By Enrique Acevedo Enrique Acevedo is anchor of the news program “En Punto” on Televisa.
from World Outlook [reprinted from Washington Post]
"The opinion column below first appeared in the Washington Post on June 14, 2025. World-Outlook publishes it for the information of our readers. We think it tackles an important cultural dimension of the recent protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s intensified wave of workplace raids and deportations of undocumented immigrants.
The headline, subhead, photo, and text below are taken from the original. The endnote is by World-Outlook."
“Because fuck you that’s why” is also an acceptable answer.
I also feel like flying the flag of the oppressive fascists government that is trying to deport and kill your friends and family sends the wrong message.
Sure, there is the idea of reclaiming the symbol of the flag, but on short notice, a march that is against the deportation of Mexican immigrants probably doesn’t call for the US flag.
But, you’re letting them control the narrative with 🇺🇸=white, racist government and 🇲🇽=unruly protesters.
They want 🇺🇸 to be a symbol of the white oppressors. They want people to look at the protests and see a foreign flag because their whole narrative revolves around immigrants being invaders.
You want most Americans to look at the protesters and see themselves.
It’s like trying to reclaim the red cap though, it’s almost too far gone at this point. There was a period where people were wearing ironic red caps with anti-trump slogans on them as a way to take some of the power out of the symbol.
It only ended up causing stress to people who didn’t want to wait to find out if the hat-wearer was going to call them a slur.
If I saw a loud crowd marching down the street brandishing American flags, I would also not want to hang around to find out if they are fascists or not.
Have you been to America? Plenty of leftists around the country fly American flags.
That’s far from an even comparison. Red caps were nothing of note before MAGA unless maybe your favorite sports team use them. The flag of the United States of America carries far more history and significance than a red cap. Any future version of the USA will include the same flag. Every American should identify with it in some level. It’s worth taking control of its meaning and not let it be a synonym for fascism.
I have a small american flag I fly upside at the protests which is a universal sign of distress.
If you’re here by choice, youre an American. Flying other flags just confuses the message that people who have come here are all Americans. Brothers, not the enemy. Even if many of us have forgotten, we’re all immigrants who could claim other nations’ flags, we’ve chosen this country. This flag.
If you’re in California, flying the California flag is probably the best option here.
This country isn’t the flag. This country is made of people from many countries.
Fly whatever flag you want, especially if you and yours came from that country. Remember where you came from.
Unless you’re a Confederate. You lost. That flag don’t fly.
You lost. That flag don’t fly.
This is a really bad argument that people use. Plenty good causes have lost.
The issue with the Confederacy is that it was a really bad cause, fighting for the enslavement of millions for generations.
Also no one around today really came from the Confederacy. It’s not anyone’s heritage. It was around 160 years ago and lasted less time than Obama’s presidency. Anyone claiming it today is just using it as a crutch for their hatred and bigotry.
Im curious about other peoples experience around the world with foreign flags. Outside the us the only things I have heard of is the assholes flying the nazi and confederate flags and its not a flag but maga stuff.
Usually when people have flags it’s for fairly innocuous stuff. Poland has a kind of ridiculous law criminalizing the desecration of a flag of any country.
