Skip to main content

Far Right Activist Xi Van Fleet Calls Critical Race Theory "the American version of the Cultural Revolution"

Disclaimer: this article contains links to right-wing websites used as sources

_____

A victim of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution has sided with the American far right in its crusade against critical race theory and attempts to "rewrite" US history. 

Xi Van Fleet (Chinese name: 弗里ē‰¹, pinyin: FĆŗ LĒtĆØ) is a Chinese-American who grew up in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and experienced the turbulent years of Communist dictator Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). At the age of 26 she moved to the United States. 

"I know very, very well what happened during the Cultural Revolution," Xi Van Fleet told the Washington Examiner. "They rewrote history, and then they fed us, the young people, the fictional history, for the indoctrination for control [of] mind."

On February 26, Xi Van Fleet draw renewed attention from far right circles when she sparred with 1619 Project [¹] creator Nikole Hannah-Jones on Twitter. 


"In Mao's China where I grew up ... you can only do things you're told to do. You can only think the way you're allowed to think. Everything is controlled. There's no individual freedom. It is all collectively under one party control. So there's no individual success," Xi Van Fleet told the Washington Examiner.

"[Nikole Hannah-Jones'] message is that you have no hope in this country. This country is always going to oppress you — which is absolutely false ... We have so many examples right in front of our eyes that people have succeeded," she added.

In the summer of 2021 "Fox News" reported on Xi Van Fleet's pushback against critical race theory at a Loudoun County School Board meeting. 

"I’ve been very alarmed by what’s going on in our schools," she said.  "You are now teaching, training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history ... The Communist regime used the same critical theory to divide people ... The only difference is they used class instead of race ... This is indeed the American version of the Chinese Cultural Revolution ... The critical race theory has its roots in cultural Marxism. It should have no place in our school."

It is quite curious that Xi Van Fleet did not mention Trump's attempt to overthrow democracy on January 6, 2021. Nor did she question whether the far right war on books and theories, which she herself endorses, is authoritarian or reminiscent of Chinese Communist Party methods. 

But her interview highlights a puzzling phenomenon: the support for Trump and far right ideology among a section of the Chinese-American community, as well as Chinese and Hong Kong opponents of the Chinese Communist Party. This will be the topic of my next post. 

____ 


My Books on Amazon


_____

[¹] "The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative", via The New York Times.

Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous18 May 2023 at 04:15

    Yes Xi Van Fleet is right wing and rightist

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4 November 2024 at 04:25

      I second that. DEI and CRT aren't in the same league as the Cultural Revolution.

      Xi is delusional.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Window Trick of Las Vegas Hotels

When I lived in Hong Kong I often passed by a residential apartment complex commonly known as the " monster building ".  " Interior of the Yick Cheong Building November 2016 " by  Nick-D  is licensed under  CC BY-SA 4.0 . _____
15 comments
Read more

Living in Taiwan: Seven Reasons Why It's Good to Be Here

Chinese New Year can be a pretty boring time for a foreigner. All of my friends were celebrating with their families, and since I have no family here, nor have I a girlfriend whose family I could join, I had nothing special to do. Shops and cafes were closed - apart from big chains like McDonald's or Starbucks, which were overcrowded anyway. So I had a lot of time to think. On Saturday evening I went out to buy my dinner. While I was walking around, I heard the voices of the people inside their homes, the sounds of their New Year celebrations. Then I suddenly asked myself: "What on earth are you doing here? Why are you still in Taiwan?"  Before I came to Taiwan, some Taiwanese friends of mine had recommended me their country, highly prasing it and going so far as to say that Taiwan is a "paradise for foreigners" (bear in mind that when I say foreigners I mean 'Westerners').  "It's easy for foreigners to find a job," t
30 comments
Read more

Is China's MINISO Copying Japan's MUJI, UNIQLO and Daiso?

Over the past few years Japanese retailers such as UNIQLO and MUJI have conquered foreign markets, opening shops in cities such as Paris, Berlin or New York and becoming household names in several countries. But the success of their business model seems to have inspired people with dubious intentions. As the website Daliulian recently showed, a new chain called MINISO, which claims to be a Japanese company selling ‘100% Japanese products’, seems to be nothing more than a knock-off of UNIQLO, MUJI and Daiso, copying their logos, names and even the layout of their stores. The company’s webpage proudly announces – in terrible English – that “ MINISO is a fast fashion designer brand of Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo Japan, Japanese young designer Miyake Jyunya is founder as well as the chief designer of MINISO, a pioneer in global 'Fashion & Casual Superior Products' field. ” According to the company’s homepage, MINISO advocates the philosophy of a simple,
Post a Comment
Read more

Macau: Gambling, Corruption, Prostitution, and Fake Worlds

As I mentioned in my previous post , Macau has different faces and identities: there is the old Macau, full of colonial buildings and in which the pace of life seems to resemble a relaxed Mediterranean town rather than a bustling, hectic Chinese city, such as Hong Kong or Shanghai. On the other hand, there is the Macau of gambling, of gigantic hotel and casino resorts, and of prostitution. These two Macaus seem to be spatially separated from each other, with an intact colonial city centre and nice outskirts with small alleys on the one side, and bombastic, modern buildings on the other.  The Galaxy - one of the huge casino and hotel resorts The Importance of Gambling for Macau's Economy Dubbed the 'Monte Carlo of the East', Macau has often been portrayed as the gambling capital of China. Media reporting on Macau tend present pictures of the city's glistening, apparently luxurious skyline. But a visit in Macau suffices to realize that it is fa
3 comments
Read more

Trip to Tainan

Tainan Train Station Last weekend I made a one day trip to the Southern Taiwanese city of Tainan (Chinese: č‡ŗ南, pinyin: TĆ”inĆ”n), the former capital and one of the most important centres of culture, history and architecture of the island. This blog post is also intended as a special thank to Grace, a Taiwanese friend who was so kind to show me around, and very patient, too. Since Tainan doesn't have an extensive public transport net, Grace picked me up at the train station with her motorcycle, a vehicle that, along with cars, is regarded by locals as indispensable for living comfortably in Tainan. To my great embarrassment, though, I had to admit that I cannot ride a motorcycle. That's why we had to take busses to move around. It was the first time she ever took a bus in Tainan. And now I know why: busses come more or less every half an hour, and service stops early in the evening. No wonder Tainanese snob public transport. Grace had no idea about the routes and about whe
4 comments
Read more