Protesting is Great. BUT WHY carry Mexican Flags? This will not gain supporters...

[Radical Lutheran]

Protesting is Great. BUT WHY carry Mexican Flags? This will not gain supporters... this divides people who might be sympathetic.
This is about American Due Process. This is IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA USA. Carry an American Flag to gain Supporters. Try to Unify People to Our Cause. All Who Dwell in the USA are entitled to The Bill of Rights and US Constitutional Rights. RULE OF LAW AND DUE PROCESS for JUSTICE.

I am NOT Anti-Mexican. BE STRATEGIC TO GAIN SUPPORTERS.

[senseandsensibility]

1. I hate to agree

But I do. The Mexican-American community where I live (which is huge) learned that over the past few decades as they have fought against various rightwing propositions on the ballot. I was surprised to see the Mexican flags. There's nothing wrong with a Mexican flag, of course, but it will be twisted and we don't need to hand them any ammunition.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. In NYC today, it was the Puerto Rican Day Parade

Plenty of their country's flags.

It's a celebration of origins.

Mexicans can be both faithful to their heritage and to this country.

[Shellback Squid]

3. Puerto Rico is a US Commonwealth, big difference, on edit, unincorporated territory of the USA

Mexico is a different country

[Dorian Gray]

10. This

Also a parade is a celebratory event... not the same as a protest.

Honestly, I don't care about the flags, but if they're driving anger then maybe they're not the best tool for a protest.

[Cirsium]

12. I see

So, seeing a Mexican flag drives anger so we shouldn't fly it? How about Pride flags?

[Shellback Squid]

24. the message is different but if you don't understand that, oh well

[still-prayin4rain]

27. LBGQT obviously isn't another country. Are these protests in support of the country of Mexico??

[Cirsium]

70. Absurd

The flags are not being carried in support of the country of Mexico, but rather in support of immigrants from Mexico. That is what is obvious.

[Dorian Gray]

39. Fly a Mexican flag

Proudly. Especially if it's your heritage.

But when protesting and violence is happening at the protests, cars are being lighted on fire.... you really want people to equate the Mexican flag with that?

Please.

And yes, the american public would be more ashamed of police, ice and military violence against someone holding an American flag vs. a Mexican flag. (it's the optics of it, plain and simple.). I'm simply pointing out the obvious here.

Re: Pride flags... I live in Brooklyn and there are pride flags all over the place right now. Yay. But if someone was holding a pride flag and lighting cars on fire at a protest? The media would be slamming them. DON'T DO VIOLENCE. But also, don't hold foreign flags while doing violence.

[Cirsium]

72. You are working hard at this

I will point out the obvious. Someone deciding to carry a certain flag, or a certain sign to a demonstration cannot be held responsible for someone else who does something illegal.

"We had better not carry that flag (or that sign, or chant that slogan) because someone might be violent at the event and it will look bad." Seriously?

[Tootbsb]

65. Now you see the problem.

[kacekwl]

77. When you see them in mass at

the violence happening in LA yes it does.

[Cirsium]

78. This is a chronic problem

"Don''t get me wrong, it doesn't bother me, but I am worried about how it looks to others." That is crippling. Do you know what our opponents hear when you say that? "Even Democrats agree with us that the protestors are bad." We give aide and comfort to our enemies when we take that position.

We are going to be made to look bad by the media no matter what we say or do.

[Cirsium]

11. Say what?

Puerto Rico is not a country.

[Blue Full Moon]

38. Territory but asked to be a state.

The main thing is that they are United States of America citizens. They are not immigrants. Their votes are symbolic when done in Puerto Rico. When they are on the Mainland their votes count the same as any other citizens.

[Cirsium]

74. Indeed

[enid602]

4. Canta y no llores. . .

Hopefully, they carry the ‘tricolor’ to remind the millions of Mexican-Americans (who voted for Trump) where they came from.

[JoseBalow]

22. Orale, vato

People forget who lives in Alta California.

[Jirel]

5. Nope. This call to water down protest is old nonsense.

Oh, please don’t upset people! Please don’t wear BLM shirts! Please don’t block traffic! Please don’t wave Mexican flags! Please don’t t engage with the opposition! Please don’t wear face masks! Please don’t… please don’t… please don’t…

We are done with the scared Karens. Protest is not about winning allies. It never was. It’s about galvanizing the resistance and discomforting the comfortable. It’s about engaging some thinking about why people would take those risks. Think the Boston Tea Party was about making friends? The lunch counter protests? The suffragettes disrupting… dinner? Stonewall? The labor struggles? Resistance at every RNC?

