Red Scare: Nebraska school district asks staff to sign McCarthy-era loyalty pledge

[DonViejo]

Source: RawStory

More than 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, a school district in Nebraska is asking teachers to sign an oath designed to root out communist sympathizers.

Hastings Public Schools administrators have asked all staff to attest to their “love and devotion to” the United States government by signing the McCarthy-era loyalty pledge. The school administration says it must ask staff to sign the document because of a 1951 state law that is still on the books.

“We’re not trying to violate anyone’s constitutional rights,” Hastings Schools Superintendent Craig Kautz told the Associated Press. “As a public school, we can’t selectively decide what laws we abide by and which ones we don’t. I just hope we don’t get dragged into something that’s above our level.”

During the last school year, individuals contacted Kautz about the loyalty pledge and asked why the district did not have its staff sign it. Kautz contacted the district’s attorneys, who told him that Nebraska still had two loyalty pledge statutes on the books — and only one of them was unconstitutional.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/red-scare-nebraska-school-district-asks-staff-to-sign-mccarthy-era-loyalty-pledge/

[SummerSnow]

1. What hypocritical bullcrap..

“We’re not trying to violate anyone’s constitutional rights,”


But then want people to sign this document and if they don't you will harass them then fire them. Blacklist the staff is what he will do

[KansDem]

2. Not this shit again!

The HUAC Hearings, or "Are you or have you ever been a member of the communist party?"

[BlueJazz]

3. If I was forced to sign somebody's Loyalty Pledge, I wouldn't be loyal to them

[MNBrewer]

4. In the 1980s I was asked if I was or had ever been a member of the Communist Party

when I took a college summer job at a veterinary diagnostic lab in Georgia. It seemed to be part of the paperwork for intake of new employees.

[drm604]

5. This is necessary!

They might be KGB agents!

[jtuck004]

6. Anyone not got enough spine to stand up to this? Go ahead, get on your knees and sign it, then crawl

back to that classroom.

With that one act you have taught the kids all they need to know about schooling and the life they will live. Congratulations.

[Daemonaquila]

7. You're about to be "dragged into something above your level" in 3...2...1...

You'll be sued in about 5 minutes. Hope it was worth it.

[ShrimpPoboy]

8. If it's state law

shouldn't this be an issue in other school districts?

[avebury]

9. It would be really interesting to see if someone could turn it

around on them to force the school district to uphold the US Constitution because a lot of the uber right wing BS is opposed to the Constitution.

By the way, all employees of the State of Oklahoma have to sign a Loyalty Oath upon being hired.

[Gregorian]

10. In the future maybe there will be an anti-capitalist pledge

I know one thing, it would be a sign of health.

There is nothing wrong with community. Capitalism is anti-community. It's the reason why we're struggling with economic inequality, and the reason one of our candidates is doing surprisingly well.

[phantom power]

11. It makes me sad that we forget the lessons of history over and over and over

There should be some list of Danger Signs For A Society. If you find yourself, or other people doing things on this list, it is an immediate sign that Something Is Going Wrong.

Loyalty Pledges -- stop, put the loyalty pledge on the ground, and back slowly away.

Other things on the list. Forbidden Books, Blaming Immigrants For <Anything>, any speech starting with "I'm Not A Scientist, But..."

I'm sure there are some other good ones. But it doesn't really matter. Because we forget them. Over and over.

[TygrBright]

12. See, this is what happens when you step into The Master's TARDIS... n/t

[amazona10]

13. Arizona's been doing it forever

This is nothing new in Arizona where anyone who works for the state must sign a loyalty oath. Its been here for forever and will go on for forever.

[Dont call me Shirley]

14. The hell yours not trying to violate anyone's constitutional rights, Craig Krautz!

[Xithras]

15. FWIW. I had to sign one in California in 2001

When I took my first adjunct teaching position at a California community college, I had to sign a certification that I wasn't a member of the Communist Party and a pledge not to join them. When I took another adjunct position at a CSU a couple of years later, I had to sign it again.

In California.

In this century.

California didn't pass a law repealing the requirement that educators at state educational institutions sign the pledge until 2008. That's only seven years ago for the mathematically impaired. Until then, most public colleges and universities required prospective employees to sign them (though a handful willfully and publicly violated the law for ethical reasons).

Here's an article discussing its eventual repeal: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/16/usa1

[rurallib]

16. this is the state that has a woman who is suing all homosexuals, correct?

seems about par for me.

[lindysalsagal]

17. #3 &#4 could be used to control interpretations of our purposes and history

If anyone were removed for violating it, they'd have a duzy of a lawsuit against the district. It will be tested, if for no other reason than the possible damage money.

[YOHABLO]

18. Sounds to me like Right Wing Paranoia .. what are these people afraid of, the government or

communism? Here we go, McCarthyism all over again. I'm loyal to my principles, and the Republican Party's Conservatives do not represent them. I think if I were a public school teacher in Nebraska, I'd find other employment.

[MFrohike]

19. Curious

I wonder if they've been adhering to this law since 1951 or if this is a recent development. If it's the latter, it'll probably be struck down for lack of enforcement.