By Natalie Everett Patriotic Americans nationwide are up in arms
over a Hispanic high school administrator in Morgan Hill who asked
four white students to turn their American flag T-shirts inside-out
or go home on Cinco de Mayo.
Patriotic Americans nationwide are up in arms over a Hispanic high school administrator in Morgan Hill who asked four white students to turn their American flag T-shirts inside-out or go home on Cinco de Mayo.
That would be a great story if it were true. But important facts were omitted to make the incident strictly about American patriotism, when it’s also about race relations.
According to news reports, Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez asked students to hide their American patriotism in light of an unofficial holiday celebrating Mexican heritage.
To me – someone who covered schools in that south San Jose suburb for nearly two years – that
didn’t sound like Rodriguez, a thoughtful professional.
It sounded more like Principal Nick Boden, a man so controversy-averse he bristled at the thought of me coming on campus unannounced, even for noncontroversial features.
I called Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Wes Smith, who confirmed that Boden made the decision. Rodriguez carried it out.
Why the national media insisted on splashing Rodriguez’ name across front pages and on TV news tickers gets at the heart of the matter. This is more about race and immigration than it is either of the nations’ proud natives or First Amendment rights.
I disagree with Boden’s decision to circumvent freedom of speech out of concern for student safety.
But let’s not be so aghast at Boden’s decision that we ignore the underlying issue here. It’s the same issue in Morgan Hill – a friendly small town – that faces towns of all sizes nationwide. We still have a race problem in America.
Rodriguez, Boden – does it really matter who made the call? Yes. Names matter.
When previous Superintendent Alan Nishino retired last summer, some Hispanic parents called for a Hispanic replacement and were dismayed to hear the name of the man the board hired: Smith.
His name alone offended Hispanic parents, in spite of the good things the bilingual Smith had done for students of every race at his previous district.
But Hispanics aren’t the only ones judging a book by its title. Rodriguez’ name fueled the fire nationwide.
Tensions among Hispanic and white students and parents in Morgan Hill had been building. In my time there, two Hispanic parent groups had formed to ensure their students’ needs and considerations were met along with those of their white peers.
There was a concern that English-language learners weren’t getting the support they need, and that English-speaking Hispanic students were stigmatized as slow when they weren’t.
That’s why the parents thought it would be important to have a Hispanic superintendent. Their suggestion angered some parents, who responded with the typical “learn English or leave” notes on online message boards at the local newspaper.
Then came Arizona’s strict anti-illegal immigration legislation, further stoking emotions.
So on May 4, Boden sent a directive to teachers to ask their students not to don flags of any colors or stripes the next day, Smith told me. That meant no flag of any nation.
The administration didn’t simply tell students to honor Cinco de Mayo by leaving their American flags at home, as the national press would have you believe.
The omitted detail that students were asked to leave all flags – not just American flags – at home further ignited this controversy.
Smith said the no-flag decision was made to protect the students. Any day at a high school with more than 1,000 students can be a dangerous day, Smith said. And the unofficial holiday of about a third of the student population? That day could be even more charged with emotion, he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union read between the lines here.
“For displays of the American flag to create such a strong concern about disruption, it’s likely the school has underlying racial and cultural tensions that need attention,” Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU’s Northern California chapter wrote in a May 11 blog.
Boden retires this year. Smith said nothing, including Rodriguez’ termination, was off the table as the district investigates the incident. But he said the decisions would be made based on facts and “not the uproar.”
I hope Rodriguez’ termination comes off the table soon. His Hispanic name is irrelevant; he didn’t make the call.
Smith said there is a silver lining.
“I don’t know that we’ve had an open dialogue about the way the community is feeling” about immigration and race, Smith said. “This has surfaced a conversation that needed to happen.”
Judging by the tone of newspaper articles and opinion pieces across the country, including in The Signal, it’s obvious an honest conversation about racism and immigration is overdue elsewhere.
Natalie Everett covered the Morgan Hill Unified School District for the Times a year ago. She is now a reporter for the Santa Clarita Signal.
