Famous American novelist roundly criticized over remarks about Pledge of Allegiance, schools in the South



Award-winning novelist Joyce Carol Oates was roundly criticized after posting controversial remarks about the Pledge of Allegiance and schools in the South.

"In all my years of being in school as a student & being a teacher I have never once witnessed anyone pledging allegiance to a flag. Maybe some schools in the South? Certainly not mainstream America. Sounds like an old rerun of 'Gunsmoke,'" Joyce Carol Oates tweeted Saturday.

\u201cin all my years of being in school as a student & being a teacher I have never once witnessed anyone pledging allegiance to a flag. maybe some schools in the South? certainly not mainstream America. sounds like an old rerun of "Gunsmoke."\u201d
— Joyce Carol Oates (@Joyce Carol Oates) 1682795854

The Academy of Achievement calls Oates, a prolific author and National Book Award Winner, "America's Foremost Woman of Letters." She received the National Humanities Medal for a lifetime of contributions to American literature in 2010 during the Obama administration.

Twitter users were quick to correct and challenge 84-year-old Oates despite her undisputed literary bona fides.

"My kids do it everyday in Virginia. Perhaps you live in a cave?" said one.

"My kids' school does it (in the very well-off suburbs of Washington DC.)," said another.

"California Education Code § 52720 has required a daily patriotic exercise such as reciting the Pledge in public schools since 1976," said a third.

One Twitter user called the assumptions on which Oates' remarks were based "ugly and bigoted."

Not to outdone, Oates doubled down. Retweeting a person who called the practice "stupid," Oates suggested a "zealous patriotic response to 9/11" might explain the common practice.

"Especially when everyone felt relatively helpless, traumatized by the terrorist attack, uniting students in pledges to a flag would seem to have a positive effect," she wrote.

\u201cthat might explain it--a zealous patriotic response to 9/11. \nespecially when everyone felt relatively helpless, traumatized by the terrorist attack, uniting students in pledges to a flag would seem to have a positive effect.\u201d
— Joyce Carol Oates (@Joyce Carol Oates) 1682807861

Oates said she was "sure" that her high school in an "affluent suburb of Buffalo" did not require the recitation until "possibly after 9/11."

Yet again, she appeared to continue laboring under a faulty assumption that requirements involving reciting the Pledge are somehow limited to schools in the South.

\u201cI'm sure that my high school in an affluent suburb of Buffalo did not require this until possibly after 9/11---many years after I'd gone there. the pledge seems to be local option in 2023 at least in non-Southern states.\u201d
— Joyce Carol Oates (@Joyce Carol Oates) 1682811773

A few hours after her original tweet, Oates' tone appeared to soften a bit. She acknowledged respondents' many corrections on pledge-related practices in the past. Apparently unclear on modern day practices, however, she then asked questions about whether reciting the Pledge of Allegiance daily in school is common today.

\u201cmany respondents to this tweet say that yes, they did have to "pledge allegiance" to the US flag in school. is it still required today? assume it's state by state? public school? private? a parochial school day begins w/ prayer also.\u201d
— Joyce Carol Oates (@Joyce Carol Oates) 1682807560

Schoolchildren daily reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is quite common. Students are required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in 47 states, with opt-out exemptions varying by state, WVIB reported. The three states with no policy on reciting the Pledge are Wyoming, Vermont, and Hawaii.

Oates is currently a lecturer with the rank of professor at Princeton University's Lewis Center Program in Creative Writing in New Jersey.

New Jersey law mandates that boards of education require pupils to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every school day, according to FindLaw. Students who "have conscientious scruples against such pledge or salute" are exempted from the requirement.

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Rep. Hal Rogers apologizes after Rep. Joyce Beatty accuses him of telling her, 'kiss my a**'



Republican Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky says that he apologized to Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio on Tuesday.

Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, had accused Rogers of poking her and telling her to "kiss my ass."

"This afternoon, I met with @RepBeatty to personally apologize. My words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her, first and foremost," Rogers tweeted.

Rogers is a veteran lawmaker who has been in office for more than 40 years.

This afternoon, I met with @RepBeatty to personally apologize. My words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her, first and foremost.
— Hal Rogers (@Hal Rogers) 1644363053

Rogers was not wearing a mask when he boarded an elevator, according to the Associated Press — Beatty told the outlet during an interview that Rogers begrudgingly complied after she asked him to don a mask. The AP said that the lawmakers met again when entering a train, and Beatty again asked Rogers to wear a mask.

"Today, while heading to the House floor for votes, I respectfully asked my colleague @RepHalRogers to put on a mask while boarding the train. He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, 'kiss my ass,'" Beatty tweeted. "@RepHalRogers, when you are ready to grow up and apologize for your behavior, you know where to find me," she said in another tweet.

Today, while heading to the House floor for votes, I respectfully asked my colleague @RepHalRogers to put on a mask while boarding the train. He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, \u201ckiss my ass.\u201d (1/3)
— Joyce Beatty (@Joyce Beatty) 1644350292

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus held a press conference on Tuesday, and lawmakers condemned Rogers for the behavior Beatty had described. "I will not give Hal Rogers a pass," Democratic Rep. Val Demings of Florida said. She described the Republican's behavior as "racist" and decried it as "totally unacceptable."

Rep Val Demings (D-FL)pic.twitter.com/VGWFH3SMm3
— Scott MacFarlane (@Scott MacFarlane) 1644357969