Backlash over a viral video showing a woman at a playground calling a Black child the n-word is rapidly growing, with new demands that GiveSendGo shut down her fundraiser that’s raised more than $700,000 in five days.
Shiloh Hendrix launched the fundraiser last week shortly after she was filmed at a public park in Rochester, Minnesota, repeatedly calling a little Black boy the N-word and accusing him of stealing from her child.
When a bystander questioned why she would call the boy the slur, she responded, “If that’s what he’s gonna act like.”
The video triggered swift and intense outrage from the Rochester community and all corners of social media as the video spread online.
Soon after, Hendrix launched a fundraiser on GiveSendGo and wrote that the Black child stole from her 18-month-old’s diaper bag, and so she “called the kid out for what he was.” She’s currently seeking funds for her and her family’s relocation, with a fundraising goal of $1 million.
GiveSendGo brands itself as a Christian crowdfunding website and has hosted other controversial campaigns, including fundraisers for right-wing causes like legal defense funds for Kyle Rittenhouse and the Jan. 6 rioters. It has served as an alternative platform to fundraising sites like GoFundMe, which prohibit campaigns that finance defense assistance for alleged violent crimes.
Hendrix’s fundraiser also became a landing page for several racist and discriminatory remarks from many people who supported her hate speech.
After hundreds of thousands of dollars began pouring into her campaign, Hendrix posted an update thanking her donors:
Hello!
Where do I even begin?? The overwhelming support that my family and myself have received is unbelievable! I’ve never felt so scared, yet reassured in my life. It’s truly a whirlwind of emotions!
We are currently doing okay. No one has been harmed, and we are getting by. We are taking the proper procedures in order to stay safe from these constant threats. I’m still very frightened, and I don’t think I will feel safe until we can escape completely.
I am so grateful to all of you who have donated to my family. I never would have imagined that we would be supported to such an extreme. It still feel as if it’s too good to be true, and it’s all going to disappear. It’s such a strange feeling to be living in a blissful dream and a nightmare simultaneously.
Thank you all for your continuous support and love. We have to keep fighting for the safety of all our families, not just mine.
Shiloh
Many people are now calling for the removal of Hendrix’s fundraiser.
GiveSendGo co-founder Jacob Well has indicated to local outlet KTTC that the Hendrix campaign is legitimate. The company has disabled comments as the campaign remains active.
“Cancellation isn’t the way to move the narrative forward,” Wells told KTTC. “It’s actually the diversity of the ideas, even toxic, hard ones, we have to deal with, they bring the issue, the story, to the front and then culture can start to wrestle with them, in the open, where they should be.”
The Rochester Branch of the NAACP also launched a counter-campaign on GoFundMe to raise money for the family of the boy who suffered Hendrix’s racial abuse.
Just two days after launching, the fundraiser exceeded its goal and raised well over $340,000. The NAACP chapter shared that it plans to transfer the funds into a trust account that the boy’s parents will serve as executors over.
“The Rochester Branch of the NAACP is outraged and deeply disturbed by a racist hate incident. Let us be clear: this was not simply offensive behavior—it was an intentional racist, threatening, hateful and verbal attack against a child, and it must be treated as such,” the NAACP chapter wrote on GoFundMe. “With care and positive intention, we launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the young victim and his family. Thanks to your outpouring of support, we not only met our goal—we surpassed it. Together, we raised $341,484. Love wins! In response to the family’s wishes, we have now closed the GoFundMe page.”
Atlanta Black Star has contacted GiveSendGo for comment about Hendrix’s fundraiser and whether she has been allowed to withdraw any funds.
The Rochester Police Department says it has completed its investigation into the incident, and the city attorney’s office is now reviewing it.
