Calif. Board of Trustees Scraps Pledge of Allegiance Over 'White Nationalism' History

Adam Sabes
Campus Reform
Jan. 29, 2019

The Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees President says the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag is “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.”

In emails obtained exclusively by Campus Reform, the president of the SBCC Board of Trustees, Robert Miller, stated that he decided to “discontinue use of the Pledge of Allegiance” at board meetings because of its history.

Live stream videos of the board's past several meetings show that the last time members recited the Pledge of Allegiance during a board meeting was Dec. 13. During the Jan. 10 live-streamed meeting, Miller noted at the beginning that it was his first meeting as president of the board. It was also the first meeting since a similar circumstance in summer 2018 that members did not recite the pledge.

“I decided to discontinue use of the Pledge of Allegiance for reasons related to its history and symbolism,” Miller said in an email to Celeste Barber, a former adjunct instructor at SBCC. “I have discovered that the Pledge of Allegiance has a history steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism."

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