The Register’s Deepa Bharath has this story here on the flag controversy at the University of Southern California.
The university has reiterated its position: No change. The red flag stays, the yellow flag won’t go up.
The flag display at the Von KleinSmid Center, commonly called the “VKC building,” is intended to represent “nations from which our international students come to attend USC,” said James Grant, a university spokesman. “These flags represent nations recognized by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State.”
As a result, the university will retain the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – red with yellow star. The Vietnamese-American Heritage and Culture flag – yellow with three red stripes, won’t be displayed at VKC.
How about putting the yellow flag up somewhere else then? “I can’t say,” Grant said.
The two Vietnamese student groups at USC – the yellow flag camp and the red flag camp – had held a public forum on Monday, which Grant described as “constructive.” However, there was no high ranking administrative official at the forum, and nothing at the forum changed anyone’s mind.
According to the OC Register, some members of the Vietnamese-American community have threatened to stage protests.
Read the backstory before the forum here; and the Bolsavik’s report from the forum here.
An issue that can be resolved quickly without damaging anyone’s emotion and the logic of the argument. USC does have its right to respect all international flags that recognized by the UN and the US State Department. The VSA students have the 1st ammendment rights: Freedom of expression, and freedom of Speech. The minority group of VSA students, if they choose to do so, can exercise their equal rights by dressing with yellow background and three red stripes during their years at USC to represent their minority voices. I believe USC would not have any comments over the excersize of the 1st ammendment.