JEFF PEARLMAN

JEFF PEARLMAN

On Keaton

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Well, dammit.

By now you almost certainly know of Keaton, the Tennessee boy whose tearful video on his suffering via bullies has gone viral. It’s the most impactful anti-asshole takes I’ve seen in many moons, and this morning #Keaton is the leading hashtag on Twitter.

Which, inevitably, led to some scrutiny.

It turns out Keaton’s family hangs a Confederate flag on their porch. It also turns out Keaton’s mother Kimberly is a bit of the, eh, firebrand on social media. She and her husband seem to be not particularly likable or embracing of diversity.

But here’s the thing: Who cares?

Keaton is a child. He knows what he learns. So, if until this week, what he learned was about Confederate pride and bashing those NFL players who kneel and Donald Trump being the greatest man ever … well, that’s not his fault or his doing. He’s simply digesting the information fed to him, just as my kids and your kids digest the information fed to them. What’s cool in this case, however, is the potential for eye-opening to the goddess of folks of all stripes.

For example …

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And …

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And …

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

That’s an African-American athlete, an Israeli actress and an uber-liber actor all reaching out; all saying, “You matter.”

That matters.