Reflections on this Veterans Day November 11, 2015

As a first year teacher coming from industry, I had forgotten all about the morning rituals of public schools.  During the announcements, we all stand to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

At first, this renewed tradition felt awkward for me.  I would look around the room, the words whispered in a single breath no one could hear.  Most stood, but did not recite the oath.  I wonder how many understand the meaning and context.  

I think about the boys and girls fighting abroad in international wars that seem so removed from our daily freedoms and rights. Basic freedoms, many of us take for granted: food, clean water, shelter, safety. Our right to stand in front of a flag and earn a public school education is one of those rights we take for granted.  

The right to an education is not fought on an international battle field - not literally.  Even still, math, science, technology and innovation are being outsourced in order for us to have our stuff cheap. We are losing that battle and most do not understand the meaning and context.

I do not mean to diminish the commitment and honor of those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.  Rather, I wonder how many are now fighting for basic rights we take for granted.  I do not teach history.  I teach Health Assisting in a time when equal access to basic public health is a long fought battleground and mental and emotional illnesses are a shunned epidemic. 

We are at war on our own grounds.  Ideology has shamed us into separation rather than unification. Nationalism is branded by politics rather than the flag itself.  Equal rights, unalienable rights - no matter who you are or where you are in your journey - are still fought for everyday in every interaction with one another right here in the United States of America.

Yesterday, the school followed the pledge with our national anthem.  I stood and faced the flag.  Like every time I hear it play, my eyes well up.  I pledge to continue to fight every day until our rights and freedoms are indivisible, with liberty and until there is justice for all.

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