A seemingly innocuous proposal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of Chicago City Council meetings threatened Tuesday to balloon into a fractious debate over sensitive issues of patriotism, race, discrimination and hypocrisy.
Citing America’s history of discrimination against African-Americans, several black aldermen found the phrase “liberty and justice for all” particularly objectionable and delayed committee action while calling for a full City Council hearing on the issue.
“Unfortunately this country has not embraced all of those concepts,” said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th).
The vehement opposition caught the City Council’s pledge backers by surprise.
“It seemed to me to be a no-brainer, something that would be passed almost without discussion,” said a befuddled Ald. Bernard Stone (50th). “I was taken aback.”
But throughout history, objections over the pledge have mirrored debates of the times. From those who bristle at its mention of God to those who feel it is ungodly to recite it, the pledge–and objections to it–have long been a part of the American political, religious and social landscape.
In recent years, high school students have rebelled against being forced by law to participate in pledges. Locally, officials of one municipality in McHenry County resisted opening council meetings last spring with the pledge partially because it has trappings of federal power.
“`We hate to see that happen,” said Mike Bass, who is in charge of “flag education” at the American Legion headquarters in Indianapolis. “But what can you do? You can’t force someone to say it.”
The pledge dates to 1892 when Francis Bellamy, a socialist and Baptist minister, wrote it as part of a Columbus Day commemoration for the National Education Association and a popular youth magazine.
Other than the Philippines, the United States is the only country to have a verbal bond with its flag.
Bellamy’s first words were a pledge “`to my flag.” Later, under political pressure in 1923, the words were changed to “the flag of the United States of America.” In 1942, Congress made it part of the U.S. Flag Code. And in 1954, under a perceived threat from anti-religious communists, Congress added the words “under God.”
Until the 1940s, a student anywhere in America could be expelled for not reciting the pledge. But in 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that no one has to stand for it or be forced to recite it.
Despite the long history of dissent, the objections from Chicago council members may be a first.
Measuring his words carefully, Ald. Ed Smith (28th) called for a go-slow approach so aldermen can talk about it among themselves before it comes to a vote.
“When we say `liberty and justice for all’ … there is a lot of work to be done in this country,” Smith said. “There have been some problems. We all know that.”
Lyle initially bit her tongue during Tuesday’s committee meeting, refraining from discussing the ordinance because she said her comments might be construed as “anti-patriotic.”
After the meeting, Lyle at first tried not to talk to reporters, answering questions reluctantly as she walked down a corridor outside the council’s chamber. Finally, she stopped to discuss the ordinance at length.
“Some of the people who say the pledge on a day-to-day basis have absolutely no belief in the concepts and the tenets that the pledge is built on,” she said. “Some people who say the pledge are pure hypocrites when they say it.”
America should own up to the issue of reparations for the descendants of slaves, Lyle said, and live out the credo of the pledge. In May, the City Council voted 46-1 to urge Congress to study possible reparations as a way to address a past injustice that some aldermen contended has lingering effects.
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But historian John Baer said the council members were taking the words of the pledge too literally. They were written during a time of discrimination and racism in America, he said, and were intended as an encouragement for Americans to treat one another better.
“Of course it’s not true,” said Baer, a retired economics professor from Maryland who wrote about the history of the pledge. “It’s not a factual statement; it’s a normative one. It’s something to aspire to.”
The pledge is so much an accepted part of American lore that more than half the states have laws making it a mandatory part of school life. In Illinois, elementary and middle school pupils are required by law to participate in daily pledge ceremonies. State education officials said Tuesday that there have been no problems with compliance.
Federal law does not make the pledge mandatory although many legislative bodies traditionally recite the pledge during opening or closing of sessions. But more and more, public officials are making public displays of opposition to the formality.
In Woodstock, officials grappled last spring over whether to begin council meetings with a non-secular prayer, the pledge or a recalling of an “inspirational moment” of history. Ultimately, the proposals died, town officials said Tuesday.
“It’s not uncommon for a council member somewhere to make a grand stand against it,” Baer said. “When it comes to the pledge, people become passionate.”
The Pledge of Allegiance is sparking a City Council debate.