And, Milton parent why she supports her son who knelt
On January 12, Vermont Daily Chronicle published a news story about Milton High School students kneeling for the national anthem at an away game in Northfield. The story went ‘viral’ fast and elicited many comments – pro and con – on the post-George Floyd killing practice of kneeling for the national anthem at sporting events.
Social Media Director Paul Bean explains some of the process and reasoning behind publishing this story on social media. And below, a Milton parent explains why she’s proud of her son who knelt for the anthem.
by Jade Chicoine Geraw
If I had been interviewed for the current one sided article (“High hoopsters kneel during National Anthem,” Jan. 12), I would have said:
About 8 years ago when BLM was protesting at the St. Albans school I too was concerned. I thought “all lives matter,” what is this teaching our kids to just say one race matters. Being raised in a mostly white town in Vermont I hadn’t witnessed racism, therefore I thought how is racism a problem? I’ve never seen anyone be racist.
I had some back and forth discussions with people more educated on the issue than I. I then took it upon myself to research, talk to people of different race, religion and ethnicity. I came to understand no one is saying others do not matter but that this demographic of people are not being treated as all Americans should be, equals.
I came to learn many children in Vermont face racism daily. Can you imagine being called names daily because of the color of your skin? I can’t. I can not place myself in these children’s shoes.
I can’t tell you how many times I have called the school to report racism, my son comes home upset to tell me that his friends were called this today or that today, at school! Can you imagine what they hear outside of school, kids can be mean, but parents and adults are why these children think this type of behavior is okay and it was evident with the comments made on many posts.
Change needs to start at the top. It was evident that many grown adults have no compassion for the way children feel. They have no understanding of what other people in their community are dealing with. While our boys knelt in protest to the racism their teammates, friends, family and more have faced, players from the opposing team looked back at them, had some laughs, talked with their teammate next to them and some stared at the ceiling without their hand on their heart.
So for a mother, let me reiterate a mother of a player on the other team to degrade children for their behavior during the National Anthem maybe she should speak to her sons team as well. If standing at attention silently with their hand on their heart is the proper way to recognize the national anthem, then both teams were not doing that. There was a difference though, our boys, my boy, the ones kneeling, are doing it with purpose. Maybe one day adults will learn to have compassion for these children’s choice and right to fight against the mistreatment of those they love.
I found this quote by Andrew Freborg and I could not have said it better myself.
“ I stand to honor the promise the flag represents. You kneel because that promise has been broken. I stand to affirm my belief that all are created equal, and to fight alongside you for that promise. You kneel because too few stand with you. I stand because we can be better. You kneel to remind us to be better. I stand to honor all that have fought and died so that we may be free. You kneel because not all of us are. I stand because I can. You kneel for those who can’t. I stand to defend your right to kneel. You kneel to defend my right to stand. I stand because I love this country. You kneel because you love it too.”
The author is a Milton parent of a high school basketball player.
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It’s clear you love your son, and your influence may be part of his decision. Kneeling for our National Anthem is disrespectful and anti American. It’s so commonplace now it is pathetic. My advice to your son is “stand on your own two feet”. That will get him much further in life as an American.
Your advice is absolutely terrible and you missed the point of everything she said
Uh, if she really loved her son, she would not allow him to become a traitorous, leftist (oops redundant) idiot. But, that’s par for the course in brave ‘lil VT. Even country folk gotta do their best to support bernie, brandon and blm. , eh.
If she’s a traitor, maybe she should be the coach and can teach the team a phalanx formation and storm the capital this November when the fascist Orange Messiah loses to Sleepy Joe again
Abby….spot on. The National Anthem is there to respect our country not be used as a political tool. Shame on you Jade and shame on your son. There are far better ways to further your cause.
This method seems to get the point across. It seems pretty effective
Um…they’ve been kneeling for years and nothing has changed. When will people realize that ‘racism’ is the medias best friend. Apparently that’s lost on the plebes.
you’re actually incredibly wrong here. The start of kneeling for the national anthem started because Colin Koppernick wanted to sit for the national anthem, but thought that would be too disrespectful. Instead, he went to some local veterans near his home and asked for their opinion; and they told him that kneeling is still respecting the flag while taking a protest. You are woefully uninformed and extremely ignorant. Stop whitewashing and pretending that racism and oppression does not exist in the state under the guise of patriotism, which the way you see, it is closer to fascism. Get over yourself, you’ve never served, and you have no right to be upset over children standing up for something that is negatively affecting them every day. As an old white lady sitting at your computer you have absolutely no place to speak on this, so why don’t you use your computer to do some learning for once instead of spewing hate.
