Comrade-Z
4th January 2007, 20:52
(For all of you highschoolers who don't have an idea about "what is to be done," here is a suggestion for a project that would make tons of difference...)
Does participating in the pledge of allegiance and the star spangled banner at school (or anywhere) bother you? If so, listen up: what I'm talking about is a broad (and ideally even international) movement against institutional nationalism in schools, starting with the very simple tactic of non-participation. I was thinking that a very easy and defensible, yet potentially very effective way to confront it would be to simply refuse to participate in the pledge of allegiance and the star spangled banner at school--staying sitting down when the teachers or administrators announce that "now we will stand for the pledge of allegiance...." I don't believe there is anything they can do about that. I did it for most of last year and suffered no repercussions. They can't force you to participate in the pledge of allegiance or the star spangled banner. (And if they try, then we give them hell! Are our schools Prussian military academies or places of free thinking?! This movement could even spur the growth of student unions in the U.S., a place, unlike France, where students wouldn't know a union from an onion...)
And if even only a few dozen kids in the school consistently refused to participate in the activities, then it would have a tremendous psychological impact against nationalism. It would break its subtle, yet hegemonic dominance over school ideology, and it would be a subtle act of mockery and defiance against this piece of arbitrary authority. It would also be a participatory lesson in basic solidarity, something that many kids have perhaps never experienced, to the detriment of their political will and imagination.
In any case, most kids, it seems to me, do not consciously partake in the activities. They participate in it out of a sort of automated, unthinking conformity. But meanwhile pressure and subtle coercion to engage in nationalism in school goes uncontested.
But it's not like we even need to "rule it unconstitutional" or something like that. In fact, it seems to me that that would be somewhat of a cop-out--an easy and passive way of challenging and driving it out of the school arena. Simple disobedience has the potential to be much more self-emancipating and effective. And I think it has the potential to catch on with many students.
We must ask people, if we don't allow religious indoctrination in our schools, why do we allow nationalistic indoctrination?! In this era of global citizenship, we will not assume a stance of superiority over our sisters and brothers around the world. That is the legacy of irrational fascism, and we will not tolerate it any longer! We refuse to participate in our schools' nationalism!
Does participating in the pledge of allegiance and the star spangled banner at school (or anywhere) bother you? If so, listen up: what I'm talking about is a broad (and ideally even international) movement against institutional nationalism in schools, starting with the very simple tactic of non-participation. I was thinking that a very easy and defensible, yet potentially very effective way to confront it would be to simply refuse to participate in the pledge of allegiance and the star spangled banner at school--staying sitting down when the teachers or administrators announce that "now we will stand for the pledge of allegiance...." I don't believe there is anything they can do about that. I did it for most of last year and suffered no repercussions. They can't force you to participate in the pledge of allegiance or the star spangled banner. (And if they try, then we give them hell! Are our schools Prussian military academies or places of free thinking?! This movement could even spur the growth of student unions in the U.S., a place, unlike France, where students wouldn't know a union from an onion...)
And if even only a few dozen kids in the school consistently refused to participate in the activities, then it would have a tremendous psychological impact against nationalism. It would break its subtle, yet hegemonic dominance over school ideology, and it would be a subtle act of mockery and defiance against this piece of arbitrary authority. It would also be a participatory lesson in basic solidarity, something that many kids have perhaps never experienced, to the detriment of their political will and imagination.
In any case, most kids, it seems to me, do not consciously partake in the activities. They participate in it out of a sort of automated, unthinking conformity. But meanwhile pressure and subtle coercion to engage in nationalism in school goes uncontested.
But it's not like we even need to "rule it unconstitutional" or something like that. In fact, it seems to me that that would be somewhat of a cop-out--an easy and passive way of challenging and driving it out of the school arena. Simple disobedience has the potential to be much more self-emancipating and effective. And I think it has the potential to catch on with many students.
We must ask people, if we don't allow religious indoctrination in our schools, why do we allow nationalistic indoctrination?! In this era of global citizenship, we will not assume a stance of superiority over our sisters and brothers around the world. That is the legacy of irrational fascism, and we will not tolerate it any longer! We refuse to participate in our schools' nationalism!