Bob Kellar said believes the United States should have only one flag and one language. But it’s what he said after that remark that’s landed the Southern California city councilman in the spotlight. He said if believing in the American flag and the English language is racist, then he is “a proud racist.”

Kellar delivered those remarks at a January 16^th rally which he said he attended as a private citizen and not in his capacity as a Santa Clarita councilman. Nevertheless, Kellar stood by his remarks in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News.

“I’m a conservative,” he told the newspaper. “I have a big problem with illegals. When are we going to stop all this foolishness? I stand by everything I said.”

But he later clarified his remarks to KHTS Radio and said his words needed to have been put in proper context. “I am not a racist,” he told the radio station. “I am a proud American who believes in the values that made this country great. If the media or anyone wants to take that and make it seem like it’s something else, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

His remarks have generated lots of debate on both sides of the illegal immigration issue.

Jorge Mario Cabrera is a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. He told The Signal newspaper that Kellar’s views may be outdated.

“I don’t believe that establishing ‘one flag, one language’ is necessarily racist,’ he told The Signal. “I do believe that it doesn’t correspond with the reality of the America we live in now.”

Kellar told The Signal that if immigrants want to be proud Americans, they should learn the English language — and he also recalled how offended he was when he said he saw more Mexican flags than American flags at the Rose Parade.

Kellar also chastened lawmakers who refuse to speak out against illegals.

“Shame on elected representatives who don’t have the intestinal fortitude to address the issue,” Kellar told The Signal. “I will not deviate that illegal immigration is wrong.”