Dismantling A McCarthyite Relic

I just wanted to give a plug here to the case of Wendy Gonaver (pictured), who was hired to teach two courses at Cal State Fullerton, “but was fired because she refused to sign a ‘loyalty oath’ without being able to add a note explaining that her religious views as a Quaker and pacifist would prevent her from taking up arms,” according to People for the American Way.

As PFAW tells us…

Ms. Gonaver was perfectly willing to sign the oath to uphold the Constitution as long as she could clarify that she wasn't committing herself to military action and that she had free speech concerns with a compelled "loyalty oath."

People For the American Way Foundation has sent a letter to Cal State on Ms. Gonaver's behalf urging the school to change its policy and allow employees who have religious or other objections to signing the "loyalty oath" to append an explanation of their views that would then allow them to sign the oath. The University of California already has such a policy in place in order to protect its employees' religious freedom and free speech rights.

(And the U of C exemption exists because of a lawsuit by a former faculty member - more on that shortly.)

To sign the petition asking Cal State Fullerton to implement a policy that doesn’t violate religious liberty and free speech, please click here.

I have to admit that this story piqued my curiosity a bit to the point where I wondered how on earth someone who, by all accounts, was perfectly qualified and capable to do the job could be denied employment for this, so I did a bit of digging and found that this particular variation of the “loyalty oath” issue in this country is particular to California, or, as noted from here…

Under Executive Order 9835 (March 1947), President Truman created the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. More than three million government workers were investigated and cleared, 2,000 resigned, and just over 200 were dismissed from their jobs. The small number of dismissals is surprising considering that an employee could be suspected of subversion merely by being perceived as “potentially disloyal” or considered a security risk. People viewed as security risks included homosexuals, alcoholics, and those who were in debt and needed money. States and municipalities followed the administration's example and required many of their workers to take a loyalty oath as a condition of employment. The oaths typically stated that a person was not and had never been a member of the Communist party or any organization that advocated the overthrow of the government of the United States. Teachers were often targets of suspicion. When the Supreme Court ruled in Tolman v. Underhill (1953) that professors at the University of California could not be singled out, the state required all of its employees to take loyalty oaths.

(The circumstances of Edward Chace Tollman, the psychology professor who sued over the U of C oath, are somewhat similar to that of Wendy Gonaver, by the way).

Though this was a bit of overzealousness in light of the ever-more-ominous Cold War, this definitely was not a shining moment for “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry.”

And wow, just a bit of an overreaction from the state of California in response to the Supreme Court ruling, huh? “Can’t single out who we want? Fine – we’ll just go ahead and nail everybody!”

And outside of the world of academia, here (Kansas) and here (Virginia) are instances of a political party attempt to obtain loyalty oaths from its members (and I’m sure you’ll never guess who would stoop so low, would you; I’ll give you a hint – they’re going to lose big in November).

In the case of California, it would appear that it is up to the state legislature to pass a bill making the oaths illegal; either that, or Governor Ahh-nold could issue an executive order to that effect. Personally, I would like to see that statewide in this country; I don’t know the legality of (God willing) an incoming Democratic president trying to do that on the federal level.

But remembering the person in question here who has the courage to stand up to this idiocy, I would ask again that you sign the PFAW petition on behalf of Wendy Gonaver here (and the entire text of the PFAW letter appears here).