Was Waving ‘Come And Take It’ Flag Wrong?

The “Come and Take It” flag is a part of Texas history, specifically the Battle of Gonzales. You can even buy a license plate depicting it.

I’m hearing that a couple of Highland Park High School boys decided it would be a good idea to wave said flag at Friday’s football game between the Scots and Monterrey Tec. I’m also hearing that a teacher demanded that they stop waving it because the teacher deemed it “racist.”

So, who was in the wrong? The boys? The teacher? Both?

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24 thoughts on “Was Waving ‘Come And Take It’ Flag Wrong?

  • September 10, 2012 at 1:52 pm
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    If this really happened, then that teacher is shatteringly stupid. I’ve heard about this kind of PC lunacy happening at other schools, but I guess it’s here now.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 1:58 pm
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    It was not racist – at all! I like the historical reference between Texas and Mexico! It was a battle over a cannon. On the field it was a battle over a football. The war for INDEPENDENCE from Mexico had nothing to do with race and everything to do with freedom. I said FREEDOM, yes of expression!

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  • September 10, 2012 at 2:43 pm
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    Yeah, well, everything is racist now in this post-racial, post-partisan age of Obama. Not voting for Obama is racist.
    Being white = racist. Chris Mathews says it’s so.

    Signed,
    A bitter clinger

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  • September 10, 2012 at 2:49 pm
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    I heard about this – it was a middle school teacher (sure hope she doesn’t teach Texas History!)who took away the boys’ flag. The students petitioned their case to HPHS Walter Kelly who said he agreed with the boys that it wasn’t offensive or racist but that he didn’t want to disrespect the teacher’s authority by over ruling her and letting them fly the flag. What a ridiculous and embarrassing situation for our school, Newsweek magazine’s 47th best high school in the US.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 4:20 pm
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    Funny, I thought it was the administrator’s job to make sure that their staff made appropriate decisions. If they don’t, it’s Kelly’s job to overrule. Ludicrous that we even have this situation. I’m not or never have been a racist, but I am sick of being called one. Political correctness has reached idiotic proportions.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 5:19 pm
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    @HPMom – I guess that’s why we’re 47th and not 37th….

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  • September 10, 2012 at 7:37 pm
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    This country is so soft I don’t even recognize it anymore.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 8:02 pm
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    Waving the flag in and of itself is neither racist nor offensive. That doesn’t mean that what the young gentlemen at the game were doin while waving the flag wasn’t racist or offensive.
    Aside from that, taunting the other team is very different from cheering for your own team and a show of poor sportsmanship. Does that mean the teacher in this case was correct in the action taken? No, it is however another point to consider.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 8:47 pm
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    Let’s hope Monterrey Tec’s team bus didn’t travel on San Jacinto or Houston Street in downtown Dallas or pass by the Alamo (just off Crockett Street) in San Antonio on its way back to Monterrey.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 9:28 pm
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    for pete’s sake,
    the “reconquista” is already underway.
    we have to make a stand, and highlander
    stadium, in the middle of university park
    is as good as any place.
    COME AND TAKE IT!, indeed!!

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  • September 10, 2012 at 9:44 pm
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    Even though Monterrey Tec was the opponent, they also were guests. Waiving a flag that referenced a battle between Texans and Mexicans was rude and inhospitable. We don’t generally use the power of government to deter rude behavior, so maybe it was out of line for a government employee (i.e., the teacher) to put the kibosh on waiving the flag. But I think the boys’ parents should have stopped them. And I have a hard time with some other comments that seem to uphold rudeness and inhospitable behavior.

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  • September 10, 2012 at 10:52 pm
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    TB, I hear ya. Just because they were in the right, doesn’t excuse rudeness. The new HPHS assistant principal commented at the PTA meeting last week that our children are extremely polite. Wish they could carry that into the stadium on Friday nights.

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  • September 11, 2012 at 8:06 am
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    The Battle of Gonzales took place in 1835. I bet $10,000 that none of those MontTec students know anything about it and wouldn’t be offended in the least. Is it racist to point out that they are Mexican? Mexican isn’t a dirty word, you know. Is it racist to point out that Texas used to be part of Mexico but isn’t because Texas troops defeated Santa Anna (a bad guy, by the way) If that’s the case, then celebrating our victory in the American Revolution is racist. Yes, MontTec were the guests, but when HP was up by 30 points did the HP crowd stop cheering wildly each time one of the Scot put a hit on a MontTec player? Each time we scored? No. Is that rude and inhospitable? No, that’s HP sports.

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  • September 11, 2012 at 8:21 am
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    You’re right PJ about the score … that’s HP. Even if they had been kindergarten teams they wouldn’t have let up! Compared to the way teams around here are proud and happy to run up scores on opposing elementary teams (hey, we all end up together in the end), the flag is nothing!

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  • September 11, 2012 at 1:54 pm
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    A “Don’t Tread On Me” flag would have been more appropriate…

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  • September 11, 2012 at 2:37 pm
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    Regardless of your views on political correctness, waiving that flag, at that game, by definition cannot be considered “racist.” Mexicans and Americans are, anthropologically speaking, both members of the Caucasian race. If anything, I suppose you could argue it is “national-originist”(?).

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  • September 11, 2012 at 8:31 pm
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    for pete’s sake, the term is “jingoistic”!

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  • September 12, 2012 at 9:31 am
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    If the teacher wanted to take away the flag, who cares?

    for pete’s sake, stop with the for pete’s sake

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  • September 19, 2012 at 2:45 am
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    ugh HP is so hyper-sensitive about being PC because they don’t want to end up in the news. unless something is intentionally, obviously offensive, chill out people!! I interpreted this as ‘come and take [the football],’ not anything racist. ridiculous.

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  • October 5, 2012 at 7:21 am
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    You’ve GOT to be kidding me.
    Somebody might ought to teach a little Texas history to Highland Park ISD administrators and staff. Come and Take It is about defiance of tyranny, a rallying-cry for freedom — it has nothing to do with “race,” particularly since Mexicans and Anglos are the SAME race.

    In the meantime, here in Gonzales, we’re celebrating an entire weekend of Come and Take It this weekend … and the fine football teams from Monterrey Tech and Highland Park and all of their fans are invited to come join the festivities.

    –Dave Mundy, Editor & General Manager
    The Gonzales Cannon Newspaper

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  • October 5, 2012 at 9:36 am
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    Thank you, Dave Munday! My son is a history buff and he knew the story. Silly, silly. Thanks for your support.

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  • October 5, 2012 at 9:41 am
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    If waving that flag is the worst thing that happened in the stands of an HP game, then all would be well.

    It’s embarrassing as a parent to watch how our kids behave at the football games, it really is. There’s a difference between being polite (we do our yes maam’s and yes sirs better than anyone!), and being well behaved.

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  • October 5, 2012 at 2:51 pm
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    Excuse me?! The boys are simply excercising their First Admendment rights. For the teacher to consider it racist is the pot calling the kettle black.

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  • October 7, 2012 at 1:33 pm
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    And if you look at the names of the Texian soldiers at Goliad, the Alamo, San Jacinto, etc., you’ll find a lot of Hispanic names. The fight wasn’t white against Hispanic. It was citizen against tyrant.

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