It’s a story that’s perfectly teed up for a deluge of Conservative outrage and drum-beating. A school principal decides that it’s not appropriate for students to sing Lee Greenwood’s Good Bless the USA, which is a blatantly nationalistic anthem designed to tug at the heart strings and enflame the passions of those singing it. On the surface, one could see how it would be easy to frame this story as just another bleeding heart America-hating Liberal forcings her One World beliefs upon innocent children.
Except that there’s a fair bit more to the story. First, it was a KINDERGARTEN graduation ceremony. Do we really need to be teaching children that young reflexive, unquestioning nationalism? Could we at least wait until they’re old enough to reason before we begin to indoctrinate them in Amerika uber Alles? I’m certainly not going to deny the importance of love of country, but I can’t help believe that patriotism is something that should develop organically and not be the byproduct of indoctrination at a very young and impressionable age. Children in kindergarten should be concerned with things like toys and play time, not pledging unwavering fealty to God, flag, and country. If you think I’m overreacting, check out the lyrics of God Bless the USA. I understand pride in and love for one’s country, and I’m proud of being (and consider myself fortunate to be) an American. That said, I believe that being an American carries with it the responsibility to celebrate our history and heritage thoughtfully and reasonably. Having kindergartners singing a nationalist anthem would seem to be neither of those things.
Second, Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School in New York, didn’t exactly cover herself in glory, After making her case for why she forbade the singing of Go Bless the USA- an argument few seem to be buying- she replaced it with, of all things, a Justin Bieber song, Baby. Uh…what?? That Hawkins’ superiors support her decision would seem to indicate that reason is prevailing…and it’s not as if students aren’t getting their fair share of nationalist indoctrination. They sing America the Beautiful and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day; it’s not as if anyone can claim that students are being taught to hate America.
Hawkins certaintly could have explained her (correct) decision a bit more thoroughly and reasonably. And she certainly could have chosen a more appropriate song as a replacement, but ordering her staff to remove a blatantly nationalistic song from a kindergarten graduation ceremony seems entire appropriate. Poor ancillary decisions aside, Hawkins seems to be the only one thinking about the well-being of the children at PS 90.
Or do you really believe that it’s appropriate to indoctrinate five- and six-year-old children in rote, reflexive nationalism?
Oh…and like this will come as a surprise…Greta Hawkins is receiving death threats. Go figure.
