South Whidbey schools delay decision on Pledge of Allegiance
LANGLEY — The South Whidbey School Board did not come to a decision last week about whether to reinstate the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of regular meetings.
This did not sit well with a group of sign-and-flag-waving residents who met outside one of the schools to listen to the meeting and recite the patriotic pledge together. At least one person in the crowd hoped that a compromise will be enacted in the future.
The board’s lengthy discussion of the topic during the Sept. 8 workshop was prompted by a spontaneous recitation of the pledge by audience members during the previous board meeting Aug. 25.
Board Chairperson Brook Willeford led off the discussion with a brief history of the pledge, which was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892. According to an article from Smithsonian Magazine, Bellamy believed the pledge would protect traditional American values from, as Bellamy termed them, “every alien immigrant of inferior race.”
The same article stated that Congress added “under God” in 1954 to counter ‘godless communism.”
Board member Damian Greene acknowledged the pledge’s questionable history but encouraged board members to also consider the more positive meanings the pledge has taken on since its creation.
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