Outspoken anti-communism activist Xi Van Fleet recently engaged in a Twitter exchange with Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer-winning racial injustice reporter who founded The 1619 Project. The heated exchange began when Hannah-Jones attacked “American exceptionalism” in a tweet, which Van Fleet took exception to.
Van Fleet, a Chinese immigrant who survived communist China under Mao Zedong, gained national attention when she warned a Virginia school board about the dangers of turning American children into “social justice warriors”.
Hannah-Jones, who leads a project that aims to reframe America’s history by placing the contributions of Black Americans at the center of the United States’ national narrative, drew Van Fleet’s attention in a recent tweet bemoaning the fact that Black history is under attack because “our very presence on these lands is the greatest rebuke to the narrative of American exceptionalism.”
Watch a brave parent who grew up in Mao’s China point out all of the identical traits b/n the Cultural Revolution and what LCPS, and really every school system, are doing through the use of CRT. pic.twitter.com/zH7XuyBmW6
— The Virginia Project UAC (@TVPUAC) June 9, 2021
Van Fleet countered by explaining that both she and Hannah-Jones, as an immigrant from China with 200 borrowed dollars in her pocket, were proof of American exceptionalism. She also pointed out that the enjoyment of natural rights in America is unique, while slavery is not.
Yourself and I, an immigrant from China with 200 borrowed dollars in my pocket when I arrived more than 30 yrs ago, are the proof of American Exceptionalism.
— Xi Van Fleet (@XVanFleet) February 26, 2023
Hannah Jones challenged Van Fleet on the idea of natural rights, pointing out that 1/5th of the population was enslaved at America’s founding and had no “natural rights”. She also suggested that the US still has political prisoners. Van Fleet, who lived through China’s Cultural Revolution and came to America for a better life, responded by saying that her perspective was “lived experience” under the enslavement of communism, freedom in America, and the current Woke Revolution aiming to undo America.
Van Fleet ended by reminding Hannah-Jones that Black Americans are enslaved no more thanks to the persevering principles and humanity of this country. Ironically, Hannah-Jones is currently benefiting directly from the “Woke Revolution”, with her project being turned into a six-part docuseries by streaming service Hulu.
Hannah-Jones also sparred with American writer and podcast host Coleman Hughes, who has testified before the House against reparations. Hughes took issue with Hannah-Jones’s recent criticism of Thomas Sowell, a black writer with expertise in slavery and history.
If Nikole Hannah-Jones can take some knowledge away from these exchanges, it would be progress. As Van Fleet said in a 2021 call with Fox News, “I just want Americans to know that their privilege is to be here living in America, that is just the biggest privilege.”
Source: Thepoliticalinsider