Tag Archives: Gadsden Flag

Knowing History Pays Off

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On Tuesday, Red State posted an article about a child who attends the The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who was kicked out of class because he had a Gadsden Flag patch on his backpack.

The article reported:

According to one of the school staff, the famous flag wasn’t allowed in the school due to its “origins in slavery and the slave trade.” A revelation that clearly amused Jaiden who clearly knows more about his nation’s history than his own school.

The flag was one that was popularly displayed during the Revolutionary War as a symbol of the people’s resistance toward the tyranny under the British monarchy which had used and abused the American people, sparking the war that gave birth to what would eventually become the United States.

…Then Yocum (Director of Operations of the Vanguard School, Jeff Yocum) claimed Jaiden  was breaking a rule by displaying the flag because students were prohibited from displaying things that referred to “drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or weapons.” 

If it feels like Yocum was scrambling in desperation to find justification for this false and clearly biased take on a patriotic flag, then you’re not alone. 

Jaiden attempted to take his story to the local press but they declined to interview him. 

Thankfully that is not the end of the story.

On Wednesday, Red State reported:

First, we’ll start with the hero of our story. Jaiden remains undeterred and has decided he’s going to walk back into the school with his bag and patch still attached. Jaiden says he will refuse to remove the patch and will conduct a school sit-in if it comes down to it. 

According to Connor Boyack, who first reported on this story, two law firms have now offered to assist Jaiden and his family if it comes down to lawfare, and will fight this clear discrimination against Jaiden and his beliefs. The story has also reached Colorado Governor Jared Polis who posted about the story seemingly taking Jaiden’s side but there has been no word on Polis actually doing anything about it. 

The more recent article includes the tweet below:

The article concludes:

In a very surprising turn of events, the members of the school board called an emergency meeting and affirmed their respect for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In doing so, they also decided that the Gadsden patch is a valuable part of American history and that Jaiden may keep it on his backpack if he so chooses. 

It’s worth noting that this probably goes a different direction without the reach of social media and conservative sites like RedState. Without the immense amount of eyes placed on this story, who knows if the school board even meets at all? Congrats to Jaiden and to those who publicized this story so that the required amount of pressure was applied.

Wow.

The Professionally Offended Often Have No Idea What They Are Talking About

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Yesterday The Daily Wire posted an article about a recent dust-up over a shirt worn by Chris Pratt. The shirt depicted the Gadsden Flag, a Revolutionary War flag.

An article at Yahoo News reported:

The Marvel star’s top shows the American flag with a coiled snake over the top and a message underneath which reads “Don’t Tread On Me.”

The writing and snake combo on its own is depicted on the Gadsden flag; a symbol created by Christopher Gadsden, a Charleston-born brigadier general in the Continental Army.

It came to prominence during the Revolutionary War of the US by colonists who wanted independence from Great Britain.

Although it is one of the symbols and flags used by the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, over the years the flag has been adopted by Far Right political groups like the Tea Party, as well as gun-toting supporters of the Second Amendment.

It has therefore become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals and, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US, it also is “sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts.”

Wait a minute. Since when is it far right to support the U.S. Constitution and want smaller government? Note the subtle criticism of those who support the Second Amendment. Also, there is nothing racial about the Gadsden flag. Race was not part of the equation at the time it was designed. The Yahoo News story is injecting opinion into its reporting, giving some basic facts, but misleading the reader.

Aside from the fact that the professionally offended are again trying to put a negative spin on a symbol of our history, Chris Pratt was wearing the shirt to support a pro-veteran nonprofit called the Brain Treatment Foundation.

The article at The Daily Wire reports:

On Facebook, Brain Treatment Foundation posted a photo of Pratt in the T-shirt and said that they were “honored” by the support.

“We are honored to work with the silent warriors who sacrifice greatly so that others may live free, who defend our freedom, who live with honor and by the word of God. These warriors hunt evil to protect our peace, while those who disparage their sacrifices and our nation from behind a computer screen, pretend it doesn’t exist,” the organization said. “We are proud of the American flag and all symbols that represent the freedom brave men and women have shed blood for since the inception of our great country.”

This is another example of the political left criticizing something they know nothing about. Hopefully fewer people are falling for the antics of the professionally offended.

Losing Our History–One Flag At A Time

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This is the origin of the Gadsden Flag according to the Gadsden Flag History website:

By 1775, the snake symbol wasn’t just being printed in newspapers. It was appearing all over the colonies: on uniform buttons, on paper money, and of course, on banners and flags.

The snake symbol morphed quite a bit during its rapid, widespread adoption. It wasn’t cut up into pieces anymore. And it was usually shown as an American timber rattlesnake, not a generic serpent.

We don’t know for certain where, when, or by whom the familiar coiled rattlesnake was first used with the warning “Don’t Tread on Me.”

We do know when it first entered the history books.

In the fall of 1775, the British were occupying Boston and the young Continental Army was holed up in Cambridge, woefully short on arms and ammunition. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington’s troops had been so low on gunpowder that they were ordered “not to fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”

In October, a merchant ship called The Black Prince returned to Philadelphia from a voyage to England. On board were private letters to the Second Continental Congress that informed them that the British government was sending two ships to America loaded with arms and gunpowder for the British troops.

Congress decided that General Washington needed those arms more than the British. A plan was hatched to capture the cargo ships. They authorized the creation of a Continental Navy, starting with four ships. The frigate that carried the information from England, the Black Prince, was one of the four. It was purchased, converted to a man-of-war, and renamed the Alfred.

To accompany the Navy on their first mission, Congress also authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines. The Alfred and its sailors and marines went on to achieve some of the most notable victories of the American Revolution. But that’s not the story we’re interested in here.

What’s particularly interesting for us is that some of the Marines that enlisted that month in Philadelphia were carrying drums painted yellow, emblazoned with a fierce rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, with thirteen rattles, and sporting the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.”

It is a symbol of the fight for freedom in the American Revolution.

Yesterday The Daily Wire posted the following story:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has now taken the position that displaying the Gadsden flag (AKA the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag) constitutes racial harassment.

As UCLA Professor Eugene Volokh points out in The Washington Post, the EEOC decided the case of Shelton D. [pseudonym] v. Brennan two months ago: The complainant, “Sheldon D,” argued that as a black man he had been racially discriminated against because a coworker wore a hat with the Gadsen flag emblazoned on it to work.

There is nothing racial about the Gadsden Flag. If I feel discriminated against because a coworker who wears pink socks, can I file a complaint? This is ridiculous. We are losing our freedom. You can no longer purchase Confederate flags on Amazon, but you can still purchase an ISIS flag on Amazon. This is how upside down America has become. Hopefully this ruling can be appealed and the idiots who made the ruling removed from their positions. It’s time for some common sense.