The dad, Zach Freeman, shared the video to his social media accounts under the moniker “Concerned Parent in North Texas.” It went certifiably viral. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reposted the clip on X, captioning it with a laughing emoji. The Libertarian Party of Tennessee apparently wasn’t amused, replying 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” nomer while acting as a caricature of far right-wingers in an online presence that’s attracted the attention of The Washington Post.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 6, 2023
The Observer met up with Freeman earlier this 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 ultraconservative trustees proved a success.
Two of Freeman’s children attend GCISD, so he cares greatly about public education. Republican lawmakers have essentially 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 classroom — as if a kindergartener needs to know about coveting thy neighbor's manservant.”
@zachrunsthings Concerned Parent in North Texas celebrates Senate Bill 1515, which decrees that all public schools in Texas must display The Ten Commandments in every classroom. #texaslegislature #texas #txlege #sb1515 #tencommandments #10commandments #texasschools #indoctrination #concernedparent #concernedparentinnorthtexas #senatebill1515 #northtexas #establishmentclause #firstamendment #publicschool #publicschools #grapevine #colleyville #gcisd #ffrf ♬ original sound - Concerned Parent in North TX
For the most part, responses to Freeman’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 trustees were doing, he said.
“It was very clearly not a normal conservative angle that they were taking. They were basically saying, ‘Public schools are woke, teachers are pedophiles and groomers, and the books are all porn,’” Freeman said. “To me, that is not a conservative viewpoint, in general, and so I haven't had a ton of people mad at me. I haven't had any normal people mad at me.”
One of the not-so-normal guys who did get mad wrote on Concerned Parent’s Instagram 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 response. 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 Freeman 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 Nacogdoches. The way he sees it, true-blue Texans aren’t on board with the uber-conservative policies that lawmakers are, for whatever reason, hell-bent on ramming through.
"My 7-year-old is the only one that thinks that I should run." – Zach Freeman, Concerned Parent in North Texas
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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 Dakota. Rafael Edward Cruz, AKA U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, hails from Canada.
These “outsiders” aren’t Lone Star natives, yet they want to cast Texas as this “crazy conservative place” when, in Freeman’s view, it really isn’t.
“Texans do care a lot about personal freedoms, but I think that the framing of personal 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 running as a Republican for Congress. Parked outside of a Buc-ee’s, Huffman had filmed himself complaining about the “Biden economy” after ordering a “cheesesteak burrito and an extra-large chopped brisket sandwich.”
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 restaurants in my actual district, but I’d be making it clear that I have absolutely no faith in the intelligence of my fellow Texans,” the Concerned Parent in North Texas character said in the video.
@zachrunsthings Concerned Parent in North Texas DEMOLISHES sandwich at lunchtime just like Southlake mayor and future failed Congressional candidate John Huffman. Libs HATE how this gimmick connects with voters. #concernedparentinnorthtexas #concernedparent #satire #buccees #bucceestexas #southlake #johnhuffman #southlakemayor #district26 #texasdistrict26 #texas26 #gasstationfood #vaqueros #hopandsting #grapevine #brisket #brisketsandwich #shoplocal #aluminumcowboy #lunch #lunchtime #vaquerostexasbbq #vaquerosbbq #bidenomics #inflation #woke @Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q @Hop & Sting Brewing Co. ♬ original sound - Concerned Parent in North TX
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, Freeman 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 everything,” he continued. Regular folks, even Republicans, don’t actually want much of what the far-right is pushing, such as the rural conservative lawmakers who proved essential in defeating school voucher legislation.
Despite the political nature of his content, Freeman doesn’t view himself as an activist. But he did recently appear in a video alongside Perla Bojorquez, a candidate running unopposed in the Democratic primary for House District 93, currently held by Fort Worth state Rep. Nate Schatzline.
Concerned Parent in North Texas GRILLS extremist MODERATE candidate Perla Bojorquez on her 2024 race against Texas House District 93 incumbent Rubber Stamp. pic.twitter.com/QKg5Tq4Olt
— Concerned Parent in North Texas (@ZachRunsThings) December 1, 2023
As for whether Freeman would ever run as a candidate himself?
“My 7-year-old said I should run for president,” 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 unbelievable bills crossing the finish line in the state Legislature. Much of it almost seems like “a joke,” such as the new law stating that chaplains don’t need to be certified to serve as counselors in schools. But his explainer videos 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 occasionally 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 Dallas ISD superintendent and former Texas Education Agency commissioner, respectively.
Ideally, Freeman would like to see the pendulum swing back to a more reasonable 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,” Freeman said.Concerned Parent in North Texas CRUSHES woke education conference.
— Concerned Parent in North Texas (@ZachRunsThings) December 11, 2023
(PART 1, in which liberal elitist former commissioner of Texas Education Agency Mike Moses gets ROASTED) pic.twitter.com/0q3ZeUeZZf
“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.”
