Battle of the Shiloh Hendrix Fundraisers

Commentators across the political spectrum — Ibram X. Kendi, Matt Walsh, Piers Morgan — have expressed firm opinions on Shiloh Hendrix, a white woman who admitted to directing a racial slur toward a black child and, in light of receiving serious threats, raised over $750,000 (and counting) to “help to assist in protecting [her] family.” Hendrix has been characterized as a “folk hero” supported by the “woke right,” but the contributors to her campaign don’t necessarily care much about her. Instead, they see this as a proxy battle in the culture war.

First, let’s distinguish the facts from the claims circulating the internet. Sharmake Beyle Omar, a Somali man, confronted Hendrix on camera at a park. He repeatedly asked whether she called a black child (who is not his son) a “n*****,” and she responded that “it’s none of your f***ing business.” Omar then questioned, “Why don’t you have the balls to say it right now again?” She flipped up her middle finger, declared, “F*** you, n*****,” and continued repeating the slur. Hendrix claimed that the boy was rummaging through her things, and she affirmed that she had called the child the slur. (She has since written that the child was stealing from her diaper bag, and states that “I called the kid out for what he was.”) As the profane altercation continues, Omar tells her, “That’s hate speech, and you can be recorded for that,” then asserts, “We’ll see about that, what the internet has to say about you” as she walks away with her toddler.

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Abigail Anthony

Abigail Anthony is a staff writer at National Review.

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Commentators across the political spectrum — Ibram X. Kendi, Matt Walsh, Piers Morgan — have expressed firm opinions on Shiloh Hendrix, a white woman who admitted to directing a racial slur toward a black child and, in light of receiving serious threats, raised over $750,000 (and counting) to “help to assist in protecting [her] family.” Hendrix has been characterized as a “folk hero” supported by the “woke right,” but the contributors to her campaign don’t necessarily care much about her. Instead, they see this as a proxy battle in the culture war.

First, let’s distinguish the facts from the claims circulating the internet. Sharmake Beyle Omar, a Somali man, confronted Hendrix on camera at a park. He repeatedly asked whether she called a black child (who is not his son) a “n*****,” and she responded that “it’s none of your f***ing business.” Omar then questioned, “Why don’t you have the balls to say it right now again?” She flipped up her middle finger, declared, “F*** you, n*****,” and continued repeating the slur. Hendrix claimed that the boy was rummaging through her things, and she affirmed that she had called the child the slur. (She has since written that the child was stealing from her diaper bag, and states that “I called the kid out for what he was.”) As the profane altercation continues, Omar tells her, “That’s hate speech, and you can be recorded for that,” then asserts, “We’ll see about that, what the internet has to say about you” as she walks away with her toddler.