While leading a discussion in the classroom a few days ago, we were speaking about the history of patriotism in classrooms. Historically speaking, the book Teacher Wars explains that in the 1930s, “Teachers who did nog purchase Liberty Bonds, did not display the American in flag in their classrooms, or did not salute the flag were depicted in legion literature as “fifth column” loyal to the Soviet Union. Speaking on this topic it was only natural that the Pledge of Allegiance came up. I can remember methodically saying it since Kindergarten. Being 5 years old, I wasn’t even sure what “pledge of allegiance” meant, which means I most certainly didn’t know what “Republic under God” meant either. Which led me to wonder whether this blind patriotic or nationalistic routine that we teach young children is harmful of not?
One if my fellow classmates shared her experience of having to say the pledge of allegiance to the American flag as well as the Texan flag. This routine seems very strange to me. Teaching children to pledge their loyalty to their country’s flag when they barely know what a country is seems like blind nationalism. Another fellow student shared her experience with the Pledge of Allegiance. She went to school abroad for the majority of her life until 7th grade when she came to the US and heard the Pledge of Allegiance being spoken. She said it reminded her of a cult. She also said that she has not experienced anything stranger than seeing a group of students her own age speaking to a flag every morning. Her refusal to participate almost got her suspended. Which leads me to ask another question, Isn’t that against the First Amendment? Or, is it school policy?
My fellow classmate’s experiences made me feel very uncomfortable. No one should be able to make someone say a loyally pledge when they don’t believe it. In addition to this, is the line “under God” appropriate for school children? Many children in the public education system do not believe in the Christian god, and if church and state have to be separate then where is the line supposed to be drawn? What needs to be taken into account is what makes students feel the most comfortable. If we don’t teach young students the meaning of the pLedge of Allegiance then we absolutely do not have the right to make them say it. Teachers shouldn’t have that right anyway.
Forced Patriotism in schools shouldn’t be allowed, just like enforcing religious ideologies. At my high school for years we had graduation at a big church right across the street on account of our field house having no air condition. A parent took the school to Wisconsin’s supreme court where they ruled that graduation should not be held in a church, especially where the crucifixion of Jesus is displayed rather predominantly in the center of the church. We debated this issue in my principles of American democracy class. Several students, Christian students, argued that no one was forcing anyone to be a certain religion so why should it matter. I raised my hand and said, “If that was a Mosque across the street do you think that the school would have even approached them to host senior graduation?” No one responded. I knew that would be the case, especially having my step-mom and step-sisters being Muslim and witnessing first hand the verbal insults they hear daily while shopping at the grocery store or for new jeans.
I think that it’s too easy to think as white Christian Americans that there isn’t religious inequality in the US, or the US education system; that there isn’t a total separation of Church and state, so long as that church is a Christian church. This had made me realize that we need to be more mindful about how we teach students, especially young, students new things regarding religion and “American” values.
“Erecting the Wall of Separation between Church and State is absolutely essential in a Free Society”
Thomas Jefferson
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