4 January 4 - 10, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Very Concerned North Texas parent goes viral for making fun of Republicans. BY SIMONE CARTER W hen a concerned parent in North Texas filmed a video about his trip to Chicago earlier this year, he said in a Lone Star drawl that he was “terrified for [his] life.” He warned viewers that “no one feels safe bringing their kids here” as children frolicked in the background. Pointing at the Chicago Tribune’s former headquarters, he blasted the publication as the “home of fake news.” The dad, Zach Freeman, shared the video to his social media accounts under the mon- iker “Concerned Parent in North Texas.” It went certifiably viral. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritz- ker reposted the clip on X, captioning it with a laughing emoji. The Libertarian Party of Tennessee apparently wasn’t amused, reply- ing to Pritzker’s post: “Tone deaf.” Freeman is a concerned parent in more ways than one: both literally and satirically. In real life, the father of three is worried about the direction that Texas is headed. But he also applies the “concerned parent” no- mer while acting as a caricature of far right- wingers in an online presence that’s attracted the attention of The Washington Post. The Observer met up with Freeman ear- lier last month at an elf village-themed park in Grapevine, which happens to be the Christmas capital of Texas. Throughout our conversation, he kept watch as his young son played. Freeman explained that the Concerned Parent in North Texas character was born sometime after his district’s school board was “purchased by Patriot Mobile.” The far- right Christian cell phone company dropped some serious cash on school board races in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and other local districts. Last year’s push to back ultracon- servative trustees proved a success. Two of Freeman’s children attend GCISD, so he cares greatly about public ed- ucation. Republican lawmakers have essen- tially held teacher raises and school funding hostage as they attempted (and failed) to pass vouchers, which divert money away from public schools toward private institutions. “They already put the signs that say ‘In God We Trust.’ All the schools have to have those,” Freeman said. “They tried to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom — not just in every school, but in every class- room — as if a kindergartener needs to know about coveting thy neighbor’s manservant.” For the most part, responses to Free- man’s concerned parent character have been positive in North Texas — from both sides of the aisle, he said. He doesn’t mean to imply that “all conservatives are this way.” When the Patriot Mobile-backed GCISD school board began passing “extreme stuff,” he talked to teachers and parents in his neighborhood. No one liked what the trust- ees were doing, he said. “It was very clearly not a normal conser- vative angle that they were taking. They were basically saying, ‘Public schools are woke, teachers are pedophiles and groom- ers, and the books are all porn,’” Freeman said. “To me, that is not a conservative view- point, in general, and so I haven’t had a ton of people mad at me. I haven’t had any nor- mal people mad at me.” One of the not-so-normal guys who did get mad wrote on Concerned Parent’s Insta- gram that he and his wife “get a laugh at [Freeman] everyday [sic],” adding: “I now know what the austin [sic] liberal Texan is like.” At that, Freeman replied: “[S]o great to hear that at least one of us is bringing your wife pleasure every day.” The troll clearly didn’t appreciate that re- sponse. He started messaging Freeman and liking posts of his kids. One such DM asked whether Freeman planned on picking his children up from school on a certain day. So far, that person is the only one whom Free- man has blocked. Freeman emphasized that he’s not some progressive elite from Austin or one of the metros on the East or West Coast. Rather, he’s a sixth-generation Texan raised in Na- cogdoches. The way he sees it, true-blue Texans aren’t on board with the uber-con- servative policies that lawmakers are, for whatever reason, hell-bent on ramming through. And guess what? Dannie Scott Goeb, AKA Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is originally from Maryland and changed his name when he “transitioned to be a Texan,” Freeman said. Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr., AKA Attorney General Ken Paxton, was born in North Da- kota. Rafael Edward Cruz, AKA U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, hails from Canada. These “outsiders” aren’t Lone Star na- tives, yet they want to cast Texas as this “crazy conservative place” when, in Free- man’s view, it really isn’t. “Texans do care a lot about personal free- doms, but I think that the framing of per- sonal freedoms that [these GOP lawmakers] are pushing is not real,” he said. “It’s actually a lack of freedom that they’re pushing.” One particular politician who recently found himself in Freeman’s crosshairs is Southlake Mayor John Huffman, who’s run- ning as a Republican for Congress. Parked outside of a Buc-ee’s, Huffman had filmed himself complaining about the “Biden econ- omy” after ordering a “cheesesteak burrito and an extra-large chopped brisket sand- wich.” Freeman let loose. He filmed a video pointing out how the mayor drove all the way out to a gas station by the Texas Motor Speedway — for a meal that could feed “like three people” — to make a political point when he could have just dined at a small business instead. “If I drove [to Buc-ee’s] for lunch, not only would I be completely undermining the many incredible and delicious local res- taurants in my actual district, but I’d be making it clear that I have absolutely no faith in the intelligence of my fellow Tex- ans,” the Concerned Parent in North Texas character said in the video. Freeman wants his fellow concerned Texans statewide to pay attention and get involved. Engaged parents will see that teachers aren’t trying to make students become transgender. And, no, districts aren’t providing litter boxes for furries in schools. Since coming up with his character, Free- man himself has felt more aware of goings- on in Texas, adding: “I don’t want to say ‘woke.’ I’m awakened to what is happening.” The Lone Star State is in a strange place in terms of the far-right trying to “hijack ev- erything,” he continued. Regular folks, even Republicans, don’t actually want much of what the far-right is pushing, such as the ru- ral conservative lawmakers who proved es- sential in defeating school voucher legislation. Despite the political nature of his con- tent, Freeman doesn’t view himself as an ac- tivist. But he did recently appear in a video alongside Perla Bojorquez, a candidate run- ning unopposed in the Democratic primary for House District 93, currently held by Fort Worth state Rep. Nate Schatzline. As for whether Freeman would ever run as a candidate himself? “My 7-year-old said I should run for pres- ident,” he said, laughing. “But, no, my 7-year-old is the only one that thinks that I should run.” Although Freeman insists that he didn’t necessarily set out to make a difference, he did want to draw attention to the unbeliev- able bills crossing the finish line in the state Legislature. Much of it almost seems like “a joke,” such as the new law stating that chap- lains don’t need to be certified to serve as counselors in schools. But his explainer vid- eos have helped people realize that these proposals are no laughing matter: They’re actually passing. Freeman’s online satire has crossed over into the real world, where he’ll occasion- ally get recognized by fellow concerned North Texans who appreciate his work. And, after making content poking fun at school vouchers, he was invited to speak at the Coalition for Education Funding’s 2023 conference. There, his concerned parent character shared the stage with education heavyweights, including Stephanie Elizalde and Mike Moses, the current Dal- las ISD superintendent and former Texas Education Agency commissioner, respec- tively. Ideally, Freeman would like to see the pendulum swing back to a more reason- able realm, politically speaking. “I would like to be in a place where there doesn’t need to be a Concerned Parent in North Texas and things are more normal, but I don’t know that that’s in the cards,” Free- man said. “So, yeah, I think I’ll just keep following along, see what happens [between] now and 2024, see where there’s something that needs to be highlighted and drawn attention to,” he continued. “And that’s what I’ll do.” ▼ SPORTS CUBAN’S BIG WAGER GAMBLING IN TEXAS FACES LONG ODDS. BY RICHIE WHITT T o comprehend the financial mega- muscle coming to Dallas in 2024, a little simple math: According to Forbes, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ net worth is $14.5 bil- lion. The Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Cu- | UNFAIR PARK | Simone Carter Zach Freeman, in character as “Concerned Parent in North Texas,” glowers in a Grapevine park. >> p6