This is your opportunity to engage with the many successful struggles of the past that were not all that “civil,” but were ultimately successful. Your personal discomfort with a protestor’s message only begs the question about who you are willing to stand with, when you are most needed.

[Scrivener7]

43. Galvanizing resistance and winning allies are

parts of the same thing. And the objections are not about fear. They're about smart messaging. The winner of this is the one whose message draws the most allies.

Picture the national guard shooting into a sea of American flags. Get that shot to go viral and we win.

My god. We are SO bad at messaging.

[JustAnotherGen]

45. ITA

[Cirsium]

94. I get the message

I am getting a very clear and strong message from the protestors in LA. Here? Not so much.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

79. .

[Torchlight]

6. Sounds serious

Good luck

[Cirsium]

7. Unbelievable

How does a Mexican flag "divide people?"

How are you with the pride flag? Pussy hats? Will those "divide people?"

Anyone upset about the Mexican flag would probably also be upset about what is on our signs, as well, or what we chant. They probably wouldn't like what we write. Should we tone that down? We wouldn't want to alienate racists, homophobes and neo-nazis.

Theft of identity is a big part of the fascist agenda. Buy yet you are advocating people surrender their right to self-identify to appease MAGA.

[nini]

8. Because our Mexican residents are being denied due process

They are targeted because they are Mexican and the flags can be a show of support for them. Don’t forget people here legally are getting treated like crap too. Immigration status aside, they deserve due process and not to be rounded up like cattle.

[Cirsium]

9. Hmmm...

People have carried Canadian flags and Ukrainian flags in demonstrations and no one ever complained about that.

What could the difference possibly be?

[Mossfern]

13. People who carry Ukraine flags

are doing so to support Ukraine, not the actions of the US "government."
People are flying Canadian flags to support Canada, not the aspirations of Trumps to make it the 51st state.

The protesters need to be carrying and displaying American flags.
We need to take that flag back.

Flying the Mexican flag shows support of Mexico, not protest against American immigration policy nor support of immigrants in the US. That's just my impression.

Apparently a few others feel the same way I do.

[Abolishinist]

14. Thank you.

And some wonder why we lose elections.

[Cirsium]

16. Mexican flags?

That's why we lose elections?

[Abolishinist]

18. If you say so.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

81. I'm curious, too

[Cirsium]

15. Amazing

You found a way around it.

[Mossfern]

17. Around what?

American patriots protesting un-American policies and actions by our government should be carrying OUR flag.

[Cirsium]

92. So says you

Leave that jingoism to the right wingers.

[Radical Lutheran]

25. THANK YOU... You read my message as intended.

THANK YOU... You read my message as intended.

We are Protesting AMERICAN GOVERNMENT POLICY. Carrying American Flags focuses the attention on what the issue IS.

This is about How AMERICAN Authorities are treating people living in AMERICA.

This is not about Pride Flags... I am Gay and Support Pride Flags by the Way.
This is not about supporting people of different ethnic heritage. Because no matter their origin, their RIGHTS are the same.
This is about FIRST PRINCIPLES, what does it mean to BE AMERICA??? We are Patriots protesting the dismantling of Due Process and Habeus Corpus, and Trial. RIGHTS ENSHRINED IN THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.

This is not about Mexicans vs Americans, no one is worried about that divide. IT IS ABOUT AMERICAN JUSTICE. Carry the AMERICAN FLAG to emphasize we are Patriotic Americans, protesting UN-American Activity. We have to take the Flag Back from MAGA.

Just my two cents.

[Cirsium]

82. No

People carried Ukrainian and Canadian flags while protesting US government policies. No one had a problem with that.

I think people are watching corporate media and being swayed by that. They then think that if we change our behavior, or water down our positions, the media will then be nice to us.

[Blues Heron]

53. Trump has threatened to bomb Mexico, the flags support Mexico. It's not that hard to see why they bring them

I’ve seen lots of flags of trumps targets at various protests: Denmark, Canada, Greenland, Panama, Palestine, etc etc etc

[Hekate]

19. California once belonged to Mexico. Los Angeles was founded hundreds of years ago by the Spaniards....

This is part of our history as a State and we are irrevocably tied to Mexico’s people in so many respects

[thought crime]

40. In that respect it is stolen land.

Or land twice stolen...

