September 23, 2023
Reprinted with permission Mises Institute Ryan McMaken
Late last month, the administrators at a Colorado public school—with the grandiose name "the Vanguard School"—tried to force a 12-year-old boy named Jaiden to remove a Gadsden flag patch from his backpack. The Gadsden flag may be more familiar to readers as simply the rattlesnake flag with the words "don't tread on me" on it. People who are at all familiar with the American revolution know the flag is a revolutionary-era flag with a message designed to repudiate the imperial despotism imposed on the Americans by British elites.
Teachers and administrators at the Vanguard School, however, were absolutely sure the flag has "origins with slavery, and the slave trade." Of course, this is exactly the kind of historical illiteracy and social-democratic revisionism we'd expect from public school teachers and administrators. "Teaching" at your average public school is mostly about running a taxpayer-funded propaganda mill and daycare center, and has little to do with the dissemination of any factual material. Thus, it is likely that the staff at this school saw on MSNBC once that the Gadsden flag is "racist" because some American conservatives wave it. The leap from this slur to the idea that the flag is a symbol of slavery is brief indeed.
This whole narrative is part of the story pushed by the "1619 Project" at the New York Times which would have us believe that the American Revolution itself was all about racism and slavery. Meanwhile, the real themes and facts of the revolution—secession, natural rights, radical liberalism, violent revolution, and extreme decentralization—have all been swept aside to serve Progressives' current ideological projects. The regime's propagandists—which includes most public school employees—naturally seek to destroy and discredit all symbols of the American Revolution beyond bland slogans about "taxation without representation." This framing of the revolution makes it all very safe and does not encourage any opposition to the current regime. After all, we have "representation" now—the millionaire gerontocracy in Congress "represents" you, don't you know—so there's no reason to think revolution can be justified. If you don't like something, just vote harder.
This sterile pro-status-quo interpretation of the revolution is exactly what we should expect to be taught in a government school because the correct interpretation is far too dangerous and inconvenient for the regime.
The reality of the revolution, of course, is that a sizable portion of the population—from intellectual elites in cities to ordinary farmers in the countryside—grew tired of the British yoke. Animated by a radical ideology of natural rights—which we now call "classical" liberalism or libertarianism—Americans declared the established government illegitimate and seceded. It didn't have to be that way. At first the Americans had asked politely for more freedom. They even sent the Olive Branch Petition to the King. For their efforts, the Americans were declared "traitors"—that epithet so often used by despots and their useful idiots everywhere.
When the British state eventually launched a war against the Americans to prevent their secession, the Americans were forced to take up arms and killed government soldiers and officials until they packed up and left the country. The revolutionaries only wanted peace and self-determination. The British refused to let them have it. The British got their response, and got it good and hard.
It was all morally justified, of course: the secession, the rebellion, the disdain for the British idea of "law and order." Parliament and the Crown had attempted to destroy the Americans' human rights—the rights of life, liberty, and property as outlined by the libertarian Leveller revolutionaries in England a century earlier. As a result, the revolutionaries were entitled to protect their rights by using violence in self-defense.
Naturally, today's elites ignore those parts of the American Revolution. It also now appears the Progressives have moved on to the next phase which is to discredit the revolution altogether. Thus, symbols of the revolution must be denounced as symbols of slavery, and all modern rebellion and secession declared to be "treason" or "sedition" or some other political "crime." It's okay to "rebel"—i.e., in the style of Antifa or Black Lives Matters—so long as the "solution" is always more state power. Real independence, secession, and rebellion are absolutely not allowed. The 1619 Project thus assures us the whole enterprise of the American Revolution was suspect. We're told those ill-mannered Americans should have listened to their betters in the imperial metropoles of Britain!
For those who actually respect human rights, however, any attempt to craft or promote this Progressive anti-revolutionary narrative must be met with enthusiastic opposition. In the case of Jaiden at the Vanguard School, there is a happy ending. The teachers were humiliated and Jaiden's backpack remains bedecked with the Gadsden flag. It's a small victory, but a necessary one. For obvious reasons, the regime doesn't want Americans to think secession or revolution—as so well described by Thomas Jefferson—is ever an option. Ever since the counter-revolutionaries got their new centralist-nationalist constitution in 1787, the American regime has been about the maintenance and spread of federal power. The revolution, however, acts as a beacon in the opposite direction, and Rothbard has explained why:
The Americans had always been intractable, rebellious, impatient of oppression, as witness the numerous rebellions of the late seventeenth century; they also had their own individualist and libertarian heritage, their Ann Hutchinsons and Rhode Island quasi anarchists, some directly linked with the left wing of the English Revolution. Now, strengthened and guided by the developed libertarian natural rights ideology of the eighteenth century, and reacting to aggrandizement of the British imperial state in the economic, constitutional, and religious spheres, the Americans, in escalated and radicalized confrontations with Great Britain, had made and won their Revolution. By doing so, this revolution, based on the growing libertarian idea pervading enlightened opinion in Europe, itself gave immeasurable impetus to the liberal revolutionary movement throughout the Old World, for here was a living example of a liberal revolution that had taken its daring chance, against all odds and against the mightiest state in the world, and had actually succeeded. Here, indeed, was a beacon light to all the oppressed peoples of the world!
