San Francisco School Official Skips Pledge of Allegiance to Read Maya Angelou Quote

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Poet Maya Angelou speaks during the AARP Magazine’s 2011 Inspire Awards at the Ronald Reagan Building, in Washington, D.C., on December 9, 2010. Instead of citing the Pledge of Allegiance, a newly elected school official... Kris Connor/Getty Images

The new president of the San Francisco school board decided to recite a famous poet instead of saying the Pledge of Allegiance during his first meeting.

Stevon Cook, the recently elected president of the San Francisco Board of Education, opened his first meeting on Tuesday with a quote from poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"When you learn, teach. When you get, give," Cook quoted Angelou during the meeting.

Cook told the San Francisco Chronicle that there were many other ways to show his appreciation for the U.S. and its citizens other than standing up to say the pledge.

"There are a lot of ways to express gratitude and appreciation for the country and its citizens," Cook told the publication. "This is how I plan to do that."

Cook did not break any procedural rules about public meetings, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The California code of education instructs that schools should conduct a daily patriotic exercise, but students are not required or enforced to participate, San Francisco Chronicle reported.

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Poet Maya Angelou speaks during the AARP Magazine’s 2011 Inspire Awards at the Ronald Reagan Building, in Washington, D.C., on December 9, 2010. Instead of citing the Pledge of Allegiance, a newly elected school official... Kris Connor/Getty Images

"Although there is a requirement that schools conduct a pledge or similar activity, there is no such requirement for school boards," district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe told the publication.

Cook previously told the San Francisco Chronicle that before becoming president, he would stand for the pledge at school board meetings but did not recite it.

"We should stand...because those ideals are important to me," Cook told publication. "To speak them is another thing."

Cook told the publication that he finds the national political climate to be disappointing and that the Trump administration "has been attacking our liberties." He also noted no one truly knows the history of the pledge, according to San Francisco Chronicle.

"If you ask 10 Americans who wrote it, or when it was implemented, or why it is how we start our meetings, a lot of us would be hard pressed (to answer)," he told the publication.

Cook's replacement of the Pledge of Allegiance comes during the national divide on patriotism, which began after former San Francisco's 49ers quarterback took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality in the U.S. Since the protest, President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged NFL owners to punish players who refuse to stand for the national anthem. In June, Trump demanded NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to crack down on NFL players who decide to kneel instead of standing for the anthem.

In September, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended a high school that is being sued by a black teenager who was expelled for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. The student argues her expulsion is a violates her constitutional rights.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Maria Perez is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek. She has an M.A in Urban Reporting from the CUNY Graduate School ... Read more

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