EM, You expressed the correct sentiment. The disrespect is not theirs; it is hers.
Em
Quite ironic how you say she is spewing hate all while you are literally doing the same to her.🙄
It’s not disrespectful.
America was built on being United! We come together!
This is not being “United We Stand!” Instead acts like this we are being view as “Divided We Fall!”
Sporting events are not a place for this!
Once again, the term purity spiral comes to mind. Defined thus in the urban dictionary:
“Purity Spiral
A social ratchet effect within a community. A process of moral outbidding, unchecked, which corrodes the group from within, rewarding those who put themselves at the extremes, and punishing nuance relentlessly.
Not to be confused with ‘virtue signalling’, ‘woke culture’, or ‘online mobs’.
A purity spiral can contain all of these things, but it is defined by the fact that it takes place in a defined community or society, where being purer-than-thou is always being rewarded, and holding a divergent, ‘less pure’ opinion is normally punished, a dynamic which leads to an inevitable escalation as only the most extreme can ‘win’.
Could be anything, from Mao’s Red Guard, to Neo-Nazis, to The Crucible, to Instagram knitting.
After Louise denounced Nike as bourgeois, the village fell into a purity spiral where first Nikes, then all sneakers, then all shoes, and later, socks, were burnt on a pyre by the villagers.
Foot amputations followed in the Spring.
by pizzleswizzle January 30, 2020”
Was there supposed to be a coherent thought here?
Yes there is a coherent thought. If you read the purity spiral definition again, and relate it to the topic of discussion about kneeling during the National Anthem, I’m sure you’ll get it, and come to understand the corrosive and divisive effect of the kneeling thing.
I realize most people haven’t been taught how to analyze the written word. Sound bites are easy and straight forward, and most people accept what they’re told at face value. To be effective, propaganda must be subtle. See the interview with Yuri Bezmenov in the video posted by Brian.
Whether as a people, a state and a nation, we have a great deal to lose if we keep getting suckered in by the “racism” trope. The word has lost all meaning and has become a tool for division.
I think he was asking himself to try and have one Cathy.
The purity spiral example makes perfect sense and you can see it. It’s actually a gnostic/Hegelian feature of their dialectical method to social change only those who spot the purity spiral ending in destruction see it for what it ultimately becomes.
Thanks for educating me. I intend to point it out now that it has a proper name.
We are fortunate to live in this country where we have freedom of speech and freedom to protest. So many here seem to think that those who disagree with them shouldn’t be allowed those freedoms. My hat is off to Ms. Chicoine Geraw.
Ms. Chicoine Geraw’s article should be read by all Vermonters. These courageous players did not turn their back on the flag, nor did they sit down. Although not normally associated with the flag, kneeling in most cultures has been a sign of respect, for example in churches and with royalty. I wonder where the writer who said kneeling “is disrespectful and anti-American” got her information.
Thank you, Jade.
Are you saying they were praying? I doubt it, but that might be a little better but why wouldn’t they admit that? It is what it is. They either were fighting our National Anthem…our country…or they weren’t.
It’s literally just an anthem.
I have another reply to Jade… American “culture” sees kneeling for our National Anthem as disrespectful and anti-American. That is the point of kneeling…it is to protest America…and Americans… Our culture is not “most cultures”. Our culture is the United States of America.
No, some people find it disrespectful.
It’s not to protest America – it’s to protest unjust systemic issues in our country. How does no one understand that?! No matter how patriotic you are, you must know some things within our great nation are terribly broken.
On one hand this mother raised her child not to pander to others and to stand up (or kneel) for what is right. On the other hand this mother allowed the child to pander to others (BLM) and not stand up for what is right.
The sooner the mother wakes up and teaches her child that this has been done on purpose to continue to create division the sooner we get to move past racism.
Please take the time to understand Marxism, and listen to Yuri Besmanov (long version if you can spare the time).
Thank you, Ms. Chicoine Geraw. Your article should be read by all Vermonters. The players should no disrespect. They did not sit nor turn their backs to the flag. Kneeling has been an alternate sign of respect for centuries including as practiced with royalty or religios functions. I would ask the writer where she got the notion that kneeling “anti-American”?
Thanks again, Jade, and my compliments to your son.
The original kneeler, Colin Kaepernick, was promoting a message of slandering law enforcement for supposed racism, not based in reality, and eventually leading to the summer of 2020, crime rates soaring, police demoralized and leaving.
