A video circulating this week on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) showed an elementary school student in Colorado Springs, Colorado, being kicked out of class for wearing a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack. .
The clip appears to capture 12-year-old Jayden’s mother as she and her son and school administrators discuss the boy’s expulsion from class because of the patch that day at Vanguard School. .
According to a Colorado charter school official, the patch claimed to have “slavery origins” and was “disruptive to the classroom environment.”
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Jaden, a 12-year-old student at Vanguard School in Colorado, was kicked out of class after his backpack was plastered with a “Don’t Step On Me” flag. (John Cherry/Getty Images)
Throughout the meeting, Jaden’s mother challenged school officials, saying the flag originated as a symbol of the 13 colonies’ battle against the British monarchy during the American Revolutionary War and did not promote slavery. claimed.
The video began with Jaden, his mother, and an anonymous school administrator sitting for a meeting in her office, discussing expulsion from a child’s class. The official said, “The reason they don’t want the flag and the reason we don’t want the flag is because it has its roots in slavery and the slave trade.”
“Gadsden’s flag?” asked the mother, and the officer replied, “Don’t step on me.”
When the mother asked what would happen if Jaden didn’t remove the patch, the official said, “A bag with a patch on it can’t be put back in because it can’t be placed in or around other children.” I affirmed.
Jaden’s mother pushed back against the decision, saying, “Well, it has nothing to do with slavery. It’s like the Revolutionary War patch you put on when you fought the British.” She asked if maybe the woman mistook it for a Confederate flag.
The administrator replied, “I am here to enforce a policy set by the school district. You certainly have the right to disagree with that.”
The mother and Jaden had a confrontation with the educator over the fact that other children’s backpacks were patched. Her mother did not understand the policies in place, she added.
Officials then insisted that Jaden’s mother be referred to Jeff Yocum, the director of operations at the Vanguard School.
Libertas Institute president Connor Boyak obtained images of an email exchange between Yokam and Jayden’s mother after the school visit and shared it on X.
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Staff at the Vanguard School argued that the origins of the Gadsden flag were tied to slavery and are associated with contemporary racist movements. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As revealed in the email, Yocum said mainstream media reports linking the Gadsden flag to racism because it was created by slave owners and associated with other manifestations of intolerance. quoted.
Quoting the outlet, The Conversation, which features the words of Iowa State University graphic design scholar Paul Brusky, Yokam said, “The history of its authors and the ‘Trump 2020’ flag, the Confederate battle flag, and other “It’s commonly seen alongside the white flag,” he said. A supremacist flag, some might now see the Gadsden flag as a symbol of intolerance, hatred, and even racism. ”
Yocum also shared a Washington Post article detailing an incident in which the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ordered the U.S. Postal Service to investigate a complaint from one of its employees. The employee claimed it was racist for his colleagues to wear Gadsden flag hats to work.
The EEOC has not made any determination as to whether racism stems from the flag in this particular case, stating on its website, “The Gadsden flag was not found to actually be a symbol of racism.” ” he claimed.
However, he argued that the flag “has been interpreted as conveying a racial message in some circumstances”.
That association seemed to meet the criteria to justify Yorkum and Vanguard School’s decision on Jaden.
Boyac also shared part of the correspondence in which Yokam alleged that the patch violated the school’s policy banning symbols “referring to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or weapons.”
Yokam and the school have not yet responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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