Taking a stand by sitting down Sitting down during the pledge shows protest against discrimination Malak Samara
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samarmal000@hsestudents.org
very day at 8:30 a.m., the intercom blares overhead, signaling the start of the school day with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Students begin to stand up and face the recognizable red, white and blue flag in each classroom. They place their right hand over their hearts. Some listen closely to the pledge of allegiance and some say it quietly to themselves. As the school year starts up again, I find myself in a reoccurring predicament: to stand or not to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. On one hand, I want to stay seated to silently make it known that I am completely against what America is doing to minorities. I want to show that I will not stand for the pledge until America stands for everything the pledge states. On the other hand, however, I do not want to be reprimanded for my expression since it may come off as disloyalty, especially as a minority in America. The most notable recent controversy involving standing for the flag happened in 2016. Colin Kaepernick, the starting quarterback for the 49ers, decided to kneel during the national anthem before a game. This, undoubtedly, raised harsh criticisms from people all over America. They believed that a football game was not the right time or place to show “political opinions.” “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said in an interview for NFL media. “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to
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look the other way.” According to The New York Times, the protest’s main purpose was to call America out for its immense racial suppression and police brutality. Those who do not stand for the Pledge Allegiance for this purpose make it known that they are not supportive of these acts of prejudice. When citizens stay seated for the pledge, it forces a conversation about racial inequality to take place. Thus, the peaceful protest can correlate to change concerning racism. As a person of color, this was exactly the wakeup call I needed to start visibly showing my disapproval of America’s racial oppression without causing too much of a scene by exercising my first amendment rights. Ever since then, I started staying seated for the pledge. However, according to The Washington Post, nationalists believe the act of kneeling or staying seated during the pledge is showing disrespect to the military and those who served the country. They believe that using freedom of expression to sit down during the pledge is ironic since the flag and country is what gave people that freedom. These nationalist beliefs bleed into cases such as Gobitis v. Minersville School District in 1940, where two students were expelled for not showing allegiance to the flag and the court decided 8-1 in favor of Minersville School District. This decision, however, was undermined by West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette in 1943 and set the precedent that students should not have to strip their freedom of expression at school. That being
said, in 2016 an incident occurred where a 17-yearold girl was expelled from her high school when she did not stand during the pledge of allegiance, demonstrating the inconsistency of Students stand up or sit down during the Pledge these guidelines. of Allegiance at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 7 in Andrew Jones’ law education class. Photo by Malak What Samara. nationalists do not understand is that the protest is not intended to dishonor the protection we receive from those who serve in the military. Instead, it is a protest against a racial issue that needs to be talked about and dealt with, especially taking into account the promises America has put forth such as equal rights for everyone. Moreover, the nationalists’ extremist ways of preventing citizens from protesting against the flag is a violation of the very pledge they are defending because of the precedent West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette set. While I am apprehensive of the feedback I will get for refusing to show full support of the nation by not standing up for the pledge, It is exceptionally important to call out America when it is not following its foundational regulations. When the pledge of allegiance mentions “liberty and justice for all,” I would expect America to showcase such a phrase by excluding discrimination. When the nation does not achieve this, it is our duty, as citizens, to force America to fix its lack of liberation by refusing to stand for the pledge until America stands for what the pledge indicates.
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