United States: Vermont school district receives threats after putting up Somali flag

A small school district in Vermont was hit with racist and threatening calls and messages after a Somali flag was put up a week ago in response to United States President Donald Trump referring to Minnesota’s Somali community as "garbage."

The Winooski School District began to display the flag on 5 December to show solidarity with a student body that includes about 9% people of Somali descent.

“We invited our students and community to come together for a little moment of normalcy in a sea of racist rhetoric nationally,” said Winooski School District Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, himself a Nicaraguan immigrant. “We felt really good about it until the ugliness came knocking Monday morning.”

The Somali flag was flown alongside the Vermont state flag and beneath the United States flag at a building that includes classrooms and administrative offices. Somali students cheered and clapped, telling administrators the flag flying meant a great deal to them, he said.

What ensued was a deluge of phone calls, voicemails and social media posts aimed at district workers and students.

Some school phone lines were shut down — along with the district website — as a way to shield staff from harassment.

Chavarria said videos of the event did not also show the US and Vermont flags were still up and spread through right-wing social media apps, leaving out the important context.

“Our staff members, our administrators and our community are overwhelmed right now, and they are being viciously attacked. The content of those attacks is extremely, extremely deplorable. I don’t know what other word to use,” Chavarria said Tuesday.

Mukhtar Abdullahi, an immigrant who serves as a multilingual liaison for families in the district who speak Somali and a related dialect, said “no one, no human being, regardless of where they come from, is garbage.” Students have asked if their immigrant parents are safe, he said.

“Regardless of what happens, I know we have a strong community,” Abdullahi said. “And I'm very, very, very thankful to be part of it.”

Trump targets Minnesota's Somali community

The district is helping law enforcement investigate the continued threats, Chavarria said, and additional police officers have been stationed at school buildings as a precaution.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson described the calls and messages the school received as “the actions of individuals who have nothing to do with” Trump.

This harassment comes as Donald Trump is repeatedly making racist remarks against Somali immigrants in the US. Immigration agents have especially ramped up their operations against the Somali community in Minnesota.

Trump has claimed “they contribute nothing ” and said “I don't want them in our country.” The Minneapolis mayor has defended the newcomers, saying they have started businesses, created jobs and added to the city's cultural fabric.

Most are US citizens and more than half of all Somali people in Minnesota were born in the US.