Marxists Target the American Revolution Gadsden Flag…and Lose
By Carole Hornsby Haynes August 30, 2023
Destruction of Confederate monuments throughout the South, allegedly because they memorialized slavery, signaled a Marxist plot to destroy every evidence of Western culture in the United States including the Founding Fathers, the classical arts, and the Christian religion. American history was revised in the 1619 Project that claims America’s founding was not in 1776, but in 1619 when the first “slaves” were brought to the eastern colonial shores.
Now Marxists are targeting the Gadsden Flag which was designed in 1775 by Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Constitutional Congress and brigadier general in the Continental Army. The historical American flag depicts a coiled, ready-to-strike timber rattlesnake on a yellow background. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words, “DON’T TREAD ON ME.” The message was intended as a warning to England not to violate the liberties of their colonial American subjects.
The rattlesnake was a symbol of unity among the colonies at the beginning of the American Revolution. It became the most popular symbol of the American revolution with its design that depicts constant vigilance and readiness of colonials to defend themselvess against coercion by a tyrannical mother country. The flag has become associated with American individualism and liberty and distrust of and defiance against government.
However, Marxists see the flag otherwise. Because they view everything about America through the lens of slavery and systemic racism, the Gadsden flag has now become a symbol of white supremacy and slavery.
Twelve-year-old Jaiden was kicked out of Vanguard charter school in Colorado Springs, Colorado for refusing to remove the Gadsden Flag patch from his backpack. He returned with his mother to meet with the school’s director about his suspension. The video of the meeting that was posted on social media appears to have been recorded by the mother.
During the meeting the school administrator said, “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 pushed back as she tutored the clueless educrat that the flag was an American Revolutionary symbol, not a Confederate flag. Attempting to sidestep the mother’s comments, the administrator lamely countered,"I am here to enforce the policy that was provided by the district, and definitely you have every right not to agree with it."
The mother and son pointed out that other Vanguard students are allowed to have a variety of other patches on their backpacks. The staff member tossed the hot potato by saying she would put Jaiden’s mother in touch with Jeff Yocum, Vanguard’s Director of Operations, “and then he can refer you to our person at the district because like I said, we’re following district policy is what we’re doing.”
Jaiden asked his mother to take him to a news station to expose the school’s actions, but the NBC affiliate refused to interview him. However, Sean Hannity at Fox News agreed to interview him and the story went viral.
Quickly the school capitulated and allowed Jaiden to return to class with the “racist” patch intact. Two law firms have stepped forward to assist as necessary to fight the viewpoint discrimination. Even Colorado Governor Jared Polis sided with Jaiden on X: “Obviously the Gadsden flag is a proud symbol of the American revolution and [an] iconic warning to Britain or any government not to violate the liberties of Americans. It appears on popular American medallions and challenge coins through today and Ben Franklin also adopted it to symbolize the union of the 13 colonies.”
The correspondence between Jaiden’s mother and Yocumwas published by Libertas Institute President Connor Boyack who obtained images of the emails and shared them on X. Boyack is the author of 40 books including the Tuttle Twins series that is popular with young readers, including Jaiden who is an avid fan.
One email shows the list of “Unacceptable Items” that are not allowed at the school as justification for Jaiden’s suspension. Yocum highlighted symbols that “Refer to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or weapons” as evidence that the Gadsden Flag was unacceptable.
Yocum shared a Washington Post article detailing a case involving the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mandating the U.S. Postal Service to investigate a complaint made by one of its employees. The employee claimed that a coworker wearing a Gadsden Flag hat to work amounted to racial discrimination.
Boyack tweeted, “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.”
Yocum cited the news outlet, The Conversation, which quotes Iowa State University graphic design scholar Paul Bruski, “Because of its creator’s history and because it is commonly flown alongside ‘Trump 2020’ flags, the Confederate battle flag and other white-supremacist flags, some may now see the Gadsden flag as a symbol of intolerance and hate – or even racism.”
Bruski is referring to Gadsden owning about 90 slaves who worked on his rice plantations in South Carolina as was common in the 1700s. However, Bruski does not mention that slaves in the South were purchased from Northern shippers who bought slaves from other black Africans and transported them to the Northern colonies.
The article also notes that, even though the Gadsden Flag was adopted by the Tea Party movement, it still has a legacy of slavery. During the early years of the Obama administration, Tea Party members often used the flag during their protests. Socialists promote tolerance but are intolerant of their critics.
From the video, emails, and Fox News interview as well as mainstream media responses, we have proof about the real motives behind the reactions of the school, media, and others.
For Bruski, because the Gadsden Flag has flown alongside Trump 2020 and Confederate flags, it must be a symbol of slavery and white supremacy. Long ago socialists framed the lie that slavery caused the Civil War and all Confederates – and all Southerners – were and are white supremacists. Where once the Confederate flag proudly waved as a symbol of independence, today anyone who dares to fly a Confederate flag will be subjected to the vicious tactics from Rules for Radicals and will suffer the consequences.
Does this sound strangely like the tactics of Chinese dictator Mao who was a master of divide-and-conquer and responsible for the deaths of millions and extreme poverty for those who survived?
Jaiden has become a role model for other students. From the Tuttle Twins books he has learned invaluable lessons about how our government works and our founding. He also got the idea from the books about turning to mainstream media to blow the whistle on school administrators seeking to silence him.
Adults also can learn a very valuable lesson from Jaiden. He could have complied and removed the patch. Instead he fought back and proved that the radical left are bullies and cowards who can control our actions and thinking ONLY if we allow it. Jaiden refused to allow it.
Another lesson for parents is that charter schools are still public schools that receive federal and state funding and are not free from Marxist influences. If parents really want to regain their control over the education of their children, they must turn to the free market for education -- especially the various ypes of homeschooling. And parents can provide excellent home libraries with resources such as the Tuttle Twins.