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Planners want Old Glory only at local immigrant rally
11:51 PM CDT on Monday, April 3, 2006
By DIANNE SOLIS / The Dallas Morning News

Wary of confrontations, organizers of a giant pro-immigration rally this weekend have issued a directive: Keep your Mexican flags at home.

At pro-immigrant demonstrations across the nation in the last week, the waving of the Mexican flag has sparked incendiary emotions among U.S. citizens, including Mexican-Americans.

If immigrants want legalization in the U.S., some say, they should logically raise the Stars and Stripes high.

But Mexicans say carrying their red-white-and-green banner shows pride in their roots – at a time when they face increasing hostilities from Congress and the public. And in meetings across Dallas and the nation, as planning gets under way for a march Sunday billed as the largest in Dallas history, the directive is stirring debate.

Protest marches can't be "branded" with safe symbols, as though they were a sports product, some say.

"This is the people's march: This isn't LULAC's march," said Roberto Calderon, a University of North Texas professor, about the one of the organizers, the League of United Latin American Citizens. "Most people coming will not be reading e-mails that say, 'Don't bring Mexican flags.' ...Who is going to enforce taking flags away?"

The flap over the flag opens a window into the divide between Immigrant America and the rest of the country. Flags and their unofficial anthems inspire great emotion on both sides of the Río Grande.

In Garland, as high school protesters gathered at a park, Gregg Holmes, an employee at a nearby furniture store, couldn't contain himself when he saw them waving Mexico's distinctive flag withan eagle anda serpent.

"This is your flag," he shouted, holding up the red-white-and-blue. "Thanks to this flag you are free to protest. Not that flag."

One student shouted back: "We've built everything."

Such exchanges have played out in countless episodes across the country. At Reagan High School in Houston last week, a principal was disciplined for displaying the Mexican flag on the flagpole, beneath the U.S. and Texas flags in support of students. And in Colorado, dozens of high school students protested a temporary policy forbidding them from displaying the U.S. flag – and flags from other countries – amid racial tensionsafter immigration rallies.

And, WFAA-TV (Channel reported Monday night that Royse City High School officials had banned students from bringing flags to school. School district officials said patriotism is not the issue, but keeping peace on campus is.

Mexicans and their children say they simply want respect for their labor and contributions.

U.S. citizens say they want respect, too, for their flag and what it stands for.

At Dallas City Hall last week, a fresh-faced Andrea Lira, 13, carried the Mexican flag. She is a U.S. citizen, but her parents came from Leon, Guanajuato – the birthplace for a large exodus of migrants who have called North Texas home for decades.

"They treat us as though we don't exist, as though we don't have feelings," Andrea said. "I carry the Mexican flag because I am standing up for them."

U.S. flags only

An e-mail now making the rounds bluntly tells potential protesters of the rules at theSunday's event: "No Mexican flags will be flown. Only U.S. flags will be displayed."

Organizers said at a meeting Monday night in Dallas that they plan on handing out 14,000 U.S. flags to those who come without.

FromDJs to priests, the message has been remarkably similar.

At KZZA-FM (106.7), known for its racy reggaeton music, a DJ Monday morning urged listeners to join the Sunday protest.

"Latinos, we have shown that we can stand up. ... Bring an American flag" and show thanks to the United States, the DJ urged.

At the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Sunday , the parish priest finished the Spanish-language Mass with an announcement of the march, which will start at 1 p.m. Sunday at the downtown shrine.

He called for the waving of U.S. flags as a symbol of support for the U.S., said parishioner Edna Ruano.

"I understand that people want to stay in this country, but why can't I be proud of my heritage, too," Ms. Ruano said.

It's the message, not the symbol, that matters, said Dora Tovar, owner of a public relations firm and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. The debate over the flag has gone on for several years in California – a flash point on immigration issues because of the global exodus to the nation's most populous state.

"I almost feel like we are trivializing the importance of our presence by being fixated on an issue that is not relevant to the policy debate," Ms. Tovar said.

Rodolfo de la Garza, a political science professor at Columbia University, said the last big debate on flags dates back to 1994 when Californians were debating Proposition 187, which would have denied illegal immigrants most government services. While voters approved the measure, a federal judge blocked its implementation.

The use of the Mexican flag "generated a lot of ill will – even among Mexican-Americans," Dr. de la Garza said.

"It's an odd symbol," he said. "The march is about the right to be here, but it gives the wrong message."

Yet, if march organizers ban Mexican flags, they then face another contradiction, Dr. de la Garza said. Freedom of expression means protesters choose their symbol freely, he noted. "They have the right to do it. It is part of freedom of speech."

When Mr. Calderon received an e-mail about the march rules, he said he fired off an opposing response.

It is impossible to police the hearts of immigrants who want to carry their particular flag, Mr. Calderon said, while pressing for U.S. legalization of those without papers. "There is a little bit of creative chaos in any marcha," he said. "Get real. Breathe, will you."

On Monday, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a volunteer group that normally patrols the border watching for illegal immigrants, called for a "Take An American Flag to Work Day" for Thursday. A news release said the call was in response to protesters waving the Mexican flag at pro-immigration rallies.

Rich history

Like the Stars and Stripes, the Mexican flag inspires passion.

And just like Old Glory's stripes symbolize the original 13 colonies of the U.S., the Mexican eagle devouring a snake atop a cactus symbolizes a myth of the Aztecs, one of the strongest cultures before the arrival of the Spanish.

Others note that Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Chinese-Americans celebrate their lunar new year and Italian-Americans celebrate Columbus Day. As a nation of immigrants, the United States has come to embrace the cultural celebrations by many of its citizens who still identify themselves with a hyphen linking them to their homeland.

José Rodriguez, a native of Mexico who is now a U.S. citizen, said the protesters deserve some understanding. The CEO of Total Design on Marble & Granite in Carrollton, said the U.S. culture and its efficiencies invigorate him.

"On St. Patrick's Day, when all the people wear green do you feel the Irish want the U.S. to become Irish?" he asked.

To carry the Mexican flag is to say: "I am here to offer you my hard work and my dedication."

Thus, for future protests, Mr. Rodriguez suggested a compromise: "I encourage my people to carry the U.S. flag and wear a T-shirt with the Mexican flag."

Dallas Morning News staff writers Katherine Leal Unmuth and Paul Meyer and Al Día staff writer Patricia Estrada contributed to this report.
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Protest rules

Sunday's pro-immigration "megamarch" will start at 1 p.m. at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, 2215 Ross Ave., and end at the Dallas City Hall Plaza. Protesters have been asked to abide by these rules:

No Mexican flags. Only U.S. flags will be displayed.

Wear white to signify peace.

No negative messages. All banners must be positive.

Monday

National Immigrant Civil Rights Day: People in the Dallas area will wear white ribbons, armbands or wristbands to remind others of the importance of dealing with immigrants civilly and justly.

"Not a Penny" Day: People are asked not to spend a single cent on Monday to show the effect and importance of the immigrant on the economy. The message: "Don't buy gas, don't go to Wal-Mart, don't go to lunch."


SOURCE: LULAC