A Tennessee mom has gone viral after revealing she let her daughter legally change her name due to relentless school bullying and claims the name had racist undertones.

35-year-old Danielle Remp took to TikTok to explain how her 16-year-old daughter, formerly named Dixie, faced cruel taunts from classmates who mocked the name and linked it to the Civil War-era South. Danielle didn’t hesitate when her daughter asked to switch names.

“She gets made fun of for it… I said yes, no questions asked!” Danielle said in her video.

The teen, who now goes by Skye, was reportedly called names like “Dixie Dust” and “Dixie Normous” by other students between classes. The bullying became so constant that she no longer felt like the name represented her.

Daughter’s emotional explanation and mom’s unwavering support

Speaking to Today.com, Skye shared just how bad things got. “They call me things like ‘Dixie Dust,’ or ‘Dixie Normous. They just give it all sorts of crude meanings, and they’ll call me that in the hallway.”

She added that while her dad chose the name Dixie when she was born, her mom originally wanted to name her Skye. “Her choice feels more ‘like me,’” she said.

Danielle, who works at Burger King, is now saving up the $200 needed to complete the legal name change. She stands firmly behind her daughter’s decision. “She’s a good kid. She’s doing great in school, she doesn’t give me trouble. So if changing her name makes her feel better about herself, why would I say no?”

Credit: TikTok

Internet reacts with praise and criticism

The TikTok post has sparked a mix of reactions online. One critic wrote: “What no. Teach your child resilience. If you let her change her name, what else will she want to change about herself?”

Others, however, applauded the move. “Everyone should get one free name change,” one user commented. Another added: “As someone who was horrendously bullied for their birth name growing up and changed it as an adult, thank you.”

Another commenter who shares the same original name said: “I got bullied but now I love my name.”

The name Dixie has come under scrutiny in recent years due to its ties to the Confederacy. The song “Dixie’s Land” became an unofficial anthem of the South in the 1800s, and the word has since been associated with the region’s racist history. In 2020, the band The Dixie Chicks famously dropped “Dixie” from their name, rebranding as The Chicks.

Danielle captioned her viral video with: “I’ll always stand by her side no matter what 💙 #standbyyourkid #doitforthem #foryou #fyp #stopbullying.”

Featured image credit: TikTok / Danielle Remp

A woman has been praised after posting a video of herself burning her "racist" Confederate flag.

Danielle, who used the handle @tiktok_hates_me on TikTok, took to the social media platform to explain that she was never taught that the Confederate flag is often associated with white supremacy.

Over the video, Danielle shared the following statement: "I'm sorry if I ever showed I was 'racist' from a flag. We burnt it tonight! I'm sorry our culture taught us this was ok, it's not.

"I'm white. I'm redneck, but never racist. RIP to this racist flag."

She also accompanied the video with the following hashtags: "#endracismnow2020 #endthestigma #ally #blm #imsorry"

After the post amassed over two million viewers, Danielle explained in another video that she grew up in "the South", adding that she was never taught the meaning behind the flag and simply displayed it because it "was normal".

The TikTok, unsurprisingly, did not go unnoticed, and at the time of writing, it has received over 332K likes and thousands of comments praising the woman for her actions.

One TikTok user wrote: "YES! Never be afraid to admit you were wrong and grow as [a] person!!"

A second added: "Oh my god I'm shocked. Good job! You're being the change our world needs!"

A third wrote alongside a heart emoji: "Much respect to you. Changing taught beliefs is not easy!"

A fourth wrote: "It's never too late to unlearn hate. I'm proud of you."

However, while the video might have been posted with the best of intentions, some people believed that she still has a lot of learning to do.

One TikTok user wrote: "that's great, but if you had the flag in the first place and didn't know why it was racist, I think you still have a lot of learning to do."

Alongside several laughing emojis, a second added: "Tell me you didn't pass history without telling me you didn't pass history."

A third added: "Hell yes, we love to see it. Now we gotta teach you about class solidarity & workers owning the means."

Featured image credit: Alamy / M4OS Photos

A mom has gone viral on social media for speaking out against her teen daughter’s school over how they handled her dress code violation.

TikTok user Stasia - who goes by the handle @teachingadhdllamas on the social media platform - posted a video explaining her frustration after getting a call from her daughter’s school while she was at work.

