Freedom of Speech – Wearing the Flag in School
Please tell me it isn’t so… The children of America are wearing flags in school?
When I was a girl, there was a formal order of respect for the Flag to which we pledged our allegiance each day. Nobody questioned our allegiance, it was pledged and that was that.
I had a friend in grammar school who claimed to be of a “different faith”, one of those who didn’t pledge to the flag, celebrate special dates or other personal rituals the rest of us celebrated. She was odd. No one condemned her for her belief, nor did we stop saying the pledge of allegiance because she didn’t say it. She stood with the rest of the class, out of respect for her country, but gave no pledge, out of respect for her god.
Life back then had no different meaning, nor were we less tolerant of differences between people. But we did understand that with differences came disparity between people. When our ancestors came to America, they stood in long lines on Ellis Island, knowing that the skills and talents they brought with them would be enough to sustain a new life, .
