As predicted, the ACLU is attempting to exploit a ban on American and Mexican flags in a San Diego public school. When Oceanside Unified School District in San Diego banned both Mexican and American flags from school property last week, the ACLU cried foul.
They claimed that banning the flags amounted to a violation of First Amendment free speech rights. Their goal in this case is not to protect the right of American citizens to wave the American flag but to convince a court to rule that students who are in the U.S. illegally have the same constitutional rights as students who are U.S. citizens.
Creating a case in Oceanside would be difficult because there had already been a violent confrontation over the immigration issue and the school board superintendant was legitimately trying to calm the situation. But even before the Oceanside ban occured, the ACLU was quietly involved with another San Diego district.
Fallbrook High School student Malia Fontana showed up at school on March 31st with a small American flag hanging out of a rear pocket and it earned her a demerit in her file. Fontana’s motivation was not patriotism but rather, defiance. Several other kids had been asked to put away flags earlier in the week, so Fontana and her mother together decided that she should carry an American flag to school in the back pocket of her jeans, in much the same way that a mechanic carries a greasy rag.
The difference between Fontana and the other kids, who were not punished in any way other then being asked to put the flags away, was that she initially refused to comply and the ensuing argument earned her the black mark. This from a kid who wrote an eight grade paper detailing the virtues of a Bill of Rights for children (that’s where children don’t have to abide by their parent’s rules).
Was Fontana deliberately fishing for the punishment in order to give the ACLU some red meat? Judging by the ACLU’s response, it seems entirely possible. They came down hard on the school board, demanding that they recognize the free speech rights of the students by way of an official policy or face a federal civil suit to be filed on behalf of, you guessed it, Malia Fontana. And you can bet that the ACLU’s definition of free speech rights will extend to students who are illegal immigrants.
It’s ironic that the ACLU is using the American flag, an object they hold in contempt, to further their goal of the destruction of the country the flag stands for.