what wonderful family values they hold dear, if they won’t assimilate into our culture and behave as American’s first and foremost they are of little value to our society. Their attitude brings in more national security problems than we can tolerate.
Back at the middle school, Cody was greeted by a swarm of media outlets when he got out. At home he did more interviews with print, radio and television reporters. He was a bit unnerved by all the attention. His biggest concern was that Parraz was being vilified. “I don’t want him to be fired. I know where he was coming from. He’s a nice guy,” said Alicea.
We also recognize that the yard supervisor (a female) was acting with good intentions, but she should have taken this matter of threats up with the principal/superintendant before going any further.
Those making the threats should have been targeted and dealt with not the intended victim.
This is what we get when we have over 12 million illegal aliens invading this country, skipping past all the normal steps to insure a fair understanding of what America is and their role in this society as responsible citizens. THANK YOU LIBERALS AND DEMOCRATS FOR YOUR COWARDLY AND MORONIC STAND ON SANCTUARY CITIES AND OPEN BORDERS!
Latinos now make up a majority of California’s Public School Students, cracking the 50 percent barrier for the first time in the state’s history, according to data released Friday by the state Department of Education.
Almost 50.4 percent of the state’s Students in the 2009-10 School year identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino, up 1.36 percent from the previous year.
In comparison, 27 percent of California’s 6.2 million Students identified themselves as white, 9 percent as Asian and 7 pe…. SF Chronical
‘Those making the threats should have been targeted and dealt with not the intended victim.’
This in very simple terms should have been the Yard supervisors first course of action.
California is a mess and California schools are a big part of the problem. How are these kids…any of them…ever going to mature into responsible, contributing adult citizens when mob rule and intimidation tactics on the part of students is what drives decisions by those in authority?
My Own Synopsis: A sweet kid rides his bike to school with Old Glory flying gets slammed and banned by school administrators and garners international attention.
1) “Officials at the school told Alicea not to display the flag, citing safety concerns. Some students had complained about the display.”
Guess who those “some students” were? Guess what country is providing them an education? Guess who taught them that bully-by-complaint could be effective? Guess what sort of person is easily manipulated by bully-by-complaint? Can you say “politically correct”?
2) “Denair Unified School District Superintendent Edward Parraz said the campus recently experienced some racial tension.”
Interesting how the District under Edwardo Parraz first reacted to a student displaying the American flag while riding a bicycle to school. No? Not interesting?
3) “When he rode from his home to school on Monday, he was followed by a parade of people on motorcycles. The group said the Pledge of Allegiance upon arriving at school.”
Well, at least some people get it.
4) “Alicea said he was surprised at the attention. “This is big,” Alicea said. “I didn’t think it’d get this big.”
Neither did the students who complained nor did Superintendant Edwardo Parraz, nor did the school Principal. They just thought they could get away with a velvet boot heel to assuage some unhappy bully-by-complaint Latinos.
Didn’t work.
Quotes from —
Bikers Rally To Support Boy’s Flag Display
http://www.kcra.com/r/25795718/detail.html
Post Scripts Gets It! The education (“teaching moment”, auuugh, I can’t believe I wrote that) here did certainly DID NOT come from the adults who run the school or the district.
It came from a single sweet kid who realized that bending to intimidation is not the American way. Thank you Cody Alicea.
Follow Up:
Latino kids now majority in state’s public schools
http://tinyurl.com/3yzhjf4
“It’s no surprise that Latinos make up the new majority in California schools, considering that their numbers have grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades. In 2009, Latinos made up 37 percent of the state’s population, a number that continues to increase, according to the California Department of Finance.
But their electoral sway has not grown by similar amounts, BECAUSE ALMOST 40 PERCENT OF ADULT LATINOS IN CALIFONIA ARE INELIGIBLE TO VOTE”
Gee whiz, why are they ineligible to vote?
Can you say “sanctuary state”?
Great video Pie thanks for sharing it with us.
The WILL OF THE PEOPLE…it’s something we forgot we had for a long time. Does my heart good to see that people are, once again, realizing the power they have to uphold American values!
Cody is an awesome kid!
Love those vets!
“Mob rule and intimidation tactics?”
Wow!
If these kids were doing this at a ‘Town Hall,’ wouldn’t they be ‘just exercising their right to free speech?’
Re Quentin Colgan’s: “Mob rule and intimidation tactics?”
Wow!
If these kids were doing this at a ‘Town Hall,’ wouldn’t they be ‘just exercising their right to free speech?’
Get real.
On a side note I found Colgan’s blog entry “What I Believe In” very enlightening, including his refusal to post my comment to that blog entry.
Excerpt —
“Since I started this run for city council, people are trying to “accuse” me of being a conservative whacko.
Others are accusing me of being a leftist lunatic.
Ain’t labels wonderful?
Labels are a great way to turn off MOST of your audience. If someone is not “one of us,” we tend to ignore him or her. Calling me a conservative alienates the liberal voters and vice versa.”
May I respond to Mr. Colgan here?
1) Someone correct me if I am wrong but Mr. Colgan in his blog, in this blog, and elsewhere has, at different times, called himself a “true conservative”, a liberal, and a progressive. (I am absolutely certain about the “true conservative” part, but can’t provide a link for proof.)
2) At other times Mr. Colgan has objected to be labeled by any of the terms in 1).
