The video of Keaton Jones asking his mum why he was being bullied struck a chord with people around the world. But there has been severe backlash.
The video of Keaton Jones asking his mum why he was being bullied struck a chord with people around the world. But there has been severe backlash.
The mother of Tennessee tween Keaton Jones is defending herself against accusations that she and her family are racist after photos emerged of her and her bullied son posing with Confederate flags.
"I feel like anybody who wants to take the time to ask anybody who I am or even troll through some other pictures, I mean I feel like we're not racist," said Kimberly Jones on Tuesday.
"I mean, people that know us, know us."
The mother-of-three then defended the Confederate flag pictures she and her daughter posted to their social media accounts by stating: "It was meant to be ironic and funny and extreme. I am genuinely truly sorry. If I could take it back, I would."
Kimberly Jones was joined by Keaton for a pre-taped segment that aired on Good Morning America just 24 hours after many began to question her motives after seeing the images.
Meanwhile, Union County school officials have confirmed that Keaton was bullied at least once recently.
Jones addressed those who believe she is simply looking to profit from her son's misfortune, pointing to the multiple GoFundMe accounts that have been launched in the past few days for Keaton.
She explained that only one of the pages has her blessing and the others are fake. That official GoFundMe has since been frozen.
The mother also urged people to try and look beyond their misgivings about her and continue to voice their support for her young son.
"They want to hate me, I mean, whatever, that's fine, but still talk to your kids," said Kimberly of her detractors.
"Talk to your kids because this is - this is - this is an epidemic."
It has only been four days since Kimberly posted the video of her sobbing son explaining why he was too afraid to go to lunch at his middle school.
The 11-year-old boy claimed that other students call him ugly, make fun of his nose and tell him he has no friends.
MMA fighter Joe Schilling shared a social media exchange he had with someone he believed to be Keaton's mum. It turns out it was a fake account.
Over 20 million people had viewed the video on Kimberly's Facebook page before she shut down the account on Monday.
Kimberly quickly shuttered all her social media accounts once the confederate flag photos began to emerge online.
There were also claims that a PayPal account soliciting donations was launched by someone under Kimberly's name.
Kimberly's daughter Lakyn took to social media soon after learning of this Paypal account, explaining: "The Instagram KimberlyJones_38 is NOT my mom. She has a private Instagram and hasn't talked to anyone. We haven't received any money and don't plan on it. The gofundme's aren't by any of us."
She then added: "Those who know me and my family know we aren't racist. My brother doesn't say the 'N' word. Please leave it alone."
Lakyn also made a point of leaving up the image she posted to social media of herself and her brother posing with the Confederate flag that ignited the controversy.
She posted the image on the Fourth of July back in 2015, writing: "Murica #WelcomeToTheDirtySouth #Happy4th."
It seems that many people are standing by Keaton's side for the time being, though the wave of celebrities eager to voice their support for the boy on social media has died down over the past two days.
A number of celebrities from Chris Evans and LeBron James to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez recorded videos or posted heartwarming messages for the boy over the weekend. Evans even invited him to the premiere of the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.
"All this attention really just feels amazing," said Keaton.
"[I'm] speechless, honestly. I did not ever imagine for any of this to happen."
The support Keaton is receiving does stand in stark contrast to the stories of Ashawnty Davis and Rosalie Avila, two young girls of colour who took their lives as a result of bullying in the past few weeks.
Ashwanty, a fifth-grade student from Colorado died on November 29 after she was found hanged following a fight at school. She was 10.
Rosalie, a middle-school student in California, died on December 1 after she too was found hanged in the wake of bullying by her fellow students. She was 13.
Pop star Rihanna removed her Instagram post where she called Keaton a hero and posted instead about Ashawnty and Rosalie.
A 13-year-old girl committed suicide after experiencing extensive bullying at school. Her family now wants people to remember that their words can have devastating consequences. https://t.co/OzZqzcNsB1pic.twitter.com/y6CJdxuuKb
Keaton also explained why he made the video, stating: "I had enough of it. They had said that someone was going to beat me up in lunch so I texted my mom and I said 'what do I do here?'."
He was then quick to note however that the video was his idea, saying he was reluctant to tell administrators at the school or his teachers out of fear that the five boys who were taunting him would make good on their threats.
Keaton's embattled mother was not as enthusiastic with the reception, explaining: "I knew that it could be great and I knew that it could be awful. And it has been."
She also used that interview to further address the photos of her and Keaton with Confederate flags.
"The only two photos on my entire planet that I am anywhere near a confederate flag. It was ironic. It was funny," she said in that pre-taped interview.
When then asked if there was any racist intent at all, Kimberly responded: "No, absolutely not."