[Hekate]

47. In that case perhaps we should carry a white flag when confronting fascists?

… or perhaps simply hold out our wrists for the chains, and just bloody well forget about finding solidarity with Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the present day?

Si Se Puede, said Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, and Bobby Kennedy (the real one) stood with them. In California.

[thought crime]

83. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough

The United States effectively stole California and much of the west from Mexico, on a flimsy pretext. I feel that Mexican people could be considered to have some natural rights with regard to that territory, like waving the Mexican flag as a little reminder.

[newdeal2]

20. Taco flags would piss the orange slob even more

[Ping Tung]

21. "Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's minds &

“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s minds & then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”

― Arundhati Roy

[JoseBalow]

23. Oh no! Do you feel divided?

[Tarzanrock]

26. Sometimes, you just have to throw chests of tea into the water.

Nobody ever won a "negotiation" with a Fascist Nazi. There is no "appeasement" with Nazi ideologues hell bent on fucking you over every which way they can!

[Keepthesoulalive]

28. They are not trying to gain supporters

They are fighting for their freedom and the American flag does not represent that. He has been disrespectful to them and their country. You believe they should have the freedom that they are being denied or you don’t. Stop worrying about what a bunch of bigoted Fox News viewers are going to think. Let’s admire their courage, the courage that so many Americans lack.

[Polybius]

32. It's a slippery slope

And it gets even more slippery with the ones waving that flag that are are undocumented and trying to gain citizenship. Whether you agree with them waving the Mexican flag or not, that's fine. We're a big tent. I'm just saying that it turns lots of people off, even those who are not MAGA.

[Keepthesoulalive]

34. If the treatment of these folks

Didn’t turn their stomachs, flags are not the problem. Children with plastic cuffs, babies left without their mothers, people shipped to god knows where . They are righteously angry and we focus on meaningless tripe. Flags will not change soulless minds or semi soulless minds. That flag represents lies and oppression, we need to stop worshipping it and stop demanding that others bend the knee to it. It is the flag that represents the American myth.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

84. How can you tell

"...the ones waving that flag that are are undocumented and trying to gain citizenship."

[Polybius]

85. I understand now that I could have wrote it better

By "the ones", I mean of the many carrying that flag, those who are undocumented. As in not all carrying, but those who may be undocumented, and if they are trying to gain citizenship.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

90. What I mean is, how could anyone tell

who's undocumented and trying to gain citizenship in a mass protest?

[Scrivener7]

44. We won't gain their freedom without gaining supporters.

Last edited Mon Jun 9, 2025, 07:51 AM - Edit history (3)

The ones whose messaging gains the most supporters are the ones that win this. So far it's them.

We need to always be communicating that the danger is not just to immigrants but also to all Americans.

The image of the National Guard shooting at American flags rather than Mexican flags would be an important brick in the wall that would make that point.

[Keepthesoulalive]

46. America has proven

She doesn’t give a damn about that flag or what it stands for. When white people protest they can carry any sign or flag they choose, look at all the Trump flags and signs. Other cultures have to prove their allegiance by carrying this symbol of their oppression. It makes white Americans uncomfortable but most don’t seem uncomfortable with Trump, miller, musk and the ethnic cleansing they are committing. Please stop making this about a flag, this is about Americas racism on full display. If America cared about that flag we wouldn’t be going through Trump 2.

[Scrivener7]

48. Both of us are making it about the flag in this conversation. It's a conversation about the flag.

As a white American I have no discomfort about the Mexican flags. And the sight of a trump flag literally gives me a stab of nausea. But does seeing a trump flag make you think their opinions are worth listening to? It doesn't do that for me.

If you choose to see me as an enemy, I can't do anything about that, but I see this issue of the flag as a missed messaging opportunity for our side, a missed opportunity to get what we want. "We" being the side that you and I are both on together.

50% of America DOES care about the Constitution and human rights and the things the flag is supposed to stand for, and you and I are both protesting for those things to be protected.

[Keepthesoulalive]

49. America makes it about symbolism

She does not live up to her stated values, that is what these people are protesting. Why is this cretin the President of a once mighty country? Because most Americans either voted for him or couldn’t be bothered to vote. I support the Hispanic community in their fight for basic American rights and I will not tone police them. The American flag is painful to many of us. The time to support that community was in November and America failed them.