3) In this blog Mr. Colgan has gone out of his way to label Tea Party members as racists, angry old white people, Nazi’s, and corporate operatives or dupes. (Except for the term “racist” I am paraphrasing.)
Frankly, I was quite disappointed with Mr. Colgan’s extremely poor showing in the recent election (a sentiment he declined to post in the comments section of his blog entry “What I Believe In” ).
Mr. Colgan in his entire history of blogging and running for office has simultaneously claimed and rejected labels for himself but consistently applies labels to people he thinks are his political enemies or folks he simply disdains.
I think I have finally come up suitable label that fits Mr. Colgan to a tee.
Quentin Colgan is an odious, boorish clown working the odious, boorish clown vote in Chico. He doesn’t believe in anything except self aggrandizement and begging for attention.
Evidently that political strategy and and the appeals to the Odious, Boorish Clown voter base in Chico just isn’t panning out too well.
How is that for “out of the box” thinking?
By the way Post Scripts, please, always, forever, post Quentin Colgan’s comments no matter how obnoxious, stupid, and insulting they may be. They are always so wonderfully revealing.
Quentin what I said is that those in authority in schools have allowed the unruly, the obnoxious, and the bullies to determine school policy.
Your TP “joke” would be (fairly) humerous except for the fact that children don’t really have speech rights in school (or in the home) since they have not reached the age of consent. As children they are subject to the authority of their parents or guardian and certain other’s like teachers, principles and the police. We seem to have forgotten that.
Back in the olden days most children were taught to respect authority…they were also taught manners and to treat each other with respect. It wasn’t a perfect system but it worked 99% of the time. Now our schools recognize special rights for designated groups, a practice that breeds discord and invites bullying.
TPers at Townhall meetings are exercizing their duty as citizens as well as their free speech rights. The two situations are not similar in any way…hence the joke falls flat.
Pie, on this blog Quentin has labeled himself a classic liberal although from my perspective he behaves like an angry progressive. If the following is an indication of what he believes I can’t fault him for what he would like to see happen in this country:
http://mises.org/etexts/classical.asp
“An American Classical Liberalism,” by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Just as the above is presented as a “daydream” so it seems is Quentin’s thought process. He argues as if it were possible to snap ones fingers and reverse 200+/- years of history. That would be possible I suppose under a monarch or dictator…LOL. We are stuck, or blessed, with “checks and balances”.
But this is why I keep prodding Quentin to share what he knows instead of sitting in judgement of the rest of us with such a smug sense of superiority. (I urge everyone to read the above article in full) I agree with a lot of what is proposed but I think that the world has shrunk to such a degree that the dream of being left alone (no foreign entaglements) is probably impossible.
Somebody asked me if I disapprove of Cinco De Mayo as a school function? In the spirit of multiculturalism, I have no problem with that. I have attended many such events and I enjoy them. I’ve also attended Chinese, Greek, Canadian, German, English and French cultural events. I enjoy them as well and look forward to attending whenever I can. But, this is not about support for…it’s about denying of…as in when in Rome kind of thing and that is the big dif.
When Latino students impose their former national culture on American’s by threat or force we have a problem.
Re: “When Latino students impose their former national culture on American’s by threat or force we have a problem.”
Agreed, but let me add the following.
I see this episode in an entirely different light. I happen to have a great love for Latino/Hispanic culture and do not see the celebration of that culture as an imposition or a threat. I love the the wonderful and multiform music from classical flamenca guitar to Norteo. I love the food, I love the dancing, I love the art and sculpture from, folk to formal. As far as I am concerned, Chico could have a “Cinco de Mayo” of sorts weekly as part of the Farmer’s Market.
What this really is all about is a proper response to racial tensions in a K-12 school setting. Their answer was to suppress display of the American flag? What?? That response was ill considered if not utterly idiotic, absurd, and insulting.
At least the adults now seem to be addressing the racial tensions themselves instead of attacking the display of the symbol of our country and democracy of which the Latino students are an integral part.
Who is teaching these Latino students to disrespect the country that they live in and educates them and have animus for the display of Old Glory? The educators in that school are.
These folks need to get a freaking clue.
Now they have to start dealing with what they have wrought. I wish them luck. I really do.
I don’t see this as a culture war, I see it as a potential lesson in how to be politic instead of divisive. This school has done their students an enormous disservice. Does anyone really expect that to teach students to be impolitic will be a skill they need to carry over into their adult life?
Perhaps the adults involved will get an education from these events too.
Pie we have full agreement. Everything you have said I could have said. Everything. We totally agree. Very well said…thank you.
Jack Lee
Pie, just one more thing, I think the teachers who are members of some leftists radical groups are part of the problem and so are the American loathing liberals.
Pie I agree, as I have stated many times before, that the schools need to realize the part they have played in encouraging this type of intimidation and bullying and they need to make some corrections. I don’t agree that the schools are the source of the problem. These kids have to be learning to feel superior at home. They are being taught to view white (and black) American kids with contempt and they have not been taught to appreciate the country, as you put it, that is educating them.
Americans have celebrated and embraced the heritage and traditions of many cultures. Never before have those who share their “old country” traditions used their celebrations to show contempt for America. In most cases they use it to raise money for charity.
There’s something else going on here. I don’t think all Latinos have this negative view of America but I think a significant number do and that is a problem.