A 12-year-old student at a Colorado school was tossed from class over a hideous and offensive badge on his backpack. Was it a swastika or the trans flag? Nope. It was the Gadsden badge, made famous during our struggle for independence against the British during this event called the Revolutionary War. Does this ring a bell, teacher? The irony is this student is learning the nation’s founding in class.
“Don’t Tread on Me” now has a new meaning, as authoritarian schoolteachers and officials are waging war on students displaying patriotic and historic flags on school grounds, an appalling violation of free speech rights. The student known as Jaiden is seen in a conference between him, a school official, and his mom, who was having none of this woke nonsense. When the official said the badge was offensive due to its roots in slavery, which is erroneous, Jaiden’s mom served a piping hot cup of shut the hell up to the staffer (via Fox News):
A 12-year-old boy was asked to remove a Gadsden flag patch from his backpack.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 29, 2023
His mom was NOT having it. pic.twitter.com/SRmtVLNA6B
.@HarrisonSD2 kicked a 12-year-old kid out of class for having the gadsden flag claiming it has “origins with slavery.”
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 29, 2023
The boy’s mom defended him and said she taught him to stand up for his beliefs 👏 pic.twitter.com/C5PlE1FNeK
This is Jaiden, the 12 y/o Patriot who refused to remove the Gadsden flag from his backpack
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 29, 2023
School officials said it was “distracting” and “offensive” to other students
After being asked to leave school for refusing to comply, he took this picture near the car of a school… pic.twitter.com/0VXHGhsbgr
The clip appeared to be recorded by 12-year-old Jaiden’s mother as she, her son, and a school administrator discussed the boy being pulled from class at The Vanguard School that day because of the patch.
According to the staffer at the Colorado charter school, the patch was "disruptive to the classroom environment," as she claimed it has "origins with slavery."
Jaiden’s mother disputed the school staff member throughout the meeting, arguing that the flag originated during the American Revolution as a symbol of the 13 colonies’ fight against the British Crown and did not promote slavery.
The video opened with Jaiden, his mother and the unnamed school administrator sitting down for a meeting in her office to discuss the child’s dismissal from class. The staff member stated, "So the reason that they do not want the flag – the reason we do not want the flag displayed – is due to its origins with slavery, and slave trade."
"The Gadsden Flag?" the mother asked, to which the staff member replied, "The ‘Don’t Tread on Me.’"
[…]
After the mother asked what would happen if Jaiden didn’t remove the patch, the staffer declared, "The bag can’t go back if it’s got the patch on it, cause we can’t have that in and around other kids."
Jaiden’s mother pushed back on the decision, saying, "Yeah it has nothing to do with slavery, that’s like the revolutionary war patch that was displayed when they were fighting the British." She asked if maybe the woman was mistaking it for the Confederate Flag.
The administrator responded, "I am here to enforce the policy that was provided by the district and definitely, you have every right not to agree with it."
Jaiden’s mom was put in touch with Jeff Yocum, The Vanguard School’s Director of Operations. His emails show he admits the Gadsden flag has no racist interpretation but has “been sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages.”
They cited @USEEOC, which admitted that the flag "originated in the Revolutionary War in a non-racial context"…
— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 29, 2023
But then said "However, whatever the historic origins and meaning of the symbol, it also has since been sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages…" pic.twitter.com/w0M74bMgN2
What the fresh hell is going on here?
And it’s not just Colorado. In Virginia, a high school student was ordered to remove the American flags he had mounted on his truck (via KATV):
A family in Virginia is pulling their son out of his high school after they say the school told him to remove the American flags he mounted on his truck.
Student Christopher Hartless said he is just exercising his First Amendment right to fly the American flag by displaying it on his car.
"My family fought for America and I feel like I should be able to represent the flag that they fought for," Hartless said.
The school system for Staunton River High School says though, large flags or banners on cars are not allowed for safety reasons.
Truly unbelievable but also not shocking given the Left’s hatred of America.
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