Earlier this month, Shiloh Hendrix, a white woman from Rochester, Minn., was caught on camera using the N-word toward a five-year-old Black autistic boy who she claimed had taken her diaper bag.

A surveillance video showed Hendrix being belligerent, combative, and defiant, gleefully repeating the derogatory racial slur while being recorded and verbally berated by a witness. Not content to be quiet after being exposed for such embarrassing behavior, Hendrix went on a perverse form of offense, claiming, “I called the kid out for what he was.”

It goes without saying any person who would use a racial slur to attack a child of any race is deviant, demented, depraved, deplorable, and disgusting.

Hendrix took things on step further by launching a fundraising plea, claiming she’d been doxed: “I am asking for your help to assist in protecting my family. I fear that we must relocate.” Her rabid bigotry has proven to be a boon – promoted by several X users known to push anti-Black, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic rhetoric, Hendrix’s campaign has received over $700,000 from over 26,500 donors. Many of the donation comments contain white supremacist and antisemitic messaging under usernames linked to racist and pro-Nazi slogans.

Left-wing critics made their displeasure known as well. Commenters on Bluesky wrote: “Normalize sending death threats to Shiloh Hendrix,” “Make her famous (and unemployable),” “Shiloh Hendrix, you made your bed. Now die in it,” and “I take comfort in knowing that wherever Shiloh Hendrix goes, she will never find peace.

Passions ran wildly and rapidly in both directions. Omar, the person who filmed the incident, told NBC News the child is on the autism spectrum and the parents, whom he knows, have expressed support in filing charges against Hendrix. A local chapter of the NAACP has raised more than $300,000 for the family since the video went viral. Local police, meanwhile, have said that they completed an investigation of the incident.

There has always been a segment of Americans harboring fanatical levels of hostility and hatred toward non-white Christians. The difference was that in the past, such men and women were largely forced to discuss and reaffirm their racist and bigoted viewpoints with like-minded individuals. For much of our recent history, their outpourings were confined to secret conferences, white supremacist communications, obscure far-right radio programs, and the darkest and most racially sordid corners of the web. However, to quote a line from the music of iconic musician Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a changin’.”

Apprehension about engaging in racially inflected behavior has all but evaporated for many individuals. Blunt, acerbic, and outright racially-arrogant antics have become the order of the day. Some blame Trump for the current state of affairs. There is no question that the current administration, with its vile attacks on diversity, gender, fairness, equality, and free speech, has contributed to such an acrimonious climate. That being said, racial animus has long been a part of American society. It has been firmly woven into the fabric of our society since the dawn of the republic.

Hendrix has been lauded as a “folk hero” supported by the so-called “woke right,” but the reality is contributors to her efforts (at least a sizable percentage) do not harbor any genuine feelings for her. On the contrary, they see this as a battle in the culture war to further their right-wing agenda. Whether legal action would prevail is a huge question given the first amendment. However, there is a very credible argument to be made that the rhetoric espoused by Hendrix transcended into harassment and hate speech.

The sad and indisputable reality is when a racist is showered with almost $1,000,000 dollars from people with screen names such as “kill all jews and blacks,” we still have quite a way to go as it relates to race in America.

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Copyright 2025 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate

Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker.