Shiloh Hendrix is a white woman, a mother, and the main character of an extremely fraught social media controversy. She did a very bad and racist thing, endured subsequent cancellation, and has now reaped a financial windfall—earning both condemnation and approval from various corners of the internet. For some, Hendrix is the final boss of cancel culture; for others, she is a symptom of a very broken, toxic culture.
Here are the details, which are not really in dispute: Hendrix was at a playground in Rochester, Minnesota, with her infant. She claims that a black child went through her things and tried to take "her stuff"; in response, she called him a racial slur. A bystander—a black man unrelated to the child—then began to film her on his phone. In that video, she confirmed that she used the slur and then called the guy recording the video a slur as well.
You can guess what happened next. The video went viral on social media, and Hendrix's racist rant earned her no shortage of opprobrium. Here's the wrinkle: Next, Hendrix created a fundraising campaign called "Help Protect My Family," in which she asked for donations to help her move. The fundraiser has earned over $700,000.
