Opinion | Iowa Republicans need to focus on real issues rather than patriotism – UI The Daily Iowan

Politicians need to focus on issues that have an impact on Iowans lives, not enforcing the pledge of allegiance.

Yet again, Iowa Republicans are introducing harmful and unnecessary bills in the Legislature.

In an effort to uphold blind patriotism, Sen. Adrian Dickey introduced a bill that would require teachers to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Teachers would also be barred from talking about the pledge in an unpatriotic manner. The only exception is if the teacher has a disability that prevents them from standing and reciting the pledge.

This bill infringes on the freedom of speech of teachers and enforces the harmful censorship that has been used to erase marginalized identities.

Besides the freedom of speech and censorship concerns, teachers respecting the pledge doesnt even seem to be a problem in Iowas public schools.

Without any legislation in place, we started every morning with the Pledge of Allegiance when I was in elementary school. Most students stood and mindlessly recited the words. However, some students did not due to religious beliefs. Nevertheless, it was a daily practice that my teachers never commented on, and students paid very little attention to.

This is not the first time in recent Iowa history that Republicans introduced a bill about the Pledge of Allegiance. At the end of last years legislative session, a bill was passed that required schools to present the flag and require the school to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

Ultimately, students cannot be forced to recite the pledge because of their right to free expression. This was established in 1943 with the Supreme Court ruling case, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.

Because it is established that students cannot be forced to recite the pledge, why would teachers be any different? In fact, this bill takes these free speech infringements a step further by censoring the language used surrounding the pledge.

Instead of improving the public school system in Iowa, this seems to be another attempt to uphold conservative ideas of patriotism, which often means erasing minority voices.

Through this proposal, teachers would not be allowed to say any unpatriotic commentary on the United States, or language that has any political influence on students. Along with possible infringement on free speech, this bill is further complicated by how we view patriotism.

Republicans have made attempts left and right to censor teachers. However, it all seems rooted in the same silencing of minorities. Bills were put into place last year to bar teachers from teaching the 1619 Project in schools because of concerns it is not historically accurate and misrepresents the values of America. Iowa schools are also facing increasing attention and possible bans of several books being taught, mostly ones highlighting minority experiences, such as The Hate u Give, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.

The abundance of censorship and backlash when it comes to language or teaching that involves minority experiences suggests this legislature is not about protecting students its about continuing to erase and censor certain identities.

Censoring the language teachers use about the pledge is a step in the same direction, attempting to control unpatriotic language in the classroom. But what do we define as unpatriotic, and who is creating these definitions?

It seems Republicans focus is less about unifying the country and more about making sure certain ways of thinking about America are controlled. This is being done through book bans, attempting to erase the 1619 Project, or controlling speech surrounding the pledge. Conservative powers are infringing on what information can be shared or spoken.

Classrooms can be powerful places to grow through education. Instead of investing in bettering the education system, Republican senators are focused on censoring language and upholding their definition of patriotism.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.

Read the original post:
Opinion | Iowa Republicans need to focus on real issues rather than patriotism - UI The Daily Iowan