is the title of this book by Peter Irons.
One of those featured in the book was a woman who as a girl - along with her brother - refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They were both Jehovah's Witnesses. They were both expelled, and the Supreme Court, in 1940, upheld their expulsion in Minersville v Gobitis by an 8-1 vote, the sole dissent by Harlan Fisk Stone.
Three years later a somewhat different court ruled 6-3 in favor of another Jehovah;s Witness in West Virginia v Barnette, by a court whose chief Justice was Harlan Fisk Stone. That decision is why to this day in theory students cannot be compelled to participate in the Pledge ceremony - even requiring them to stand is a violation of what Robert Jackson laid down in his opinion.
The relevance of this is again upon us, and we are reminded when we read Lillian Gobitas Klose, 90, Dies; Stood Against Mandatory Pledgeamong the obituaries in The New York Times.
As we read in the obituary,
Lillian Gobitas’s family belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and heeded a leader’s call to refuse to recite the pledge in compliance with biblical commands against idolatry. On Oct. 22, 1935, Lillian’s brother William Gobitas, a fifth grader, refused to say the pledge at his public school in Minersville, Pa. The next day, Lillian did the same thing. The town school board responded by passing a resolution calling refusal to recite the pledge an act of insubordination. It then expelled the Gobitas children.Please keep reading.
For 12-year-old Lillian, the sting from her act of conscience — which she said was entirely
Krugman on "The Medicare Miracle"
... a funny thing has happened: Health spending has slowed sharply, and it’s already well below projections made just a few years ago. The falloff has been especially pronounced in Medicare, which is spending $1,000 less per beneficiary than the Congressional Budget Office projected just four years ago. That is one key paragraph from this Paul Krugman column in Monday's New York Times. As is ofte
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Ferguson - it is really about WHITE rage
White rage recurs in American history. It exploded after the Civil War, erupted again to undermine the Supreme Court’sBrown v. Board of Education decision and took on its latest incarnation with Barack Obama’s ascent to the White House. For every action of African American advancement, there’s a reaction, a backlash. That is a key quote from Ferguson isn’t about black rage against cops. It’s white
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AUG 30
Kristof: "When Whites Just Don’t Get It"
The net worth of the average black household in the United States is $6,314, compared with $110,500 for the average white household, according to 2011 census data. The gap has worsened in the last decade, and the United States now has a greater wealth gap by race than South Africa did during apartheid. (Whites in America on average own almost 18 times as much as blacks; in South Africa in 1970, th
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Yet again a Saturday morning teaching reflection
Students began classes on Wednesday, so I am getting back into the rhythm that has been so much of a part of my life for the past two decades or so. And is my wont I take some time on a Saturday morning before returning to the tasks associated with being a high school social studies teacher to reflect upon my teaching life. There have always been at least a few people here who are interested in
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