I understand that there is a proposal seriously being considered at Mount Abe to have the Star-Spangled Banner played every day at the beginning of school.

A public message to the Mount Abraham School District decision makers:

Repetition is not education. It is indoctrination.

If the valuable time at Mount Abe is intended to spoon-feed our students with the goal that they should accept simple unquestioning nationalism, then I would understand the decision to do such an activity. If on the other hand Mount Abe is an educational space, they should take some time to study the song’s origins. Understand what Francis Scott Key understood about race and slavery. Understand it in its historic context and in our modern-day context.

I am hopeful that the leadership of our district will join me in preserving the educational space and promote activities that are designed to help young people learn about patriotism in its various forms. This includes a patriotism that promotes an honest, critical look at our country with a commitment to make it better.

Learn and question rather than repeat and follow.

Thank you.

Mike Fisher

Lincoln