Brooklyn Principal Uses Good Judgement on Graduation Song
In Brooklyn there isn’t a lot of controversial news right now, so the media has chosen to go on the attack at the principal of PS 90, Ms. Greta Hawkins. Hawkins decided that the graduation song, “Proud to Be an American” also known as “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood was not appropriate for her students. The media hopped all over this story and deemed Hawkins unpatriotic because she won’t let the children sing a song for America. Of course that’s news if someone is unpatriotic, especially a school leader.
The words of the song Greenwood’s song are patriotic and I love the song. But is it appropriate for children in public school to be singing “And I’m proud to be an American” and “God bless the U.S.A?” In public schools in Brooklyn, there is a very diverse population and some students are not American and their families do not all believe in God. There are many students in Brooklyn who aren’t Americans and have allegiance to their own country’s flag. There isn’t anything wrong with that because we’re in America and that’s what freedom is about.
Do you know that the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance did not contain the word God? The Founding Fathers did not intend for us to include the word God. Many people say God can’t be left out of the pledge for our country, but do they know that the original pledge did not contain the name of God. The words “Under God” were not added until 1954. Look:
This is the reason so many people discuss why the pledge (in it’s current format) should not be said in schools. Should students in public schools be saying the word God? Isn’t it seen as a breach of the wall of separation between church and state? When the media doesn’t have any news to report, they look for stories of those unpatriotic schools who aren’t saying the Pledge of Allegiance. And the news loves to get people riled up and deem the leaders of the school unpatriotic. Is having children recite memorized words enough to make them patriotic?
Ms. Hawkins is an educational leader in Brooklyn. The parents of PS 90 have been very happy with her and the school in the past. Her decision to change a song should be respected. She was thoughtful and considered the community that she represents. I think she should be applauded for actually caring about the words of the song. The new songs that were chosen were chosen because they are fun and represent today’s culture. Brooklyn, there is a lesson to be learned from Ms. Hawkins ban on this song -> Do things with purpose and thought. Hawkins demonstrated that when something doesn’t work, then change it! Our own pledge calls for ‘freedom and fairness for all’ (with Liberty and Justice for all) so Ms. Hawkins is demonstrating respect for the people in her community. She doesn’t want to offend her students or their families. Instead of people condoning her and calling her patriotic, why aren’t we admiring Ms. Hawkins devotion to the community where she works?
We live in America – land of the free. That alone tells us that we don’t need to force children to sing patriotic songs to show they are American. Children eventually grown up and will choose to be patriotic because of the ideals of our country, not because they know the words to a song.
Hugs,
marlene
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