{"id":13650,"date":"2018-09-14T21:34:49","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T21:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=13650"},"modified":"2018-09-14T21:34:49","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T21:34:49","slug":"battles-over-patriotism-pledge-of-allegiance-in-schools-span-a-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/battles-over-patriotism-pledge-of-allegiance-in-schools-span-a-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Battles over patriotism, Pledge of Allegiance in schools span a century"},"content":{"rendered":"

Randall Curren<\/a>, University of Rochester<\/a><\/em> and Charles Dorn<\/a>, Bowdoin College<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When a California school principal called controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick an \u201canti-American thug\u201d<\/a> for his protests during the national anthem at NFL football games, passions were inflamed anew<\/a> over whether patriotism should be taught in America\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n

As our new book \u201cPatriotic Education in a Global Age\u201d<\/a> demonstrates, such debates are longstanding in American history.<\/p>\n

Posting schoolhouse flags<\/h2>\n

Seventy-five years ago, at the height of America\u2019s involvement in World War II, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette<\/a> that guaranteed public school students\u2019 right to refuse to stand in patriotic salute. <\/p>\n

Barnette\u2019s origins go back to the late 19th century, when patriotic societies such as the Grand Army of the Republic \u2013 a Civil War veterans\u2019 organization \u2013 and the Woman\u2019s Relief Corps \u2013 the organization\u2019s women\u2019s auxiliary \u2013 launched a campaign to place a flag in every public school classroom. \u201cThe reverence of schoolchildren for the flag should be like that of the Israelites for the Ark of the Covenant,\u201d the organization\u2019s commander-in-chief William Warner enthusiastically declared<\/a> at a rally in 1889.<\/p>\n

Three years later, in 1892, the schoolhouse flag movement received a huge boost when The Youth\u2019s Companion \u2013 one of the nation\u2019s first weekly magazines to target both adults and their children \u2013 hired minister-turned-advertiser Francis Bellamy to develop promotional strategies to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus\u2019 voyage to America. Bellamy\u2019s national Columbus Day program involved assembling millions of students at their local schools<\/a> to recite a pledge in salute to the American flag. The magazine profited from flag sales leading up to the event. The United States didn\u2019t have an official pledge of national loyalty, however. So Bellamy composed his own: \u201cI pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.\u201d <\/p>\n

Over the course of the next 40 years, the pledge underwent three revisions. <\/p>\n

The first occurred almost immediately following the Columbus Day celebration when Bellamy, unhappy with the rhythm of his original work, inserted the word \u201cto\u201d before \u201cthe Republic.\u201d Between 1892 and the end of World War I, this was the 23-word pledge that many states wrote into law.<\/p>\n

The second modi\ufb01cation occurred in 1923 when the American Legion\u2019s National Americanism Commission recommended that Congress officially adopt Bellamy\u2019s pledge as the national Pledge of Allegiance. Fearing, however, that Bellamy\u2019s opening phrase \u2013 \u201cI pledge allegiance to my Flag\u201d \u2013 permitted immigrants to pledge allegiance to any flag they desired, the commission revised the line to read, \u201cI pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over time, schools adopted the revision. Finally, in 1954, after the federal government included the pledge as part of the U.S. Flag Code during World War II, Congress reacted to the so-called godless communism many believed was infiltrating U.S. public institutions by adding the phrase \u201cunder God.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mainstreaming the pledge<\/h2>\n

Throughout the early 20th century, states across the nation passed laws that required student recitation as part of a morning flag salute so that by the time the United States plunged into World War I against Germany in 1917, pledging allegiance to the flag had become the standard beginning to the school day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This explains why, in October 1935, 10-year-old Billy Gobitas and his 11-year-old sister Lillian were expelled from school after they refused to salute the flag. As Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses who believed that venerating the flag violated God\u2019s prohibition against bowing to graven images<\/a>, the Gobitas family argued that the flag salute infringed the children\u2019s First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court eventually heard the case Minersville School District v. Gobitis<\/a> \u2013 a misspelling of the respondent\u2019s surname \u2013 and decided for the school district. \u201cWe are dealing with an interest inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values,\u201d Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote for the court\u2019s 8-1 majority, as France was overrun by Hitler\u2019s army: \u201cNational unity is the basis of national security.\u201d <\/p>\n

Court declares rights<\/h2>\n

Controversy ensued. Throughout the country, newspapers reported on debates over the flag salute.<\/a><\/p>\n

Acts of violence were committed against the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. These included beatings<\/a> acts of arson and even a case of tar and feathering.<\/p>\n

At least partly because of the public\u2019s reaction to the decision, the court agreed to hear another case that involved the flag salute just three years later. This time the case was brought by the families of seven Jehovah\u2019s Witness children expelled in Charleston, West Virginia. Surprising many, the justices decided 6-3 in favor of the families and overruled Gobitis. <\/p>\n

On Flag Day, 1943, Justice Robert Jackson delivered the majority opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette<\/a>. \u201cIf there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein,\u201d Jackson declared. \u201cIf there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the Barnette decision held that students could not be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the pledge has remained a mainstay of U.S. public education. Meanwhile, parents continue to oppose the pledge<\/a> as a violation of their children\u2019s constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

Consequently, legal challenges persist. One of the most recent cases challenged inclusion of the phrase \u201cunder God\u201d in the pledge. In this case \u2013 Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow<\/a> \u2013 the court did not rule in the matter because the plaintiff who brought the suit lacked standing. Since the case did not address the underlying issue of religious freedom, future challenges are likely. <\/p>\n

Similarly, Barnette did not address other pledge-related questions, such as whether students need parental permission to opt out of the flag salute. Cases that address this question, among others, continue to be pursued<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whatever unresolved issues may remain, Barnette established as a matter of constitutional law and fundamental principle of American public life that participation in rituals of national loyalty cannot be compelled. The Supreme Court that rendered that decision clearly understood that non-participation can be well-motivated and should not be construed as a sign of disloyalty or lack of patriotism. The court was also clearly troubled by the vicious attacks on Americans who exercised their constitutional right not to participate. <\/p>\n

We should be equally troubled now when we see public school leaders harshly condemn Colin Kaepernick \u2013 or any protester, for that matter \u2013 for how they choose to exercise their constitutional right to demand equal liberty and justice for all. Kaepernick decided to take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality against African-Americans. The question we would pose to Kaepernick\u2019s critics is this: How is taking a knee to affirm our country\u2019s highest ideals anti-American?\"The<\/p>\n

Randall Curren<\/a>, Professor of Philosophy, University of Rochester<\/a><\/em> and Charles Dorn<\/a>, Professor of Education, Bowdoin College<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Randall Curren, University of Rochester and Charles Dorn, Bowdoin College When a California school principal called controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick an \u201canti-American thug\u201d for his protests during the national anthem at NFL football games, passions were inflamed anew over whether patriotism should be taught in America\u2019s schools. As our new book \u201cPatriotic Education in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":13642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[3306,5128,3232,2923],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13651,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions\/13651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}