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The heckler's veto has become a powerful force in American public education.
Don't like a book in your child's school curriculum? Stand up at a board of education meeting, shout your condemnation and get the book banned from the school library.
It has happened, again and again, despite the educational value of the books that have been shuffled off to storage or the recycle bin.
A heckler's veto was exercised recently in the Spring Cove School District when the complaints of an unspecified number of Spring Cove Middle School students resulted in "Lift Every Voice and Sing" being struck at the last minute from a choral concert on May 7.
School administrators tried to put the best face on an unfortunate situation, but it appears that the school administrators were bullied into censorship by a bunch of middle schoolers (and some parents) who presented a my-way-or-the-highway ultimatum.
Presumably to make everyone happy and to avoid choir defections, the administrators rolled over to the heckler's veto and red-lined "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
In doing so, school officials lost an important teaching moment.
When, one day before the concert, the students said they were uncomfortable with singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the obvious question was "Why?"
According to Altoona Mirror staff writer Rachel Foor's account, the students suggested that the song contributed to the "divisiveness and controversy in the nation."
A reasonable response by the administrators would have been, "In what way does this song contribute to divisiveness and controversy? Let's examine the lyrics and see if they support your position."
The song, written in 1900, has been regarded as the Black National Anthem since 1917. Its lyrics refer to the "weary years" and "silent tears" of slavery, but as a whole, its words are uplifting, praising God for deliverance from the shackles of servitude. In short, the lyrics are not divisive or controversial in any way.
Next question in this missed teaching moment: "Are you objecting to this song because it is about Black people and their experiences?"
That is a more difficult question, and the potential answer goes to the very heart of public education.
Our public schools exist to provide the academic tools -- reading and mathematics, to name two -- that enable their students to succeed in the world outside the classroom walls.
They also exist to prepare students for a life in a nation that is in many ways different from their current communities. The real world contains some inconvenient truths.
For one, the United States is much more multiracial than Blair County, which was 93.8% white only in the 2020 census as opposed to the nation's 61.6%. Another inconvenient truth is that racism exists and remains a blot on our nation's history.
Racial animosity and racism will not go away by ignoring them. We can do better, and doing better begins in the public schools. Not by shaming students, to be certain. History does not shame; it illuminates and teaches.
In appropriate contexts, our schools can and should teach that, because of their race, some Americans have endured monumental struggles to be free and to enjoy the fruits of liberty -- in the past and into today.
Knowing your fellow citizens' struggles is the pathway to understanding and acceptance.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" conveys a message of hope. Our school students --our hope for tomorrow -- deserve to hear its uplifting message.
To serve all of its students, the Spring Cove School District should override the heckler's veto and have "Lift Every Voice and Sing" ring through its halls.
Duncansville resident Don Clippinger has been a journalist for 59 years.