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Civic engagement, not blind patriotism
Schools do not promote good citizenship through loyalty oaths. To be true to that conviction, I have decided that I must sit silently during the Pledge of Allegiance. I hope that my personal decision will spark a spirited debate.
Growing up in Cambridge, I learned that I could choose whether or not to participate in ceremonial acts of patriotism and that dissent was respected.
My decision was difficult. Many pressing issues face our schools, and I do not want to divert the School Committee's energy from these issues. However, the act of debating a mandatory pledge is fundamentally related to the mission of our schools. Students must be educated to think critically and debate ideas respectfully. In mandating the Pledge of Allegiance, we risk promoting groupthink over such critical inquiry.
If it were not for a state law that mandates a reading of the Pledge in every classroom, every day, I would advocate for a referendum in our schools on requiring the Pledge, allowing teachers and students to decide this policy for themselves. But regardless of the outcome of such a referendum, I would still insist on any individual student’s right to dissent.
Public debate over the Pledge has focused, almost exclusively, on the constitutionality of the words "under God." Congress inserted them in 1954, mostly as a jab at the "godless communists." Ironically, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan found the Pledge's "ceremonially deistic" language constitutional on the grounds that the phrase "under God" had become so secularized that it is devoid of religious meaning.
Our schools should educate young people about language that strips the sacred of meaning, rather than require them to recite it. My primary objection is more basic. I do not vow allegiance to the United States, and I object to requiring this of students and teachers, many of whom are citizens of other countries. While I am proud of many attributes of my country, especially the radical ideal of participatory democracy on which our country was founded, I am not as proud of others.
The only recent example of mandatory flag salutes appears to have been Nazi Germany. Indeed, in 1943 after the spread of Nazism, the US Supreme Court asserted the individual's right to refuse to pledge.
One need not agree with me to see that the numbing daily rhythm of mechanically reciting the Pledge serves to trivialize its laudable promise of "liberty and justice for all."
Ultimately, we must distinguish between acts of patriotism that promote active participation and acts of patriotism that serve to discourage dissent and promote complacency. I believe that the Pledge of Allegiance is a form of blind patriotism that actually discourages students from engaging in critical debates that are increasingly absent from our schools.
We are on the heels of a municipal election that had the lowest voter turnout on record. The implication is inescapable: Our schools must redouble their efforts to promote civic engagement. Reconsidering the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance is a start.
Ex Post Facto: In response to news that I was not participating in the Pledge of Allegiance, there was a letter to the editor of the Cambridge Chronicle calling for my impeachment. After reading this letter I looked up its author in the phone book and called him to continue the dialogue. I was nervous about how he might respond, since I had already received hate mail and had been called and harassed over the phone.
I was pleasantly surprised by how constructive our conversation ended up being. While we still disagree on a lot, we had a productive hour-long conversation, during which we spent considerable time talking about the importance of meaningful civics education--something we agree on wholeheartedly. It turns out the letter's author is the high schoolsoftball coach and at the end of our conversation he invited me to come meet him in person and watch his team play. We are currently working on scheduling a BeLive show on CCTV. to continue the debate.