Santa Barbara City College Temporarily Reinstates Pledge of Allegiance at Board Meetings

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A controversy emerged at the Santa Barbara City Board of Trustees: They eliminated the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at their board meetings, which led to outrage. Now, the board has agreed to reinstate the recitation after public pressure and outrage.

The president of the board of trustees, Robert Miller, said that they had “decided to discontinue use of the Pledge of Allegiance for reasons related to its history and symbolism.” But, it was reversed and now it will be recited “until some future date when the matter may be considered by the Board.”

The public played a big part of the decision, as Miller’s statement said, “This decision, which restores the status quo, follows an appeal for reinstatement from members of the public who raised important issues at the January 24 board meeting.” The statement was posted on Facebook.

Yet, as you can see, it is not clear if it will be a permanent move by the board of the city college.

Miller did blast protesters who interrupted speakers at a board meeting. He said, “While the College recognizes that there are different opinions about the Pledge of Allegiance, it expects that the First Amendment rights of members of the public to comment at board meetings will be respected.” He continued, “It is inconsistent with those rights for other audience members to interrupt and mock speakers on this topic, as happened at the January 24 Board meeting.”

However, Miller did not address how the Pledge of Allegiance’s “history and symbolism” is a problem for the board. Miller allegedly e-mailed someone that the Pledge of Allegiance is “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.” He also is not a fan of the phrase “one nation under God.”