Thread: Mexican flag-raiser seeks school reinstatement

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5450164&nav=HMO6

Teenager seeks reinstatement at school following flag flap


MESA, Ariz. The boy who tried to raise a Mexican flag at his Apache Junction high school in March wants to be allowed back at the school.

After trying to fly the flag, Adam Garcia was arrested, jailed for a night, placed under house arrest for a month and expelled from Apache Junction High School.

Now, Garcia sits at home, not attending classes anywhere. Meanwhile, he says the white student who grabbed the Mexican flag and burned it was allowed to stay in school.

District spokeswoman Carol Shepherd says the actions taken against all students involved were appropriate.

Garcia's mother disagrees.

Emily Hernandez says her son hasn't done anything wrong. She just wants him to finish school.

Garcia could enroll in a charter school or in another district, but he says he lacks transportation.

He says he wants to return to his old school to prove he did nothing wrong and to get an education.


___

Information from: East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune, http://www.aztrib.com

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=74902

Mexican flag-raiser seeks school reinstatement
By Andrea Falkenhagen, Tribune
September 24, 2006
Adam Garcia attempted to fly a Mexican flag at his high school last March. Instead, he was arrested, jailed for a night, placed under house arrest for a month and expelled from Apache Junction High School in a highprofile incident that came amid protests and marches as the national debate over immigration swept the nation.

Now, six months later, Garcia sits at home, not attending classes anywhere. Meanwhile, he says, the white student who grabbed the Mexican flag and burned it was allowed to stay in school.

“They’re racist,” Garcia said. “That other kid, he got out free with nothing on him.”

Apache Junction Unified School District officials, citing a federal privacy law, refused to say whether the other student was expelled.

But district spokeswoman Carol Shepherd indicated that previous discipline problems can contribute to a decision to expel a student. Garcia, now 17, acknowledges he previously received an on-campus suspension. And his court files show one prior arrest for disorderly conduct, which he said was the result of a fight between him and his father.

“The actions taken on all students were appropriate in the disciplinary process,” Shepherd said.

Garcia’s mother, Emily Hernandez, disagrees.

“Adam was doing nothing wrong at all,” said Hernandez, an Apache Junction nurse. “He just was raising the flag, there’s no crime in that. I feel proud of my son.”

Despite the expulsion, she said she wants her son to finish school.

Garcia, who was born in the United States, could enroll in a charter school or in another district. But he said his lack of transportation means he needs to attend classes within walking distance of his home.

He also said he wants to return to his old school to prove he did nothing wrong.

“I want to graduate,” he said. “Hardly anyone has graduated in my family. I want to go back to learn how to read more.”

The incident began on the morning of March 30, when Garcia went to campus before the American flag was raised and attempted to fly a Mexican flag.

Students from the school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, a group of students exploring military careers, took the flag down. Police reports show Garcia attempted a second time to raise the flag, but one student grabbed it and set it afire.

Police said a shoving match ensued, and both boys were arrested and taken to the Pinal County juvenile detention center in Florence. The ROTC student, who is white, was placed under a 6 p.m. curfew until his court date, while Garcia was placed under house arrest until his.

Court records show both were placed on probation.

Garcia was required to complete 40 hours of community service and write an apology to the school and the community — for something he said he never did.

“That letter hurt me,” he said. “I felt ashamed writing it, I felt ashamed for my family. I feel like I let my mom down.”

He said he was trying to make a point last spring, not cause a fight. He described a school with racial tensions simmering under the surface.

“Everyone keeps on complaining about Mexicans coming here,” Garcia said. “They don’t know I’m American. I was born in the United States. I wanted to put up the flag to show everyone that no matter where we’re from, we should respect everyone.”

It’s not illegal to fly the flag of another country, said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. She said the question comes down to whether or not students were causing a dangerous atmosphere.

She is concerned that some schools give harsher punishments for offenses that relate to speech issues than those that do not, which could have been the case with Garcia, she said.

“What we saw a lot of times when we had the immigration march walkouts, for example, was that some students were given harsher penalties because they walked out for the immigration debate, than they would have been given if they had just walked out on a different day,” she said.

Contact Andrea Falkenhagen by email, or phone (480) 970-2348

He just was raising the flag

NOT OLD GLORY!

This disconnect about being an American, NOT Mexican (or whatever country an immigrant is from) is part of my concern.

If he wants the mexican flag raised over the school then he needs to go to school in Mexico.

Emily Hernandez says her son hasn't done anything wrong

If you think the Mexican flag should fly at our schools and other public institutions then YOU have NO IDEA what America is or what America is about and you, your son and ALL who think that are my enemies! If you think the Mexican flag should fly above the American flag then you, your son and ALL who think that are my enemies! My uncle didn't die in Italy so you can disparage America. My dad did not serve in the Pacific so this can be Mexico and I did not serve in the Air Force so you can s**t on the blood of Patriots!

It SHOULD be illegal to fly the flag of another country on government property. Public schools are government property, supported by taxpayers. If there isn't such a law, then a law should be passed. That would end this BS.

So, the kid found out that some Americans aren't pushovers like they have been used to and now he's got to face the consequences. So, of course, he whines. Cry me a river. This needs to happen more; THIS IS AMERICA, WE SPEAK ENGLISH, AND WE FLY THE AMERICAN FLAG. If you don't like it, go somewhere else, no apologies and no appeasement.

I'd opine his classmates would seek his friendship if he'd condemn the illigal aliens as much as he embraces them. He chose poorly and now like all of us, will face the consequences. That's how it's done in America.