Political Symbols

At a shopping mall in Westminster, Vietnamese Americans protested in the street and burned Ho Chi Minh in effigy. It seems that a local shop owner had put up a Communist Vietnamese flag and a poster of Ho Chi Minh. The local community found this highly offensive. Nothing like a little symbolism to get the people all riled up.

On the other hand, in Las Vegas, heavyweight boxers Francois Botha and Mike Tyson were getting ready for their much publicized bout. At the weigh-in, Tyson was seen sporting quite a collection of tattoos. Two that caught my eye were portraits of Che Guevara and the former head of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong. Che and Mao were about as different as night and day. But either way, both were highly controversial. Much like what we’ve seen in the Vietnamese community. But not so much as a peep of protest from the sports world. Why is that?

ROBERT L. MACFARLANE, Newport Beach