[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]Many conservatives, including syndicated talk show host Sean Hannity, have advocated that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance be made mandatory for children in the nation's schools.
As a middle-class African American male — in fact, as a human being of good conscience — I would take great exception to such a move. The Pledge of Allegiance represents the worst kind of hypocrisy. It serves no useful purpose other than to brainwash children.
One would think that as a conservative Mr. Hannity would recognize that the essence of freedom is the freedom of parents to raise their children according to the philosophy they see fit. Therefore, forcing a pledge down the collective throat of America's children constitutes an unconscionable intrusion by government on a family's rights. It would be un-American, by definition.
In addition, it's a form of brainwashing. What other motive can we have for forcing children to recite a pledge they don't even understand? When I was a kid coming up during the height of the civil rights struggle, I was forced to pledge my allegiance to a nation that frowned upon everything I represented, and was dead set on thwarting anything that I ever hoped to become.
Look at What Was Happening
At the same time, so-called “patriotic Americans,” while enthusiastically insisting that we recite the Pledge simultaneously lynched African Americans, bombed black children in church and formed angry mobs to jeer black children attempting nothing more than to go to the school of their choice.
Shortly before that, these same “patriotic Americans” forced Black World War II heroes returning from Europe to give up their seats to German prisoners of war. Yet, there I was, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance “to the republic for which it stands” every morning. Even as a child, if I had understood the meaning of the words that I was mindlessly embedding into my brain, I would have refused to recite them, regardless of the consequences.
Beyond being morally disingenuous and a monument to the worst kind of hypocrisy, the entire text is a lie: “One nation under God.” In light of what I've just described, what is that supposed to mean? “Indivisible”? The Civil War demonstrates that is a lie. “With liberty and justice for all”? I won't waste ink to address that issue. Other than brainwashing, what motive could we have for requiring our children to start off every morning with a lie?
My Reasoning
I realize I sound like a wild-eyed radical. But it is only because I have a very low threshold for baloney. I love this country, but I love truth more. I'm eclectic in my views. I believe in clear, unadulterated thought. I believe in addressing every issue on its own merit. Sometimes I agree with liberals. Other times, I agree with conservatives. That doesn't always make me popular. But I am happy to forsake popularity in return for moral and intellectual clarity. I was taught that is what it means to be an American. Maybe I am naïve. I took the lesson seriously.
I am in pursuit of truth, not an agenda. For that reason I stand with conservatives on issues like set-asides because moral and intellectual consistency dictates that if you are against discrimination, you must be against all discrimination. Yet, I stand with liberals in being against vouchers. The mere fact that conservatives want to create an “entitlement program” immediately sends up a red flag for me. Creating schools run by corporations is the fastest way I can think of to create young fascists for America who are running around speaking in fundamentalist tongue.
A voucher system would lead to a two-tier society. What will happen to low and middle-class children when private schools raised tuition beyond their parents' reach and the public school system has been destroyed? Parents would be chained to corporations to work for crumbs just so their children could learn to read and write.
Proponents of a mandatory pledge contend that our children should be taught to love and respect our country. It is my position that too much nationalism and not enough principle is what caused the kind of animosity toward this country that led to Sept.11. We need to teach our children to embrace high ethical standards and principles. If the leaders of our country follow suit, the nation will engender the uncoerced love and respect of its citizens and the world.
Thus, the Pledge of Allegiance should not be a pledge at all. It should be presented as a goal. Instead of lying about who and what we are, it would encourage us to focus our energies on what we hope to become. Maybe then we'll create the kind of nation where brainwashing our children for their allegiance won't be necessary.
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does
