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Vermont School Faces Racist Backlash After Flying Somali Flag in Solidarity
A small Vermont school district has been inundated with racist and threatening messages after displaying a Somali flag as an act of solidarity with its diverse student population, following President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Minnesota’s Somali community.
The Winooski School District began flying the Somali flag on December 5, alongside the American and Vermont state flags, in response to Trump referring to Somali immigrants as “garbage.” The district, which serves a student body that includes about 9% people of Somali descent, intended the gesture as a show of support for its community members.
“We invited our students and community to come together for a little moment of normalcy in a sea of racist rhetoric nationally,” explained Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, who is himself a Nicaraguan immigrant. “We felt really good about it until the ugliness came knocking Monday morning.”
The backlash began when videos of the flag-raising ceremony spread through right-wing social media platforms. According to Chavarria, these posts deliberately omitted the fact that the U.S. and Vermont flags remained prominently displayed, misleadingly suggesting the Somali flag had replaced them.
By Monday, the district was overwhelmed with hostile phone calls, voicemails, and social media posts targeting both staff members and students. The harassment was so severe that administrators were forced to shut down several phone lines and temporarily disable the district’s website to shield employees from the barrage of abuse.
“Our staff members, our administrators, and our community are overwhelmed right now, and they are being viciously attacked,” Chavarria said. “The content of those attacks is extremely, extremely deplorable. I don’t know what other word to use.”
The situation has been particularly distressing for Winooski’s Somali residents. Mukhtar Abdullahi, who works as a multilingual liaison for Somali-speaking families in the district, reported that students have been asking whether their immigrant parents are safe amid the hostile atmosphere.
“No one, no human being, regardless of where they come from, is garbage,” Abdullahi said. “Regardless of what happens, I know we have a strong community, and I’m very, very, very thankful to be part of it.”
Winooski, a former mill town of about 8,000 people located near Burlington in northern Vermont, has been home to Somali refugees since 2003, when they began arriving as part of a U.S. government-approved resettlement program. According to the Somali Bantu Community Association of Vermont, the community has been an integral part of the region for nearly two decades.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions following the launch of an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota targeting Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the United States. Trump has claimed these immigrants “contribute nothing” and stated, “I don’t want them in our country.” These comments stand in stark contrast to the Minneapolis mayor’s defense of Somali residents, who he says have started businesses, created jobs, and enriched the city’s cultural fabric. Most Somali people in Minnesota are U.S. citizens, and more than half were born in the United States.
The White House responded to the Vermont situation with a statement from spokesperson Abigail Jackson, who distanced the administration from the harassment, calling it “the actions of individuals who have nothing to do with” Trump. She added that “American schools should fly American flags.”
In response to the threats, the Winooski School District is working with law enforcement to investigate, and additional police officers have been stationed at school buildings as a precautionary measure. Despite the backlash, Chavarria, who noted his authority as superintendent allowed him to fly the flag for up to a week without school board approval, remains committed to celebrating the district’s diversity.
“I felt sorrow for the students, the families, the little kids that are my responsibility to keep safe,” Chavarria said. “And it’s my responsibility to make them feel like they belong and that this is their country and this is their school district. This is what we do.”
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7 Comments
It’s regrettable to see this school facing such a hostile backlash for trying to support its diverse student population. While the flag display may have been polarizing, responding with threats is counterproductive and only breeds more division.
While I don’t condone the threats, I can understand concerns about divisive political symbols being displayed at a public school. Perhaps a more unifying approach focused on shared values would be better received by the whole community.
This seems like a complex issue without a simple solution. Schools have a responsibility to create inclusive environments, but also need to balance the concerns of their entire community. Hopefully cooler heads can prevail and a constructive compromise can be reached.
While I understand the school’s intent, flying a foreign flag at a public institution is bound to be controversial. Perhaps a more inclusive approach focused on celebrating shared American values would have been better received. Resorting to threats is never justified, though.
This seems like an unfortunate situation. Schools should be inclusive spaces that celebrate diversity, not face threats for supporting their communities. Hopefully this can be resolved peacefully without escalating tensions further.
Racism and threats are never acceptable, but schools should also be mindful of how their actions may be perceived by the broader community. Open dialogue and compromise could help find a solution that works for everyone.
Flying the Somali flag was likely intended as a gesture of solidarity, but it’s understandable that some may view it as a partisan political statement. Schools should aim to bring people together, not further divide them.