Thank you, "staff writer," for this excellent piece. I hope those who lionize Lincoln and his band of progressives who founded the GOP, will realize that the Confederate States had precisely the same motivation as our 1776 founders. The Lincolnite victory sealed the last hope for the dream of 1776 becoming a lasting reality.
Spot On!❤️🇺🇸
Great article, thanks. More people do need history lessons. As far as the Colorado public educational situation; the outlook is dire, with a ray of hope. Classical liberal arts charter schools. Despite the name carrying the moniker of liberal, these schools refuse material from progressive groups, especially those non profit 501c's which shall not be named, but are responsible for flooding schools with those cross dresser types reading new socialist orientated reading materials.
Action reaction; The Colorado teachers union declared themselves to be in opposition to capitalistic models and instead embrace socialism. They did so publicly on their social networking feeds just earlier this year. One ponders how they will comply with civics education standards, but that's besides the point. Parents raced for the exits and the deceptive progressives at the public school institutions decried the lack of funding as the reason they are now shuttering some schools, while never departing from their progressive activism.
Despite incredible costs of private and lengthy years long waiting lists, most charter and private school in this state which had availability, no longer has availability as parents rushed for the exits to public school. New charter schools keep springing up, and that is where we have our children. The dress codes and rigidity are not necessarily what we wanted, but if that is what it takes to keep the riff raff out and allow the children time to embrace their natural biological truths; that a boy will always be a boy, and a girl will always be a girl, than that is what this takes.
We chose Ascent Classical, but there is also Civica, and Liberty Commons. Perhaps a few more but that's all I can reference for concerned parents today. Just use school choice, and there are no other costs except the uniforms and a few initial limited fees. Go CHEC CO christian educators groups and just pull your children out of public asap, then land a charter. Moms for Liberty and Colorado Parent Advocacy Network are two more recently formed groups to help parents network and better educate themselves on these matters. Below, one of the CPAN groups infographics on how SEL works in the class room. (Social Emotional Learning).
And take note; despite what the teachers may tell you, there is no opt out available, they've integrated these radical identity politics into every aspect of every class, and most of the last groups of conservative educators have just now retired or plan to very soon. They're not going to lie to themselves and children and promote gender dysphoria or some brave new world ideal that we should embrace nihilism and defeatism until such time as socialism can save us. There is no help coming from the public systems, abandon them with haste and be a free market force to yourself, fight for a new formation of charter schools which only deal with academia, and refuse to offer such things as GSA clubs or accept the lgbtq groups indoctrination materials. (gay straight alliance.) 'Conquering gender bias'. That is a flyer up on many a schools clubs boards. Nothing says trust us with your children like calling people from traditional nuclear families a bunch of bigots. To quote LOTT; 'Sounds like an advertisement for homeschooling to me.' Indeed.
As JFK said many years ago; You can not negotiate with people whom say what is mine is mine, and what is yours is negotiable. Those radical zealots ruined public education and confused progressive activism with academia. Our children are so much happier with Ascent, and what we see with the public school children dragging themselves to the busses, dressed awfully or provocatively, masked up, more concerned with makeup than intelligence, we're not sending our children there. Why do they all have blue hair or tattoos? All we can assume is they are taking the approach of a tree frog, and signaling to all the jungle predators around them to not attack, because their bright colors indicate severe toxicity. Or in the case of tattoos, have a very high probability of already being gang members, even at such a young age.
That young man with the Gadsen flag on his backpack. Good for him but we continue to fear for his future, at 'The Vanguard School'. One look at their website... I mean, I was not sure I'd find this, but there it is, as predicted. Identifying woke schools is as simple as looking through their clubs list, or researching either GSA, or lgbt, on their general websites. Look for yourself, it's just another club right? The presence of that material would not possibly indicate, that the teachers are a bunch of radical freedom hating cultural marxists lunatics or anything would it? Repeat after me; Every last time. These schools were not required to allow all this GLSEN materials into their schools, they chose to do that voluntarily... As the charters whom have accepted these outside materials now churn through new students yearly, via the uninformed parents whom think just any charter is better than public, which is not necessarily the case anymore. The magic play which Ascent Classical impressed the heck out of parents was simple; They do not accept materials from outside groups. And a dress code. And records checks for parents whom would participate with anything to do with the children. And a dedicated security person in the building. My imagination is racing and I envision a decimation of public schools as these sorts of charter schools whom refuse to indoctrinate children on SEL and CRT theory spring up by the dozens all through this state and this country. School choice was a real game changer. Next up; Vouchers to include school choice to religious institutions, with no state or federal strings attached. Progress!
https://thevanguardschool.com/student-clubs/hope-club-at-the-vanguard-school/
Liking the Colorado Free Press, great work guys. Thank you.
I’m often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for brand spanking new information.