The author’s son has a constitutional right to kneel. He shouldn’t be punished by the school for it. But he also is not immune from criticism for it. The rest of us have freedom of speech in addition to her son.
True, but the ethics of adults attacking children is not on your side.
If your kid is coming home from school daily and is telling you about racial slurs towards themself or other kids and you have reported it to the school officials, and nothing is happening, that’s the problem !!
The quote
I stand to honor the promise the flag represents. You kneel because that promise has been broken……. what promise was broken for these kids ?? that would be nothing it’s all about indoctrination………………… Taking a knee is still disrespectful.
You don’t think children being forced to deal with racism is a promise broken? That children who don’t feel that they are equal, it’s a promise broken?
Stephen. The state advocates and supports racism as it segregates children into Affinity spaces and labeles white children as oppressors and minorities as opposed, as if these minorities are incapable of success on their own merit. Very young white children of five are traumatized by this experience and come home from school crying and distraught because they are white, while others are fired from their summer jobs for speaking out. There is no broken promise of America. That is a lie promoted by social critical theorists to rip this country apart because they want to destroy capitalism and creat a new political, economic and social system. These people could care less about children except to use them as political pons.
Please give us a specific example of systemic racism. Where in any of the U.S. legal codes, the constitution, or anywhere in the country is racism practiced systematically?
In other words, how about some proof? Not theory (i.e. CRT) actual proof.
I’ll wait.
Milton is flying BLM flags, are we to believe that hasn’t ended racism?
to everyone saying what these kids are doing is anti patriotic, you’re actually incredibly wrong here. The start of kneeling for the national anthem started because Colin Koppernick wanted to sit for the national anthem, but thought that would be too disrespectful. Instead, he went to some local veterans near his home and asked for their opinion; and they told him that kneeling is still respecting the flag while taking a protest. You are woefully uninformed and extremely ignorant. On top of that, forcing someone to stand for their countries flag and anthems is what fascist nations do. No other country other than China and North Korea force their citizens to “respect the flag.”
Stop whitewashing and pretending that racism and oppression does not exist in the state under the guise of patriotism, which the way you see, it is closer to fascism. Get over yourself, you’ve never served, and you have no right to be upset over children standing up for something that is negatively affecting them every day. As an old white lady sitting at your computer you have absolutely no place to speak on this, so why don’t you use your computer to do some learning for once instead of spewing hate.
Citing and holding up Colin Kaepernick as the standard of the cause proves propaganda and false idol worship works. A man adopted by white parents as a child wouldn’t have a platform to spew upon if it wasn’t for their unconditional love and support. Good parenting isn’t based on race or gender. Yet, Colin couldn’t make it the NFL, so he has to make a living somehow -even it means biting the hands that fed and clothed him for many years.
China, North Korea, Japan, Russia, the Middle East, are all places who don’t seem to have racism issues dogging their cultures. Gee, I wonder why?
BLM, the non-profit, is under investigation for massive fraud. A number of chapter leaders have all ready been caught, sentenced, and in jail. Many in the black community are enraged by being duped. They see no money or better living standards after several millions, nearly billions, of dollars have disappeared and unaccounted for at this time.
Projecting “old white lady” is rather harsh and doesn’t fit the “coexist” mantra – is that not agism and racist inofitself? More critical thinking and less scripted talking points will help us all get along much better. Yet, the Masters shall not allow it because it does not generate profits for them and they must divide and conquer at all costs.
The proud mother of the student who kneeled during the National Anthem misses the point (as many do). When your team puts on that jersey, and comes out on the court they now are a representative of the Milton Basketball team. The team is one, they play as one (or should) at the direction of their coach. When he takes off the jersey, and the game is over, he is within his rights to kneel at the National Anthem, or kneel when the American flag goes by at a parade. That is his freedom to do that, and that freedom cost many lives since the late 18th century. I would be curious as to what broken promises the US broke that implicated that student personally. As people are coming into the US by the thousands every day from 80 different countries, apparently the rest of the world didn’t get the same memo as the Milton student. They are sneaking in illegally for a better life.
Couple of points here.
First, I am stunned, literally stunned at the wide spectrum of responses.
Second, I am a white female and experienced real, raw racism in 1980. Not the first time either. And not in New England. But in the south.
