The Ypsilanti City Council will no longer state the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of council meetings.
The council first discussed dropping the pledge last week during its organizational meeting. It was after midnight when it was brought up, so members decided to wait a week before making the decision.
Council member Desirae Simmons introduced the resolution. She says the pledge takes up space on their agenda.
“I know I don’t feel comfortable pledging allegiance to a flag. And so, I don’t participate in that, so I wanted to bring it up as a formal change to our agenda.”
Mayor Nicole Brown is expecting to replace the pledge with something else, like a moment of silence, reflection or some other action.
Council member Roland Tooson was the only no vote for the change. He says it wasn’t necessary, since anyone can opt out of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance if they so desire.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
