Leftovers from worry about communists in the schools, I believe. The California system has had that fight particularly hard, back from pre-WWII as I remember it. And, of course, quite ineffective (though each time somebody refuses it, it's viewed as a victory by the supporters).
A lot of the American patriotism stuff is, I think, relics of building a nation out of a collection of immigrants, often from competing and even unfriendly countries. It was probably necessary to get to where we are, but it bugs the hell out of me in a lot of ways.
Exactly. People just didn't want to see public-school teachers hired who taught that the government ought to be violently overthrown with explosives and whatnot. That's perfectly reasonable.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-03-07 04:34 pm (UTC)A lot of the American patriotism stuff is, I think, relics of building a nation out of a collection of immigrants, often from competing and even unfriendly countries. It was probably necessary to get to where we are, but it bugs the hell out of me in a lot of ways.
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Date: 2008-03-10 08:07 am (UTC)