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A Win For The 1A And 12 YO Student!
The attack on the 1st amendment is an ongoing battle. In Colorado Springs, a 12-year-old student, Jaiden, was confronted by his teacher, saying the Gadsden flag on his backpack was “racist.”
The image of the Gadsden flag is of a coiled rattlesnake along with the words, “Don’t tread on me.” The flag was created by American general Christopher Gadsden in 1775 during the Revolutionary War and was meant to symbolize liberty and freedom.
A 3-minute clip recorded by Jaiden’s mother shows as she, her son, and a school administrator discussed why he was being pulled from class at The Vanguard School.
The video opens 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 says, “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.”
Jaiden’s mother asked what would happen if he didn’t remove the patch and was told, “The bag can’t go back if it’s got the patch on it because we can’t have that in and around other kids.”
His 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.”
Can you believe this?!?!?
A student was KICKED OUT OF CLASS in Colorado Springs for having a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack.
The school said that the flag had “origins of slavery.”
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) August 29, 2023
The staff member said she would put Jaiden’s mother in touch with Jeff Yocum, The Vanguard School’s director of operations.
Libertas Institute President Connor Boyack obtained images of the email correspondence between Yocum and Jaiden’s mother after her meeting at the school and shared them on X.
They cited @USEEOC, which admitted that the flag “originated in the Revolutionary War in a non-racial context”…
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
— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 29, 2023
By early Tuesday evening, Boyack posted a response from the school board as a win on Jaiden’s behalf:
Jaiden was later interviewed by Charlie Kirk and shared that he believed if his mom’s video had not gone viral that he might not have been allowed back into the school.
This kid is an American hero. God bless Jaiden. pic.twitter.com/dJoGldLSDB
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 31, 2023
Gadsden