Texas student fights back against Pledge of Allegiance law
What began as a student refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at a Texas high school last October has resulted in the Texas attorney general enforcing a state law which says that all students must participate unless they get a parent's signature to opt out.
India Landry was sitting in the principal's office last fall when an announcement for the Pledge came on over the intercom. Landry's refusal to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance got her temporarily expelled from the school.
Landry's mother and lawyer have argued that the school violated Landry's freedom of speech, among other things, according to the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/student-sues-school-district-after-being-punished-for-pledge-of-allegiance-protest/2018/09/26/7e82de7e-c1b9-11e8-9451-e878f96be19b_video.html
What I find most notable about this case is how the Texas attorney general, and others, have connected the incident to the events of the NFL, where many black players came under fire for kneeling during the National Anthem.
Landry told NBC Houston, "I felt the flag doesn't represent what it stands for. Liberty and justice for all. And I don't feel that's what's going on in the country today."
I question whether or not a non-black student would have experienced the same sort of pushback and consequent legal issues for doing the same thing as Landry. I think this points to a larger issue of blackness being seen as anti-American by the Texas government.
India Landry was sitting in the principal's office last fall when an announcement for the Pledge came on over the intercom. Landry's refusal to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance got her temporarily expelled from the school.
Landry's mother and lawyer have argued that the school violated Landry's freedom of speech, among other things, according to the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/student-sues-school-district-after-being-punished-for-pledge-of-allegiance-protest/2018/09/26/7e82de7e-c1b9-11e8-9451-e878f96be19b_video.html
What I find most notable about this case is how the Texas attorney general, and others, have connected the incident to the events of the NFL, where many black players came under fire for kneeling during the National Anthem.
Landry told NBC Houston, "I felt the flag doesn't represent what it stands for. Liberty and justice for all. And I don't feel that's what's going on in the country today."
I question whether or not a non-black student would have experienced the same sort of pushback and consequent legal issues for doing the same thing as Landry. I think this points to a larger issue of blackness being seen as anti-American by the Texas government.
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