Keaton Jones: Who is the bullied boy who went viral? And why has his mother been accused of racism?

A young boy's plea to school bullies has captured the attention of America

Who is Keaton Jones?

Keaton Jones, from Knoxville, Tennessee has captured the attention and hearts of Americans after his mother filmed a heartbreaking plea in which Keaton asks why he is the target of school bullies.

After his mother picked him up early from school on Friday, right before lunchtime, Keaton asked her to record him as he tearfully confronts his school bullies.

What was his viral plea?

In the emotional video, the young boy describes how bullies pick on him because of his nose, calling him ugly, and telling him he has no friends. Tearfully, Jones then asks the camera, “Just out of curiosity, why do they bully? What’s the point of it? Why do they find joy in taking innocent people and find a way to be mean to them? It’s not OK.

Keaton's mum posted the video on her Facebook page, where it has since been viewed over 20 million times. Keaton's plea has received an overwhelming response, even capturing the attention of some of the most respected names in Hollywood.

Receiving thousands of responses over the weekend, Keaton has since become the centre of attention for a much more positive reason.

What were the celebrity responses and messages of support?

Celebrities have gone above and beyond to assure the young boy that the bullies do not have the power to get him down, reminding him to stay strong, and offering him incredible opportunities to show him that he is special and worthy.

Millie Bobby Brown, the 13-year-old actress from Stranger Things, who tweeted, "I wanna be your friend"

Jarrett Guarantano, a quarterback for the University of Tennessee tweeted a photo of himself with Keaton, calling him his "new best bud"

Kelsea Ballerini, a country singer and Knoxville native, promised the next time she was in town, she would "walk into that lunchroom with you and watch the bullies say they are sorry to you."

Delanie Walker, a tight end for the Tennessee Titans, also came out in support of Keaton, offering Keaton and his family tickets to the team's New Years Eve game, in addition to recording a short video in which he reads a poem from Buddha, and tells Keaton, "You can be whoever you want to be."

Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, acted as a real-life superhero and tweeted to Keaton to "stray strong," in addition to asking him to attend the Los Angeles premiere of next year's "Avengers" movie.

Even Luke Skywalker shared a message of support.

Mark Hamill, who plays Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, tweeted, "they're just jealous because you're so smart & handsome."

Proving that America can come together in support of a young boy, Keaton's video has received an incredible response, with his mom posting on Saturday that she "could not keep up with the thousands of messages pouring in."

Why is his mother being accused of being racist?

Several people claimed to have found evidence of offensive, possible racist behaviour on Ms Jones’s Facebook account.

“That viral video of #KeatonJones talking about being bullied is heartbreaking, and I feel sympathetic towards that child,” tweeted media personality Tariq Nasheed. “But his mom, Kimberly on the other hand, is a suspected racist who makes very problematic posts bullying Black protesters.”

Mr Nasheed’s tweet was accompanied by several photos appearing to show members of the Jones family standing next to a Confederate flag. The Confederacy fought to preserve slavery in America during the Civil War.

Also included in was a screenshot of a Facebook post, allegedly written by Ms Jones, telling “butt hurt Americans” to stop complaining about “metaphorical, emotional, financial, or historical blood & brokenness”.