This opinion column, which first appeared in the Washington Post on June 14, 2025, 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.

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."

  • Thistlewick@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    1·
    4 days ago

    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.

    • athairmor@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 days ago

      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.

      • Thistlewick@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        0·
        3 days ago

        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.

        • aidan@lemmy.worldM
          1·
          3 days ago

          Have you been to America? Plenty of leftists around the country fly American flags.

        • athairmor@lemmy.world
          1·
          3 days ago

          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.