Yesterday in class we discussed rights that every US citizen is protected by, and others that we are limited by. We contributed different opinions per issue, then found out rather it was actually a right we are protected or limited by, and then discussed why that is. For example, one of the protected rights that every student has is to refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. That is, de jure, every citizen is protected to refuse the recital of the pledge, but occasionally de facto, that is not always the case.
Mr. Bolos told a specific story about his daughter not standing up to say the pledge. De jure, she had a right not to, but de facto, everyone else in the class was reciting it, and the school tried desperately to convince her to. When really she has the freedom to not do so.
This made me think of Will Phillips, a 10-year-old from Arkansas who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance because he did not agree with it. He claimed that he would not say it until there really is “liberty and justice for all”, which he believes, will not be the case until gays and lesbians have equal rights.
“Gays and lesbians can’t marry. There’s still a lot of racism and sexism in the world”
According to the 1943 ruling that gives students the right to refuse the Pledge, and his first amendment right, Will is protected by law. But when he didn’t stand up and refused to recite it for four days, he was sent to the principal’s office.
I’m not saying that I agree with his motives, or that I myself refuse to say the Pledge. The point is, is that by law, everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, and Will should be allowed to refuse to say it, as long as he isn’t disrupting others.
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