After 5 students were sent home yesterday from Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill for wearing clothing featuring the US flag, Hispanic students from the same high school had a walkout, marching from the school to city hall. I just saw the report on the local CBS affiliate. Some of the Hispanic students claimed they were harassed on Cinco de Mayo, and racial/ethnic insults were made by (white) students. Was any of this sparked by the debate over illegal immigration and the new Arizona law?

During the rally, a female student was talking about equal rights, ethnic pride, and celebrating their "national holiday." Do French-Americans celebrate Bastille Day? How much importance do people give to days commemorating important events in the history of modern nation-states? For East Asians celebrating Lunar New Year this may just be merely a cultural tradition they observe, which has not bearing upon their loyalties or allegiance. But there is a concern among some that Mexican-Americans do not see themselves as being part of the same nation as Anglo-Americans.

More often than not, a national flag represents the nation-state and not the people(s) living in that nation-state , though many may believe the two to be the same. One can see this sort of nationalism during international events like the Olympics. I think it would be a mistake for an American [citizen] to fly a flag other than the national flag or the state flag if they were just celebrating their ethnic heritage. To express a solidarity with those of the same ethnic background and still living in the "home country" on par with, or surpassing, the solidarity they should have with their fellow Americans is morally questionable.

Is California in danger of being balkanized? It doesn't really take much to develop a separate identity -- even if non-Anglos are not so different, culturally, from Anglos, it suffices for them to have a distinct identity so long as they do not view themselves as being part of the same group as the Anglos.