California College Drops Pledge of Allegiance Over ‘White Nationalism’

The board of trustees president for a California community college ended the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at meetings, claiming the ritual was “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.”

Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees president Robert Miller explained his decision in an email to Celeste Barber, a former adjunct instructor. The emails were obtained by Campus Reform.

“I assume full responsibility for the decision not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance,” Miller wrote. “I agree with you that the Pledge is an example of good writing. It well demonstrates the principle that fewer, well-chosen words are often the most effective. I also applaud and honor the patriotism that motivates your request and share your reverence for the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. . .

Miller claimed in his email to Barber that the pledge carried with it some negative connotations that he wanted the school to get away from.

“Moreover, I have discovered that the Pledge of Allegiance has a history steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1890 by Francis Bellamy, a former Baptist minister. … In support of the Pledge, Mr. Bellamy expressed concern about the ‘races which we cannot assimilate without a lowering of our racial standard.'”

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