The school administrator informed Stasia over the phone that her daughter was opposing the school’s dress code policy and allegedly said "f*** the dress code" to the teacher who criticized her.

"F*** the dress codes," Stasia agreed in the TikTok’s caption. "Shoulders, midriffs, and legs aren’t the problem. Talk to the boys/men who claim it’s distracting."

After posting the video on the social media platform, users loved Stasia's support for her daughter and quickly flooded her comment section with praise.

One person said: "Would have immediately requested her autograph, cuz that girl is going places."

While another added: "I hate this too. I have extra shirts in case my students get dress-coded. SENDING THEM HOME IS MORE OF A DISRUPTION JUDY."

A third commended Stasia's daughter: "Now this is the kind of daughter I’m trying to raise! Way to go."

However, not everybody agreed with the doting mom.

One TikTok user commented: "Dress codes in schools are more lenient than any workplace. It’s not that hard to follow them."

In a follow-up video, the mother shared an update with her audience and said her daughter organized a protest against the school’s dress code policy.

"Today, she’s organized a white tank top-wearing day, so they’re all wearing white tank tops with messages on them," she said in the TikTok video. "My 19-year-old son helped her make hers last night, which reads on the front of it, ‘Do my shoulders distract you because you’re reading the front of my shirt?’"

The mom added that she’s sure she will receive multiple phone calls about the protest from the school’s administration but said her children knew "this was coming".

"My children have stood up against racist teachers, my children have stood up with other children [who] were deadnamed by ignorant teachers, my daughter refused to take straight sex education as a non-straight student," Stasia added.

Stasia's video sparks a conversation around whether school dress codes are discriminative or sexist. Per Yahoo, Education Week wrote in a 2018 piece that for decades, schools have discussed that dress codes help "prevent in-class distractions", create a "workplace-like environment", and reduce "socioeconomic pressures" on students.

Additionally, The Atlantic reported back in 2015 that with the mass use of social media and the increase in student activism alongside the #MeToo movement, students feel more motivated to protest against school dress codes.

Do you guys agree with Stasia's video? Let us know in the comments section.

Featured image credit: Newscom / Alamy.

One woman changed her name but didn't reveal it to anyone for five years, all because of her parents and their "weird" obsession.

Our name is something we're given at birth and don't have any control over, but luckily when we get older we can take matters into our own hands.

I'm not saying my name is outrageous - if anything it's really mundane, but I do wonder if I'd be happier if I called myself Max Power or Optimus Prime.

Probably not, and I'd probably get laughed at... but anyway, I digress.

One woman recently took to Reddit to ask for advice after she changed the name that she was given at birth.

The woman, referred to as OP (original poster), hinted at her parents' strong political affiliations, labeling them as "massive republicans and America lovers," suggesting that their name choices might have been influenced by patriotism.

She began the post: "My parents decided to name my sister and I after American states. I have permission to share her name (Arizona) and I was called Pennsylvania at birth. Yea, my parents are weird.

"I guess they thought geographical names were cool but I think there's a huge difference between calling your child Arizona or Dakota or Paris Vs Pennsylvania."

Despite her parents' insistence on using her full name, the woman confessed to facing ridicule and mockery throughout her childhood due to the unconventional moniker.

She recounted instances where her parents would reprimand her teachers for allowing her to go by the nickname "Penny."

However, the turning point came when she reached the age of 21 and legally changed her name to Penelope, a decision influenced by her college years where she predominantly went by "Penny."

Keeping her new identity under wraps for years, she decided it was time to reveal the truth to her family, especially with her wedding on the horizon.

Despite her efforts to break the news gently, her parents reacted negatively, accusing her of disrespect and criticizing her decision.

They refused to attend her wedding, leaving the woman's sister, who is also her maid of honor, caught in the middle.

"They think that I should've had the courage to be honest with them years ago so they would've had time to get used to it, instead of me dropping the news on them two months before my wedding and causing all this drama," she said.

People overwhelmingly supported the woman, with one person commenting: "What I've come to realize is that that generation sees respect as, respect me rather than we should all respect each other.

"They don't see that them demanding that you keep the name they pick, even to your detriment, is a form of disrespect. They don't see them choosing to skip your wedding as disrespect."

A second person said: "If your parents spent 13 years of your school life trying to force everyone to call you 'Pennsylvania,' I suspect they would have spent the past 5 making you miserable for changing your name. Hence, your silence."

Featured image credit: Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty