Mexican Flag

Picture Jane Russell draped in an Aztec robe, seductively leaning against a pre-Columbian stone pillar with one long leg peeking through her dress. Imagine a World War II propaganda poster with a female St. George slaying a Nazi dragon as an army of long-legged, buxom women waving the Mexican flag cheers her on. Or contemplate a dark Indian woman as the symbol of Mexico, draped only in a Mexican flag with the national emblem of an eagle devouring a snake in a golden halo behind her.

The Mexican flag is back on the streets of Los Angeles after several years of political exile. Four years ago, Miguel Haro was among half a million people who marched for immigrant rights in downtown L.A. At the urging of organizers and Spanish-language disc jockeys, he left his Mexican flag at home and waved an American flag instead. Concerned that the Mexican flag carried the wrong message, Mexican American political leaders and other activists launched a largely successful effort to have people at public events, particularly protest marches, wave the American flag, believing it to be a better symbol for their case.

The Mexican flag is back on the streets of Los Angeles after several years of political exile. Four years ago, Miguel Haro was among half a million people who marched for immigrant rights in downtown L.A. At the urging of organizers and Spanish-language disc jockeys, he left his Mexican flag at home and waved an American flag instead. Concerned that the Mexican flag carried the wrong message, Mexican American political leaders and other activists launched a largely successful effort to have people at public events, particularly protest marches, wave the American flag, believing it to be a better symbol for their case.

Back in the '70s we took sides, young Chicanos, waving the Mexican flag every chance we got, but it wasn't so easy, either. We got flak from our parents. They had grown up in the '30s, in the '40s, right here in L.A., and some of them couldn't even pronounce the word "Mexican" in mixed company without cringing, as if they had swallowed a sour ball in front of a crowd judging them for poise and elan. And they told their kids the same sad story. "We are Mexican, we are not.

Was I the only one offended by Fernando Vargas? Vargas was born in Oxnard and represented the United States in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. But Vargas came into the ring against Felix Trinidad under the Mexican flag and requested Mexico's national anthem be played. And Vargas has the nerve to call De La Hoya a fraud? I find it pretty sad that Vargas feels in order to be Mexico's champ he has to disrespect the United States. TIM FITZPATRICK Los Angeles

It was a powerful campaign image: the red, white and green flags of Mexico, hoisted proudly over the heads of protesters making their stand against Proposition 187. * The flags were intended as a show of pride by people who felt their Mexican heritage under siege. Yet among non-Latino voters they were widely interpreted as a symbol of anti-American defiance, of suspicious allegiance to a foreign land--a lightning rod that dramatically increased emotional support for the measure.

Back in the '70s we took sides, young Chicanos, waving the Mexican flag every chance we got, but it wasn't so easy, either. We got flak from our parents. They had grown up in the '30s, in the '40s, right here in L.A., and some of them couldn't even pronounce the word "Mexican" in mixed company without cringing, as if they had swallowed a sour ball in front of a crowd judging them for poise and elan. And they told their kids the same sad story. "We are Mexican, we are not.

As high school senior Saul Corona protested proposed immigration reforms in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday, he did so with a Mexican flag on his head. "It's my pride. It's my roots," Corona, 18, said in an interview Tuesday. "I want to express it and show to other people where I come from, what Mexico has done for the United States." That image -- protesters waving and wearing Mexican flags -- has angered anti-illegal immigration activists.

At official ceremonies and family picnics, with formal toasts and tacos, Los Angeles on Sunday celebrated a 123-year-old Mexican military victory. A weekend of Cinco de Mayo festivities was capped Sunday by a ceremony in the Parque de Mexico featuring the Mexican consul general, and by an outpouring of thousands of visitors to Olvera Street, a remnant of the time when Los Angeles was founded by colonists from Mexico.

Although my Spanish is not the greatest, I've long appreciated Latin music for its passion, expressiveness and spiritedness and have enjoyed many Latin music concerts. I was thinking of attending Jaguares' recent concert at the Arrowhead Pond, but based on Ernesto Lechner's review, I'm so glad I didn't ("Hernandez Offers Stirring Plea for Unity," Feb. 21). Lechner notes that the group brought out a Mexican flag, and then quotes the group's lead singer as saying, "Tonight, this place is ours."

Re "What was lost in the crowd," Opinion, May 3 Erin Aubry Kaplan was struck by the preponderance of American flags carried by the marchers "with no animus toward what it represented." Did she believe the marchers had reason to feel some animosity toward a country they invaded, and then had the nerve to demand all the rights of a citizen of that country? Is Kaplan really so naive? Why was she surprised about the absence of black people, when they are the ones being shut out of the kind of jobs that once supported their families?

Re "L.A. Authorities Brace for Huge Immigration Marches," April 28 Today, I truly hope some of the marching lemmings will consider a day without the United States. The United States has given them opportunities not found in their native lands. Please don't march with the Mexican flag if you want to be taken seriously. That country gave you nothing. All I'm asking for is some perspective, and for everyone to take a moment and be grateful for where we all live. In regard to immigration, your new home country is simply asking you to follow the law when moving here.

Cecilia Ochoa Levine was a Mexican trying to make it in America. But when she hit upon a promising business opportunity, to make knapsacks south of the border to sell in the United States, she could not get the trade permits she needed. And so Levine asked for help from a longtime friend in Texas, where she had been a legal resident for many years. The friend was George W. Bush. Within a week, Levine was on a plane to Washington for a meeting with trade officials.

As high school senior Saul Corona protested proposed immigration reforms in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday, he did so with a Mexican flag on his head. "It's my pride. It's my roots," Corona, 18, said in an interview Tuesday. "I want to express it and show to other people where I come from, what Mexico has done for the United States." That image -- protesters waving and wearing Mexican flags -- has angered anti-illegal immigration activists.

The late, great Times sports columnist Jim Murray wrote before the inaugural L.A. Marathon that marathon running is great if you're a zebra, or trying to get away from a forest fire, or if you just robbed a bank. Or if "you're not going to need your feet for a while." Sore feet are what many of the 20,000-plus runners in today's L.A. Marathon XIX will long remember after they finish the race's 26.2 miles.

Lunch came early during those Central Valley summers. We started work at 7:30 a.m., moving sprinklers and whacking weeds at my high school campus. We broke for a midday meal at 11, knowing that by 3 p.m. it would be 105 degrees and time to scurry into the shade like desert insects. Cold drinks were at a premium. I usually packed a can of root beer or Dr Pepper, a forgivable crime for a 14-year-old.

As someone of mixed European blood who has long since severed allegiance with Mother England, France, Ireland and whatever, I'm sure I'm more offended than most by the disrespect shown the American flag in Phoenix ("Old Glory Display Fails to Fly for Some," May 20). That's my banner, more than anything else. That's my identity. I'm an American. Whatever the other messages and symbolism contained in these works of "art," one of the main intentions is obviously to offend. Even more than the "art" itself, I'm offended by that intent.

Re "L.A. Authorities Brace for Huge Immigration Marches," April 28 Today, I truly hope some of the marching lemmings will consider a day without the United States. The United States has given them opportunities not found in their native lands. Please don't march with the Mexican flag if you want to be taken seriously. That country gave you nothing. All I'm asking for is some perspective, and for everyone to take a moment and be grateful for where we all live. In regard to immigration, your new home country is simply asking you to follow the law when moving here.

Was I the only one offended by Fernando Vargas? Vargas was born in Oxnard and represented the United States in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. But Vargas came into the ring against Felix Trinidad under the Mexican flag and requested Mexico's national anthem be played. And Vargas has the nerve to call De La Hoya a fraud? I find it pretty sad that Vargas feels in order to be Mexico's champ he has to disrespect the United States. TIM FITZPATRICK Los Angeles

The long and sorry saga of Enrique Sanchez's license plates is enough to make all but the most committed reformers despair of fixing Mexico's murky bureaucracy, even in this season of political change. Sanchez, a 46-year-old father of six, has driven a taxi in Mexico City since 1978. Courteous and honest, he earns about $40 a day using his own car and working from a licensed tourist taxi rank. He could make more money, he says, if the city would just give him his license plates. On Oct.