From the all-things-are-racist movement comes something we missed in third grade. The Gadsden Flag – with the “DON’T TREAD ON ME” snake – is racist.

It is so offensive a Colorado Springs School District 2 educator acted to protect us. Upon spotting a Gadsden Flag patch on a 12-year-old’s backpack, she banished him from class at the prestigious Vanguard School.

“The reason we do not want the flag that way is due to its origins with slavery and the slave trade,” says the district employee in a videotaped conversation (gone viral) with the boy and his mother.

Upon hearing this, the boy sits with a polite look of doubt.

“The Gadsden Flag?” the mother asks.

“The ‘don’t tread on me,'” the employee responds.

“Which is the Gadsden Flag,” the mother explains.

“OK,” says the educator, looking puzzled.

“What’s going to happen if he doesn’t take it off?” the mother asks.

The educator explains the boy may return to class by unpacking his backpack and leaving it behind. She expresses concern about the child missing too much class because of the patch.

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“The bag can’t go back because it has that patch on it and we can’t have that in and around other kids,” she says.

“It has nothing to do with slavery,” the mother responds. “That’s the Revolutionary War patch that was displayed when they were fighting the British… Maybe you’re thinking of the Confederate Flag?”

Frustrated, the mother mentions “a lawsuit” and describes the irony of her son’s predicament.

“We teach him to always stand up for what he believes,” the mother said. “You’re going over the Revolution in seventh grade – I mean the founding fathers stood up for what they believed in against unjust laws, so this is unjust.”

The Gadsden Flag’s meaning is and always has been clear. Brigadier Gen. Christopher Gadsden designed it to warn the British against violating the freedoms of colonists.

The flag conflict manifests after years of universities, the National Education Association and other unions pushing Critical Race Theory, “America is racist” lectures, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ideology. This trend of anti-academic junk distorts history for political motives.

This country defends free speech, which includes wearing a harmless patch on public school property. Here’s what Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said when The Gazette asked about the boy and his flag.

“The Gadsden flag is a great, iconic American flag,” the governor said. “Other kids have LGBT flags on their backpacks, others have flags of major political parties or flags that support whatever causes they do, and that’s part of learning from one another, and I think it’s a great teaching moment to really reflect on what that history means and how it can be part of the healthy school environment.”

Well said. Teach these children the truth. Teach them how America’s founders won this country through combat – like Native Americans before them and settlers of nearly all societies. Teach them how and why the United States ended slavery, which continues around the globe. Teach them how the United States pressures foreign despots to stop tormenting individuals for immutable traits. Teach them why people risk their lives sneaking into this country.

Teach the children their country promotes civil rights, diversity and all that facilitates freedom – the cause for which it was founded. We have this country because strong people stood up, saying “don’t tread on me.”

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board