Third, there is no logic to kneeling for the flag or anthem, which are symbols of our country, because your teammates were called heinous names. What would make more sense, be more logical would have been to stop playing the other team. Immediately. Walk off the court. Instead, they chose to demonstrate their concerns by performing a behavior that blames the entire nation and all that America stands for and for which American citizens have given the greatest sacrifice to protect. Specifically, the anthem represents the greatest of our values. To kneel to that or sit for that song is to say you don’t believe in the country anymore. You don’t respect the country anymore or what our core values are.
Guess what…. they have that right. I don’t like it. But it’s their right and I will defend it.
To the mother of one of the young persons on the team, Jade Chicoine Geraw, racism is not just white against blacks. By any stretch of the imagination. The racism was always there, is always there, on all sides with a small minority of our civilization, but you didn’t see it because it wasn’t part of your mindset. It didn’t suddenly appear. It was and is always there. Do you get that point because it truly is important.
Because if you look for something, you will find it. It is called confirmation bias. And since our country has been aflame with this on a national level since around 2020 and our children are being indoctrinated with racism in school, it will flourish and grow. Because… children will always seek the weakest point and poke at it. It’s how they learn boundaries and discover themselves and others and their role in the world.
Finally, I urge everyone to consider the rights everyone has regardless of how they vote or their belief system. That used to be a point of pride for our citizenry.
Then I would urge the young people to better understand what it is that they are doing-the act itself, and find a more appropriate and meaningful way to make their point. Their intentions were honorable, their delivery not so much.
Folks, seriously, DIVIDED WE FALL. Do not let the left/Marxist/Prog agenda destroy our communities and relationships. Work this out. Stop slinging arrows.
I will step off my soap box now. Thank you.
There was a time that being bullied at school was a right of passage. I was bullied, my friends were bullied, and some were beat up in the park for whatever reason many didn’t even know. The school, if they felt it necessary, would suspend offending students and let the parents handle it at home. Behavior was to be corrected or the offender would face more penalties or shunned from the herd.
The Truth is most of the bullying happens online and spills into the school. How many children have committed suicide due to internet stalking, defamation, and liable? The schools are under rule and control of the installed, belligerent regime, which has taken it upon itself to push themselves into the parent role, and parents are marked as domestic terrorist if they disagree with the regime.
This is what societal collapse looks like. As people are led down the road to ruin by evil pied pipers, the children suffer and are in no way able to cope or even survive long in a society that has gone completely mad. History proves this to be so.
Please talk to educated people about Maoism. That is all this is. The whole social justice/systemic racism thing is really not at the heart of this, just how it’s pitched and sold. And I respectfully ask this….is this kind of behavior helping your proclaimed problem? Is it making what is in your view, our racist state and country less racist? Feels counter productive to me.
The mother says she cannot tell you how many times she had needed to call the school about racism. Which to me is a reasonable response based on what she was being told. I would be curious to find out what actions were taken by the school system and why it kept happening. Wouldn’t they have the names of those students to be dealt with directly?
Are we really supposed to believe that a liberal school near Burlington, which flies a BLM flag, is having racist incidents EVERY DAY which nobody does anything about? Really? Let’s see some evidence. It’s time for Vermonters to start defending their traditions and stop the white guilt.
Exactly. If you need to continually report this to the school, the logical action would be to protest the school administration rather than the symbols of the country. I am not doubting there are teenagers that say stupid things but focus your action on the offenders.
I had exactly the same thought. Show me the proof. In Essex, the school wanted to file sexual harassment charges against a five year because the child kept wanting to hold the hand of a black child that didn’t want their hand held. There are many examples of these types of heavy handed punishments and reactions. I have on video a recording of a child being verbally, aggressively abused by classmates for one minute for referencing that a senior relative who died left the highschool student a Confederate flag. The flag didn’t represent slavery to the senior who passed. It represented modern Southern customs and family traditions. The class went into a Maoist struggle session, which lasted for a full minute. The teacher didn’t stop the abuse and let it go on and on and on. She finally stopped the class of mostly white students once they started screaming that the kid was a racist. A student in the class sent it to their parent who sent it to me. I would share the recording if there was a way to do so on VDC.
The poor poor child. Imagine being called names because you were bigger than all your classmates. Learn to laugh at yourself and with others and remember what dosen’t kill you makes you stronger. Stand up for the Anthem and show a modicum of respect!
Let’s not forget it was the leadership of Milton school who refused to allow police presence in the school this year. Milton has become another leftist stronghold and it’s leadership are at the root of this liberalism infecting our once great town.
Ms. Geraw is simply following specious propaganda. After standing challenges, NO ON has come up with a single VALID example of systemic or institutional racism in VT.