Thread: billboards feature upside down U.S. flag

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Article published Jul 26, 2006
Anti-illegal immigration billboards feature upside down U.S. flag

A Mexican flag flying above an upside-down American flag and the words "Had Enough?" are featured on two billboards some Buncombe County Republicans have posted to call attention to illegal immigration.

Supporters said the billboards aren't about targeting certain races or the area's legal immigrants.

"Our issue is with lawbreakers," said Kathie Lack, president of the Buncombe County Republican Action Club, which posted the billboards on July 13 for a monthlong run.

"To just allow them to walk across the border, bring whatever diseases or bad habits they bring with them, and demand we should treat them like citizens is a bit over the top."

Local immigrant leaders say the billboards have generated concerned e-mails and phone calls, and they worry the signs could offend and scare both legal and illegal immigrants.

"What I'm asking people to do is just ignore them," said Edna Campos, an Asheville-based Hispanic advocate. "The folks who put them up there, I don't know what their reason was.

"What we need right now is rational, intelligent dialogue about this issue."

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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times,


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Anyone got a pic of this billboard? Would like to see it. Any why would they put our flag upside down on a billboard? I do not see how that would help our cause?

What I'm asking people to do is just ignore them," said Edna Campos, an Asheville-based Hispanic advocate. "The folks who put them up there, I don't know what their reason was.

Well then you must not be very smart or educated about our history and our flag if you cannot figure out what the reason is

ismith - I believe it is the picture of the demonstrations when they put our flag upsidedown under the Mexican Flag.

Yes I do have the pic, but do not understand why the phrase "had enough? is on there? That pic alone woke up many american citizens to this crisis.

An Upside Down American Flag represents
"American in Distress"

CITIZEN-TIMES.com
2 billboards target illegal immigrants


By Kelby Hartson Carr
KCARR@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
July 26, 2006 12:15 am
In the latest local move calling attention to the issue of illegal immigration, a group of Buncombe County Republicans has put up two billboards depicting an upside-down American flag and asking, “Had Enough?”

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower contributed part of the $1,500 cost of the billboards, which also shows a Mexican flag flying above the inverted U.S. flag.

The Buncombe County Republican Action Club posted the billboards July 13 on Swannanoa River Road and Patton Avenue, where they will remain for a month.

“We’ve got this group of people who are all hot to do something, and we were all very upset about the illegal immigration situation,” said Kathie Lack, club president.

“We wanted something that would grab their attention and direct them to our Web site or telephone number so we can give them more information,” Lack said. An upside-down U.S. flag is a traditional distress signal.

The billboards have gone up in the wake of a national debate sparked by a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration. In May, thousands marched in downtown Asheville in a pro-immigration rally. This month, U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, announced eight Western North Carolina counties are exploring the idea of working with federal immigration agents to identify, process and in some cases detain illegal immigrants.

Lack said the billboards aren’t about targeting certain races or the area’s legal immigrants. “Our issue is with lawbreakers,” she said. “To just allow them to walk across the border, bring whatever diseases or bad habits they bring with them, and demand we should treat them like citizens is a bit over the top.”

Local immigrant community leaders are concerned that the billboards could offend and scare both legal and illegal immigrants.

“What I’m asking people to do is just ignore them. The folks who put them up there, I don’t know what their reason was,” said Asheville-based Hispanic advocate Edna Campos. “What we need right now is rational, intelligent dialogue about this issue.”

Campos said she has received several calls and e-mails about the billboards. She wants to see reasonable legislation proposed, and wants people on all sides of the issue to “remain calm.”

“I don’t want to see ethnic profiling going on, and I don’t want to see people, whether they’re documented or undocumented, feeling intimidated,” she said.

Mumpower said he is happy to support the cause. Last week, he proposed local legislation and actions to curb illegal immigration, including sanctions for businesses caught employing undocumented workers.

He countered the concerns that the billboards have upset local ethnic minorities.

“This is an anti-illegal immigration effort, not an anti-Latino effort,” he said. “There is a difference in resisting races versus resisting lawbreakers. This is about enforcing our laws within our borders.”

Vasiliy Draka, executive director of the Slavic Research Center in Asheville, said his clients are legally in this country, many of them refugees.

He does have concerns about stereotyping of immigrants, however, and the emotional impact the billboards could have. The nonprofit center helps Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking immigrants adapt to become economically self-sufficient.

“Some people tell me straight to my face, ‘Why don’t you go back where you come from or your people go back?’” he said. “I say, ‘Are you (American) Indian? No? So your grandfather or grandmother came to this country just like me.’”

The Senate earlier this year passed a bipartisan immigration bill offering a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants and generally delivering on the goals President Bush has outlined, which include securing the nation’s borders and imposing tougher penalties on employers who hire undocumented workers. The legislation has stalled after the House last year passed a far more restrictive bill that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally.




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Originally Posted by lsmith1338

Anyone got a pic of this billboard? Would like to see it. Any why would they put our flag upside down on a billboard? I do not see how that would help our cause?

Here's the picture:

Picture of billboard http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/60725076

Thanks guys for clearing this up. It is a call to action for americans, which I do believe the original picture was without the comments. And yes I did know that the flag upside down was "america in distress" Thanks again, had to have a visual, maybe I need another cup of coffee this morning