LETTING THEIR XENOPHOBIA FLY
Opinions split over red, white and green

From the Houston Chronicle:

Reagan High School Principal Robert Pambello was ordered to remove a Mexican flag Wednesday morning that he had hoisted below the U.S. and Texas flags that typically fly in front of his school — a symbol he agreed to fly to show support for his predominantly Hispanic student body.

At nearby Hamilton Middle School, a child was asked to wipe off Mexican and U.S. flags painted on his face. Hundreds of other students carried Mexican flags during walkouts Wednesday — acts of protest that they vow to continue until Congress rejects legislation that would further restrict immigration.

"There's no other way to be heard ... It's not the best way or the right way, but it's our way," Reagan freshman Jose Lopez, 14, said of the effort.

The Mexican flag has become a lightning rod in the immigration debate that's consumed the city and the nation this week. Students say the flag represents their pride in the contributions Mexicans make to this country. Critics, though, said watching young Hispanics in the streets with the red, green and white flags is more than they can stand. These youngsters are in the United States and should — at the least — carry the U.S. flag, they argue.

"The whole thing just makes my blood boil," said Bruce R. Wing, a 52-year-old Missouri City resident. "I want them all out of here."

Wing said the Houston Independent School District should fire Pambello.

Click here for the rest.

I know both Reagan High School, where one of my education certification classes met, and Hamilton Middle School, where I interned. They're both in Houston's Heights neighborhood, a mix of Mexican-Americans and gentrifying white yuppies: it's not surprising that the Chronicle had to go all the way out to Missouri City to get a critical quote; the two racial factions in the Heights seem to coexist quite well. Indeed, the Heights, where my wife Becky lived for over a decade, and Houston's east side, where I lived for six years, and where whites, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans live virtually side by side with very little visible strife, serve as a model of ethnic and racial tolerance. It is indeed possible for us to "all just get along."

The problems associated with illegal immigration are difficult enough to solve by themselves--the vested business and political interests which conspire together to exploit cheap illegal labor are powerful and not easily challenged. However, the xenophobia creeping into the debate makes a difficult problem that much more difficult. I don't think it's necessary to explain why fear of Spanish speakers is downright foolish, but I will observe that all of my interactions with Hispanic communities in the Houston area were always positive--obviously, very obviously, Spanish speakers are just like English speakers, some are cool, some are jerks, but they're all human beings. Yeah, it's fucking stupid that I even feel compelled to write that. I just don't get why so many non-Hispanic Americans get so stirred up about things like dual language ballots or the Mexican flag.

I think it's fair to say that mainstream American culture is facing no threat of extinction; the only thing I can conclude is that there is no rational basis behind opposition to Spanish speaking. It's just fear.

I have to admit, however, that I'm glad I'm not teaching anymore. I firmly support all these student walkouts--I displayed a Mexican flag in my classroom for most of my tenure. I haven't heard about any activism at the school in Baytown where I taught, although the above article does mention a walkout at the district's other high school, but if there was one, and I was still teaching, I would have found myself having to balance career concerns with moral concerns. That is, upon seeing so many teenagers taking to the streets in support of a just cause, I would have been majorly tempted to join them. Given the arrests and disciplinary responses coming down against these student activists, it's probably safe to say that any teachers joining in the fun would be dealt with harshly.

Anyway, good for Principal Pambello. Heh: "Principle Pambello." This is exactly the kind of man we need more of in public education.

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