McGuffey’s Schoolhouse Rock director Elizabeth Taylor and the entire McGuffey staff would like to offer their apologies for the inadvertent inclusion of a Confederate flag in the “Great American Melting Pot” song during last night’s performance. The flag was intended to be the flag of France, one of twelve country flags we ordered to represent some of the breadth of the McGuffey student body’s international heritage.
Unfortunately, we were shipped a Confederate flag instead of a French flag. These flags are made of papery fabric stapled to a thin wooden stick. Because the staff was worried about the flags breaking during rehearsal, they were left rolled up and rubber-banded while the children were practicing, and no one took a close look at them. The flags were unrolled in the dark a few minutes before the song was performed, and again, no one caught the error. Elizabeth would like to apologize for failing to check that the flags were all correct prior to the performance.
A McGuffey parent kindly brought the presence of the Confederate flag to our attention, and we greatly appreciate their letting us know what happened. This flag and what it represents is in no way part of McGuffey Montessori’s philosophy or curriculum, except when taught in the appropriate social and historical context, and would never have been included in the performance intentionally. The flag has been removed and replaced with a French flag for tonight’s performance. A letter to the company is being crafted to express our our extreme dissatisfaction. We apologize for the message that was unintentionally conveyed last night.
We hope that this will not keep McGuffey parents and students from taking pride in this incredible performance and all the hard work that went into this production. As with everything we do at school, we are continually learning from our experiences.
Thank you for your understanding,
Elizabeth Taylor, Pre-primary and Music