Three stripes and one emblem have taken center stage in the immigration debate. Conservative radio and blogs have been on fire over the presence of Mexican flags at immigration protests. In describing the protests Michelle Malkin (who is leading the crusade against the flags online) remarked
"Mexican flags and signs advocating ethnic separatism and supremacy filled the landscape." Michael Savage is so incensed by it that he has urged his listeners to take to the streets and
burn the Mexican flag. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., Virginia Republican, has claimed that
many of those waving the Mexican flag are "apparently" here illegally and they should "go to Mexico and wave the American flag." Senator McCain, in turn,
warned the Hispanic community that it risks a backlash if it becomes "unruly or too many Hispanic flags - and not enough American flags - are at these protests."
There are certain isolated events that both sides can I think agree are totally inappropriate, like the report of an American flag being flown upside down. But for the extremists on the right and even some moderates, the mere image of a Mexican flag is deemed provocative. On March 27th, CNN's Lou Dobbs, a "proud" Minuteman supporter, declared "I don't think that we should have any flag flying in this country except the flag of the United States."
Michelle Malkin and other paranoid extremists view the waving of the Mexican flag as evidence of attempt on the part of Mexicans to "reconquer" the United States. They believe waving the flag of another country--even if you wave the flag of America as well--means your allegiance is split and you are un-American.
Yet, such a rabid and knee-jerk response ignores why protesters choose to wave Mexican flags. As Steve Gilliard astutely observed, this immigration debate is about race, and "Latinos take this personally." The vitriolic tone used by those on the right--how dare THEY wave THAT flag in OUR country--is perceived by many Latinos as a direct assault on their identity. When Tancredo talks about an "invasion", it reinforces an us against them mentality which is an implicit rejection of what they represent: the Mexican culture and identity.
But waving the Mexican flag is not a de facto rejection of America or its laws, as Malkin and others would have people believe. It is the natural reaction of a people whose identity is under assault by racists on the right: it is a celebration of self, a proclamation that every culture is a definite thread in the American tapestry. It is a recognition that being American means living the most diverse nation on earth--a nation where you don't have to sacrifice your culture and traditions to be a proud American.
More (including video!) below the fold...
While Lou Dobbs believes celebrating your culture
"has nothing to do with America", nothing could be further from the truth. Because America isn't made up just of McDonald's and football. It's a place where our differences,
as well as our similarities, are what make us American. But no, even in the midst of the immigration debate, heritage and culture must be rendered irrelevant.
And so, Malkin doesn't let up as refuses to recognize flag-waving or signs of heritage as anything but part of some vast conspiracy to reclaim the southwest. When Mexican-Americans hold signs that say they are indigenous, Malkin decries it as radical ethnic separatism which undermines America. I wonder how Malkin will react to the following.
This weekend, the L.A. Times reported on a 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign video in which President Bush "essentially described millions of Americans who populate his home state as the true foreigners in someone else's native land":
"About 15 years before the Civil War, much of the American West was northern Mexico," Bush says in the video. "The people who lived there weren't called Latinos or Hispanics. They were Mexican citizens, until all that land became part of the United States.
"After that, many of them were treated as foreigners in their own land," Bush adds.
The video includes a clip of President Bush from 1998... smiling and waving the Mexican flag. A reconquistador, Malkin? Or someone who recognizes that the word "culture" isn't equivalent to "anti-Americanism"?
You can watch the video here (scroll down to "Latino Spirit.")