[Scrivener7]

50. We are both aware of how he got elected, and we both mourn it. We both protest to support the Hispanic community.

Yes, America failed in November. That is where we are now. But now we are both continuing the fight to support that community and civil rights in general. Neither of us is saying, "America failed them in November and now we're done." At least I'm not doing that, and I assume you aren't either.

I believe that to be successful in this fight, we need to constantly be messaging. I think viral visuals of the National Guard shooting at a sea of American flags would contribute to us getting what you and I both want. I also think forcing these military people to shoot at their own flag would help achieve the goals you and I share.

[Keepthesoulalive]

55. Look at the pictures of people in chains being shipped overseas

America has elected a madman and most Americans don’t care. Unfortunately people in the USA will have to be made a little more uncomfortable before they stand up. Black folks have been fighting this for centuries and we have made a few changes but when they start ringing the racist, sexist, nativist bell , the dominant culture comes home. Black people have a strong reaction to the shackled prisoners, the police over reaction, people with their faces covered snatching people off the street, invading homes and all of the abuses we have lived through for centuries. Most Americans just want it to go away so they don’t have to think about any of horrors we are now seeing. So forgive me if I want them to do what works for them because America will not have their backs no matter what.

[Scrivener7]

60. So, right now there is a choice. We Democrats can either bemoan what is happening and blame each other, or we can

fight against it. Don't get me wrong. This nauseates me. I am bemoaning it AND trying to fight it.

Yes, this fight has been going on for centuries. This is the current version of it. I feel a responsibility to fight it. As a woman, I also feel it is a fight for my rights as well as the rights of my fellow citizens and immigrants to this country.

As an American, I DO feel a responsibility to have their backs to the extent of my ability. I am not looking at "them." "They" are us. And I want us to be successful. And that requires strategy and pointed messaging.

[Keepthesoulalive]

66. Fear and hate are powerful motivators

The democrats message has been a message of inclusion, the republican message has been one of hate. The folks on the front lines have to galvanize their base because they must face the national guard. They have to do what works for them not what makes others feel comfortable. Put yourself in their shoes, the American government is destroying them and most Americans don’t care. I would not carry an American flag in a Black Lives Matters rally during the trump administration. Let them protest in a way that gives them the strength and pride to stand up to American tyranny.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

88. .

[NoRethugFriends]

29. Seriously?. Ask Neville about this

[Polybius]

30. I thought the same thing, but was afraid to post it

Glad someone else had the courage to do so.

[claudette]

31. It's not a

crime to carry the Mexican flag.

[Nixie]

33. If you went into Mexico and started waving an American flag,

what is the message?

[Wingus Dingus]

35. It's dumb, but there are just always going to be brainless agitators in every crowd.

Or plants following instructions to create the necessary images.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

89. Exactly

Mexican flags at protests in America = bad.

So how many right wing MAGAt assholes are out there waving Mexican flags?

[demmiblue]

41. You seem concerned. n/t

[BlueTsunami2018]

42. It's bad optics.

It doesn’t bother me but average Americans, not the brightest lot, are going to see it a certain way and come to conclusions on their own about this. It’s getting far more attention than what the protests are actually about.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

91. I wonder why?

[Keepthesoulalive]

51. Okay where is the due process

There are no rights in America. They are shipping them to Africa and South American countries that they are not from. Trump said he is the final arbiter of the law. Why aren’t all Americans in the street?Because they don’t give a damn about anything unless it personally affects them.

[doc03]

52. What if Jan 6th insurrectionists were beating cops with the Russian or

Nazi flag? The MAGAs would even disown them.

[EdmondDantes_]

59. They didn't disown the ones with the confederate flag

They didn't disown the guy with the Camp Auschwitz shirt. Other flags waved on January 6th include India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Iran.

[Blues Heron]

54. Trump has threatened to bomb Mexico - of course the mexican flag will be flown at protests

Just like the flags of Canada, Greenland, Denmark, etc. you see a lot of flags and signs at protests. Fly whichever one you want! Support your cause!

[Basso8vb]

56. Bullshit

You're literally regurgitating right wing talking points.

Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.

[AStern]

64. Exactly!

And so obvious!

[Basso8vb]

75. It's also like people conveniently forgot about the January 6th rioters beating police officers with American flags.

The disconnect here is sickening and the pearl clutching needs to stop.

Seriously.

[Nittersing]

57. I want videos of the Feds charging into a sea of American flags

Most every other flag I see, I support with all my heart.

