Que Lastima
I don't know how many people saw this, but the distant Vegas suburb of Pahrump, Nevada passed an ordinance last week which not only made English the town's official language--a move that by itself reflects a disturbingly high level of paranoia--but also makes it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag without also flying the flag of the United States. And the American flag must not be lower than the foreign flag or you can be fined and/or forced to do 30 hours of community service. I am totally not making this up. I can't find the actual statute itself online, but although it probably isn't directly stated in the language this is obviously a move by frightened people lashing out at the marchers who filled American streets with Mexican flags during large demonstrations a few months ago. From the Reuters news story about the new law:
Supporters said they passed the measure to hit back at Hispanic demonstrators who carried Mexican flags when they marched in U.S. cities earlier this year to press for rights for 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the shadows.
"All of the illegal alien protesters are waving Mexican flags, and we just got tired of it," town board clerk Paul Willis told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"This is the United States, and the Stars and Stripes should fly supreme," he added.
Do I even have to point out how obviously Unconstitutional this is? No matter what you feel about the issue of what to do about this nation's broken immigration system (a complex question that I'm conflicted on myself), and no matter how intimidated you are at the thought of thousands of foreign-born men and women and children marching in the streets of this country and demanding some sort of recognition, any rational person must see that the authoritarian mindset that leads to laws like this is the complete antithesis of everything this great country stands for. Thankfully we have no such law up here in Northern Nevada, but even if we did I would still proudly fly my flag of the Republic of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, and frankly I'd love to see some frightened, reactionary tin-pot dictator try to make me do otherwise. And if you think that somehow makes me less patriotic, you obviously don't understand the meaning of the word.
Supporters said they passed the measure to hit back at Hispanic demonstrators who carried Mexican flags when they marched in U.S. cities earlier this year to press for rights for 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the shadows.
"All of the illegal alien protesters are waving Mexican flags, and we just got tired of it," town board clerk Paul Willis told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"This is the United States, and the Stars and Stripes should fly supreme," he added.
Do I even have to point out how obviously Unconstitutional this is? No matter what you feel about the issue of what to do about this nation's broken immigration system (a complex question that I'm conflicted on myself), and no matter how intimidated you are at the thought of thousands of foreign-born men and women and children marching in the streets of this country and demanding some sort of recognition, any rational person must see that the authoritarian mindset that leads to laws like this is the complete antithesis of everything this great country stands for. Thankfully we have no such law up here in Northern Nevada, but even if we did I would still proudly fly my flag of the Republic of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, and frankly I'd love to see some frightened, reactionary tin-pot dictator try to make me do otherwise. And if you think that somehow makes me less patriotic, you obviously don't understand the meaning of the word.
posted by Yukon Sully | 3:00 PM
2 Comments:
For a town trying not to look as stupid as Studio 60 would have us believe, this is outrageous.
The ordinance text can be found at:
http://www.pahrumpnv.org/Docs_2006/TOWN%20OFFICE2006/Recent%20Ordinances/English%20%20Patriot%20No.54%20C.pdf
That's crazy! I did not hear about that this was passed in Nevada. I'm a Hispanic American who was raised in NYC so I am flabbergasted at the racist rulings being passed in the Southwest. Growing up I was encouraged to celebrate ethnic and racial diversity which included flag-waving (esp during the World Cup :). It is so sad and frightening that these measures are taken in the 21st Century!
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