Latest: Mother of Keaton Jones addresses controversial images on her Facebook page
Kimberly Jones, the mother of a Tennesse schoolboy whose video about bullying went viral, has addressed the backlash on social media relating to some of her Facebook posts which show herself and her son posing with the Confederate flag.
In an interview with CBS News, Ms Jones said that the posts were meant to be "ironic".
"The only two photos -- the only two photos on my entire planet that I am anywhere near a Confederate flag. It was ironic. It was funny," Jones said.
Ms Jones was asked by interviewer Mark Strassmann whether or not the pictures had any 'racist intent'.
"No. No. Absolutely not. I've said I spent most of my life being bullied and judged because I wasn't racist," she said.
The spotlight on Keaton -- also cast attention onto his mother's prior social media posts -- including where she's holding a confederate flag -- a symbol of pride for some, and racism for others: https://t.co/ueeJNLdT0o pic.twitter.com/0gwMw421I0
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 12, 2017
In the same interview, Keaton gave his reaction to the video, and why he decided to make the video in the first place.
He said: "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?'"
"It made me feel like I had accomplished something real. Something that could actually change the world."
WATCH: Keaton Jones is speaking out to us after an emotional Facebook video shows him talking about being bullied. "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?" pic.twitter.com/fwEmTdEruq
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 12, 2017
The sister of Keaton Jones, the young boy
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This is Keaton Jones, he lives in Knoxville and he has a little something to say about bullying.https://t.co/coyQxFp33V
— OutKick Bets (@OutKickBets) December 9, 2017
There are conflicting reports about why Keaton was bullied in school, with some suggesting he was making racially charged remarks towards fellow students.
Lakyn Jones posted on her twitter account: "Those who know me and my family know we aren’t racist. My brother doesn’t say the “N” word. Please leave it alone."
Keaton’s mother, Kimberly Jones, has also come under fire, with a number of people accusing her of offensive and possibly racist behaviour after several posts were noted on her personal Facebook page.
Ms Jones' Facebook page seems to have been set to private, but screenshots of her alleged posts have been doing the rounds on social media.
That viral video of #KeatonJones talking about being bullied is heartbreaking, and I feel sympathetic towards that child.
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) December 11, 2017
But his mom, Kimberly on the other hand, is a suspected racist who makes very problematic posts bullying Black protesters #TheIrony pic.twitter.com/NUhidunP8z
In one posted to Twitter by Tariq Nasheed, Ms Jones posts several pictures of herself and her family posing with the Confederate flag, and captioned ’I stand for the flag’, possibly targetted at NFL players who have chosen in recent months to kneel during the national anthem at football games.
"Dear butt hurt Americans," the post reads.
"If you aren’t bleeding, no bones are sticking out & and you can breathe, STOP crying!
"For the love, some folks clearly never picked a switch. And before y’all start talking to me about metaphorical, emotional, financial or historical blood & brokenness, Don’t.
"Join a group."
A GoFundMe page, which was set up to raise money for Keaton and his family has also been suspended by the creator.
In a note published on the page, Joseph Lam said that it wasn’t because of allegations of racism brought against Keaton’s mother.
Mr Lam claims he does not know the family personally.
He wrote on the account: "As many of you know I paused the donations as well as the comments. As I sit back and read these comments and watched the video again I feel I have to make this update. THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE MOM!!
"However passing judgement on her before you know her is a form of bullying. Condemnation before evaluation is the ultimate form of ignorance. I can’t even say for sure that any of whats being said is true. I don’t know the family personally and never claimed to have known them."