I just think the optics of drumph's gestapo attacking a bunch of American flags would help some people to see what's really going on.

[Blues Heron]

58. Go for it

Fly your flag of choice

[Scrivener7]

62. I also want them to have to fight against and shoot at their own flag.

[AStern]

61. This is gaslighting - you're invalidating the protesters.

Should they dress nicer too?

[flamingdem]

63. Some Angelenos think Mexico should get their land back

It's a thing.

I've heard the flag wavers are plants but not sure about that.

Seems like it's a pride thing and a tradition at marches going back
years.

Would love to know more about the history of this.

[Littlered]

67. I agree

It’s little wonder why we are hemorrhaging supporters. It’s not a good look. You you can rest assured this will play around the clock on a loop during the next election cycle.

[fmdaddio]

68. Just don't set cars on fire. Media is eating that up.

[kentuck]

69. They are protesting out of passion...

...not for one political side or the other. They are not concerned about what they wear or what flag they wave, they are protesting for their friends and families.

In my opinion, it is a little much to expect them to think strategically in terms of politics.

[AStern]

71. How kind of you to join the site and tell everyone how to properly fight authoritarianism

I'm guessing you have years experience with protesting in the correct manner. Tell us more.

[Nittersing]

86. This is unnecessarily snarky

It's possible to disagree with another DUer without questioning their motive or ideas of how to fight this madness.

Maybe they *did* just join. You've only been here 5 months and you're calling out another DUer?

smdh

[AStern]

87. At least I didn't sign up and start an OP telling the site that they're doing it all wrong.

The OP is the snark.

[marble falls]

73. It's just another freaking flag. I'm a Lutheran and I don't get mad at the Germans, Nowegian, Swedish flags ...

... on the bumpers of cars in the Church parking lot. The kind of ass who gets all het up over a flag is already full of hate for the person carrying it.

I'm a vet. The Flag chokes me up when I see a Color Guard. I enlisted to protect the Flag and the person carrying it. I enlisted to protect the free speech of those who choose to carry an American flag, a Mexican flag, a Ukraine flag, a Russian flag, a black flag. I enlisted to protect the speech of those who burn the Flag or fly it upside down.

Why is it a Mexican flag pisses some people off, but the giant US flag flown over car dealerships that are flown 24hr a day with no lighting, during rain and bad weather, long after the flag is shredded and the flagpole is fouled, are peachy keen.

Anyone so outraged at a Mexican flag is not going to be amenable to any discussion regarding immigration, flag or no flag.

Roman Catholic Feast celebrations with Italian flags must just make some of those Lutherans totally freak.

[LuvLoogie]

76. The Mexican Flag is more symbolic of freedom these days.

The trump regime is a white nationalist regime. The approved and pardoned white nationalists waved American Flags when they vandalized the capitol and assaulted police.

I am fine with people of Mexican roots waving Mexican flags when THIS country has set about demonizing and spitting on the protestors ethnicity for decades.

You are succumbing to trump's and Miller's propaganda. Well done.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

80. Mixing in some American flags would help the effort.

[Radical Lutheran]

93. Wow quite the Discussion about a simple observation

I am HAPPY you all are at least discussing the Issue of OPTICS and what the AMERICAN FLAG can mean.

I AM NOT AGAINST THE MEXICAN FLAG
I AM NOT ANGRY OR PISSED OFF, "or clutching my pearls."
I AM NOT emotionally invested in this arguement.

I WAS MAKING AN OBSERVATION, not "telling people how to protest right."

I was stating the the PROTEST was about the Denial of AMERICAN RIGHTS and Rule of LAW and the most effective way to gain peoples support was to Show WE are Patriotic Americans Protesting on Behalf of the Least, The Last, The Forgotten and The Alien JUST AS JESUS TAUGHT US. (AS a RADICAL LUTHERAN).

Please calm down. I AM NOT THE ENEMY. We need to Focus on FIRST PRINCIPLES.
Lets NOT fight amongst ourselves or question each other's motives. Lets Gain Some Unity.
Of Course People can carry whatever Flag They Want. That was NOT my point. Read my Post Again.
God Bless You and God Bless ALL OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS, no matter their Origin.

[AntiFascist]

95. It helps to understand the history of Mexican oppression...

Carrying the flag is (usually) just a show of pride in one's heritage, countering centuries of white oppression and racism.