AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Chat Area Inadvertant Racism?

Illegal is illegal, no matter what the lawyers, or anyone else, thinks. The confusion comes in defining illegal as it has multiple definitions: 1. Prohibited by law; 2. Prohibited by official rules: an illegal pass in football; 3. Unacceptable to or not performable by a computer: an illegal operation. Illegal is not the same as criminal. The commission of a crime is punnishable by imprisonment. Committing non-criminal illegal acts can be punnished by fine, loss of privilege, etc, but not by custody time.only if it is your property. The same criminal offense would apply had this act occured to an American flag belonging to someone else. did mine?can I use that argument next time you leave your car at the airport for more than 4 days? It is a criminal act to take even "abandoned" property that does not belong to you. I used to work in a bookstore that sold flags. It probably cost close to $150 if it was bigger than 5x8. misdemeanor offense, with misdemeanor punishment - stayed custody time, community service, restitution for the damaged property.Mr. Lynch was not prosecuted for making a racist gesture. He was prosecuted for the destruction of private property, which is considered vandalism. (You remember the Vandals, yes?) No private person or entity can make a decision to press charges. They can relay their wishes or desire to cooperate to a legal authority but only one in a legal position of authority, such as a district attorney or attorney general, can press charges. This is because in the United States crimes are deemed to have been committed against the People, i.e. criminal prosecution is carried out by the government in the name of all its citizens. Individuals can file civil actions to address wrongs done against them personally. That was not done in this case. me too

Now, for a bit of context:
The Mexican flag, flying in commemoration of Mexican Independence Day, was never supposed to be left up by itself. It had been raised by the Mexican Student Association on Sept. 14. When Army ROTC members went to retire the U.S. and state flags that evening, they left the Mexican flag because they thought students from the Mexican Student Association would return that same evening to take it down. That didn't happen. On the following Monday, Army ROTC students who were supposed to raise the U.S. and state flags forgot to do so. When asked why he didn't just take the flag down and hand it over instead of ripping it apart, Lynch admitted, "I may have gotten a little carried away."

And finally, accuracy is so very important. It was not La Raza which flew the Mexican flag. It was El Centro de la Raza, a Hispanic student-support organization, intended to promote diversity on a campus which had seen far too many racially-charged incidents in weeks just preceding this event. The "La Raza" motto cited by pugwash has been publically and officially denounced by "La Raza" more accurately known as the National Council of La Raza. http://www.nclr.org/

unfounded racial attacks can come from any side