Controversy at New York School about Reading the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic

It was an event to celebrate the National Foreign Language Week with a “Recite the Pledge of Allegiance” activity in several languages. A part of it however caused the school to be divided, with some people getting offended. The issue occurred at the Pine Bush High School in New York, when the Pledge of Allegiance was read in Arabic.

A good thing turned bad

Joan Carbone, the school superintendent said that the event held last Wednesday was an effort to celebrate the many cultures, races and religions that comprise their school district and the entire United States. It was something that they thought was a good idea but somehow it turned out bad. The celebration was organized by the foreign language department of Pine Bush High School. Their intention was to promote the idea that people who speak a language other than English could also pledge their allegiance to the flag of the country they now call home.

It was only during the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic that the students of Pine Bush High School in New York caused a stir. It became the headline in the community for the rest of the day, and the principal got so busy explaining the context of the event and apologizing to many people who were offended by the reading in that specific foreign language.

Ms. Carbone said that the incident divided the school nearly in half. She had to listen to complaints lodged by Jewish parents as well as community residents whose family members became casualties in Afghanistan. The Pine Bush Central School District already released a statement apologizing to the students, community members and staff who were offended by the activity.

Continued negative comments

Even with the verbal and written apologies, angry comments, in person and online, continued to pour in, according to Andrew Zink, a senior class president. The student reader was even labeled a terrorist, and some said the student should move to the Middle East. There were people who said that America only speaks English. Within such a short time, the small incident began to get out of hand.

Cultural divide

It was normal procedure for Zink to read the announcements beforehand and he was actually asked to allow the reading of the pledge in Arabic. He said that he was expecting the backlash when he allowed it. But he wanted to show people that there was a cultural divide at the Pine Bush High School.

He cited the civil rights lawsuit filed in 2012 by families against the district. The families claimed that their children were subjected to anti-Semitic harassment but the school district tried to have it dismissed after New York Gov. Andrew Curano ordered an investigation. In November 2014, the federal judge allowed the suit to go forward.

The pledge in other languages

Had the celebration been allowed to continue as planned, there would have been readings in Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese, according to Zink. But as it stands now, the school district announced that the pledge would be recited in English.

Continued protests

Protests continued through the week, and members of the local chapter of the American Legion met Thursday to address the controversy.

Zink remarked that it is not only in Pine Bush that this cultural divide is becoming a great issue. He said it is happening all over the United States and he finds it sad that people still think that being an American is defined by the language that a person speaks.

Image credit – Pine Bush High School in New York