Montebello High School flag flipping incident

The Montebello High School flag flipping incident was a 2006 incident in Montebello, California, that became a flashpoint for critics of illegal immigration.

The incident

In response to proposed federal legislation regulating illegal immigration Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Central Americans organized nationwide demonstrations scheduled for May, 2006. Part of this demonstration was the encouragement of Mexican/Central American students to walk out of schools across the nation at a set time.

Students from the surrounding area complied with this, and pulled down the American flag flying in front of the Montebello High School, placing a Mexican flag followed by the American flag, flying upside down.

On March 29, 2006, the Montebello Unified School District issued a memo to its employees, which read in part:

"MUSD staff has done a wonderful job in keeping our students safe and secure. However, on Monday, March 27, 2006 at noontime, a group of students from neighboring school districts to the east of our district (i.e. El Rancho Unified School District and Whittier Union High School District) marched to Montebello High School. At this time, MHS was on lockdown and the students remained in their classrooms. The other students, from outside Montebello Unified School District, who were estimated to be 800-1000 strong, gathered outside the MHS campus. For a brief time, the school flag was lowered, replaced with a Mexican flag, and the American flag flown beneath, upside down. The California flag was subsequently stolen. It is important to emphasize that this was not the act of any Montebello High School student." [emphasis in original]^[1]

In the wake of the incident, school officials emphasized that the students responsible were from the El Rancho Unified School District and Whittier Union High School District High school districts rather than the Montebello Unified School District.^{[citation needed]} One student was punished because of the incident.^[2]

Media reaction

The incident was reported in several local newspapers, sparking a firestorm of controversy on many websites^[3] and was widely forwarded around the country by email. As of June 2, 2010, this item was still being forwarded in emails. The message included the following text:

"I predict this stunt will be the nail in the coffin of any guest-worker/amnesty plan on the table in Washington. The image of the American flag subsumed to another and turned upside down on American soil is already spreading on Internet forums and via e-mail."^[4]

See also

• United States immigration debate
• Montebello High School

References

1. ^ http://www.mhs.montebello.k12.ca.us/CONTACT/message.pdf
2. ^ Teen punished for U.S. flag flip^[unreliable source?]}}
3. ^ Michelle Malkin » THE AMERICAN FLAG COMES SECOND
4. ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Welcome to Calexico