Whether it masquerades as “multiculturalism” or not, that this sort of thing is going on in American public schools ought to worry everyone:
Students in a Texas public high school were made to stand up and recite the Mexican national anthem and Mexican pledge of allegiance as part of a Spanish class assignment, but the school district maintains there was nothing wrong with the lesson.
It happened last month in an intermediate Spanish class at Achieve Early College High School in McAllen, Texas — a city located about 10 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Wearing red, white and green, students had to memorize the Mexican anthem and pledge and stand up and recite them in individually in front of the class.
That didn’t go over well with sophomore Brenda Brinsdon. The 15-year-old sat down and refused to participate. She also caught it all on video…
Etc.
Forcing kids to swear allegiance to a foreign country is not fun and games, nor is it child’s play.
Taking that oath constitutes an act of expatriation, and if the kids were adults it would automatically cause the loss of their U.S. citizenship.
Irresponsible of the teacher, to say the least. And I am sure the teacher can’t be fired, because the union would never allow it.
What’s next? Forcing students to perform the Shahada?
MORE: As commenter Sigivald pointed out, the above link explains that above acts are potentially expatriating, and not automatically. My mistake.
Comments
4 responses to ““OK children, now it’s time to surrender your birthright!””
Taking that oath constitutes an act of expatriation, and if the kids were adults it would automatically cause the loss of their U.S. citizenship.
Yeah, only no.
As the link you provided states, such an oath must be made with the intention to relinquish American citizenship.
In practice, as they say there, you only give up American citizenship if you declare your intent in writing to a Consular authority – and even then they might want you to interview in person to confirm intent.
This Texas thing is incredibly bad form, but it doesn’t endanger anyone’s citizenship.
To require the memorization and recitation of other nations oath of allegiance, national anthem is in my opinion poor judgement.
However knowledge of our neighbors and other countries is imperative in the world today.
Someone on another blog suggested that, if the kids need to memorize something in Spanish, why not the American Pledge of Allegiance? After all, I completely agree that foreign-language memorization is a critical learning tool, but there should have been some different choices made regarding subject matter.
John S:
If you ask the question, you already know the answer.
For bonus points, go read Berthold Brecht’s poem, “The Solution.”