On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population.
Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal's office.
"They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."
The boys said the administrators called their T-shirts "incendiary" that would lead to fights on campus.
"They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended," Dominic Maciel, Galli's friend, said.
The boys really had no choice, and went home to avoid suspension. They say they're angry they were not allowed to express their American pride. Their parents are just as upset, calling what happened to their children, "total nonsense."
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel's mom, said. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They're expressing their individuality."
But to many Mexican-American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.
"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."
As for an apology, the boys and their families say, 'fat chance.'
Ohhh America, The Land Of The Free. Freedom for teachers to make kids take off shirts of the american flag....in America. I wonder what was really going through these teachers heads. Like its cinco de mayo man, nobody really cares about it that much, its just an excuse to get drunk off margaritas and wear sombreros. Dont get me wrong, I like Mexicans, I embrace the holiday so much that I even left a tip at taco bell yesterday (even though I think the asshole behind the counter was Guatemalan but the point is I payed my respects). But you cant get caught up in all the little bullshit like some 15 year old honkeys rocking their national pride all up in a punta's face, because thats just whats gonna go down on a holiday like that. I mean like im pretty sure there was even some broke ass beaners wearing american flag shirts yesterday too but nobody is giving them any shit, because its just how they roll ya know.
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