Wagar High School has apologized for an incident last week where an American student was booed for waving her flag at a multicultural ceremony:
“[The students] were also told that certainly the booing of the American flag was more than just booing a flag,” [Principal Michael] Cristofaro said. “It was booing Americans and basically disrespecting the people the flag represents. I made that clear to them. I also apologized to the young lady on behalf of the student body.”
[ . . . ]
[Some letter-writers] called the incident another example of Quebecers’ and other Canadians’ disrespect for Americans. But Cristofaro suggests that notion is a stretch. “We have to keep in mind we are talking about teenage kids who are not always appropriate in every kind of venue.”
To say the least.
This reminds me a little of when the U.S. national anthem was booed at a hockey game right after the war broke out in Iraq last year. That, like this, might have been blown a bit out of proportion. But the fact that it happens at all says a lot, in my opinion. People are so accustomed to anti-Americanism these days that it just becomes one of those “no big deal” things. That’s exactly the problem.
Ironically, Wagar has changed an awful lot from the days when my mom was a student there… and the school was overwhelmingly Jewish.
Sari; hey, be reasonable; those were hockey fans, they can’t be held accountable for their actions.
So Wager High School Principal Michael Cristofaro disagrees that the incident was “another example of Quebecers’ and other Canadians’ disrespect for Americans.”
This American was once trapped on an Israeli kibbutz with two dozen Canadians, mostly Montrealers — all Jewish — who believed it their duty from God in Heaven to make the lives of their American fellow volunteers — Jewish Americans — as miserable as possible.
The abuse was obscene and relentless. To this day, I believe that Canada is inherantly racist and could not exist without anti-American indoctrination and propaganda.
Wager High School students need a good lesson, as do their teachers.
Which kibbutz was this? I spent about a year on a kibbutz and in general we were open to everyone regardless or religion or nationality.
The only exception was an Afrikaner South African who still held some of the “older” views… that wasn’t really appreciated all that much.
There was a classic “I am American therefore I have immunity from the law” moment at one time, and we had a laugh about that for a while, but it was due to her actions, not her nationality.
Let’s not confuse good-natured ribbing with real anti-Americanism. There’s a difference between trampling a flag (outright hostility), and a Rick Mercer sketch quizzing Americans on the street about what they know about Canada.
Hey Stan; I was once trapped on a continent with 300M Americans and they made my life miserable. (Just kidding, Stan. Heh…)