Nation Profile
THOUGHT LEADERS
Witness Warns of Parallels Between China’s Cultural Revolution and the US Today ‘If we don’t save this country, there’s no place for us to go,’ Xi Van Fleet says
A
merican Thought Leaders host Jan Jekielek spoke with Xi Van Fleet, a Virginia mom from China who made headlines after she compared the rise of critical race theory (CRT) to China’s Cultural Revolution at a Loudoun County School Board meeting.
After that, I was sent to work in the fields to receive reeducation from the peasants—like many urban youths.
JAN JEKIELEK: When
MR . JEKIELEK: Why don’t
you went up to the mic at Virginia’s Loudoun County School Board, you had some strong words to say about trends that reminded you of your experiences in China.
we start with you explaining what the Cultural Revolution was?
MS. VAN FLEET: I grew
up in communist China. When the Cultural Revolution started, I was a first-grader and spent my entire school years in the Cultural Revolution.
MR . JEKIELEK: And then
the whole policy changed? MS. VAN FLEET: Deng Xia-
oping was in power and said we needed to send youths to college. I passed the examination and studied English.
MS. VAN FLEET: Mao
implemented a lot of disastrous policies before the Cultural Revolution. One of them resulted in the famine of some 40 million people who starved to death. Some in the party were questioning his leadership. He started the
52 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
Xi Van Fleet.
