California professor Celeste Barber is suing Santa Barbara Community College after she was heckled for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, defying a board of trustees initiative to nix the Pledge.
Barber — with a flag in hand — was shouted down, harassed and brought to tears by her own students when she recited the Pledge at a school board meeting in January. Her actions come after trustees declared the American display to be, “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.”
WATCH:
When people ask for examples of the “culture war”, show them this.
It is the struggle between those who believe in the foundational ideals of our country and those who show utter contempt for them.
Liberals and conservatives should agree that this extremism must be stopped. pic.twitter.com/BvsVUuiC9H
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 23, 2019
Barber stood for the pledge in solidarity with WWII and Korean War veterans — whom she holds high esteem. She stands for something else now: her own civil rights, which she alleges were violated that day.
“What brought us to this point is the college thus far has refused to acknowledge that my civil rights were violated that day and that nobody stood up to defend me and, more importantly, to defend the First Amendment of the Constitution,” Barber told Fox News in reference to her lawsuit against the campus.
She’s reportedly citing the Brown Act in her lawsuit, which grants citizens the right to attend local legislative meetings and speak without interruption. She says failure of administration to intervene, quiet the crowd, and allow her to speak is a violation of both the Brown Act and her First Amendment liberties, according to Fox News.
The Pledge of Allegiance was reinstated within the community college’s board after veterans groups, joined by high profile figures likes Rob Lowe, a Hollywood actor, vocalized their dismay with the policy. Lowe said he was “humiliated” by the board’s decision that he referred to as “idiocy“. (RELATED: 59% Of Republicans Hold Negative Views Of Higher Education)
“If my father’s generation of young men were willing to stake their lives on this republic, how could I not recite one single sentence professing allegiance to our country?” Barber told Campus Reform in January.