Rewarding racism: How tribal politics is tearing America apart

I have seen much in my time on this earth. Never did I imagine that I would see a White woman call a Black child a racial epithet on a playground and be rewarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, then again, should I have been surprised?

Over the last several decades I have witnessed how Black people exploited race from the O.J. Simpson case to Michael Brown in Ferguson and George Floyd in Minnesota. They used race as their catch-all to subvert justice and/or to advance certain racial ideologies. In all of these cases, tribal loyalty trumped everything even if O.J. was a stone-cold killer who nearly decapitated Nicole Simpson or Michael Brown was high on marijuana when he indisputably charged Officer Darren Wilson. Race was the only thing that mattered.

We saw that again recently when Karmelo Anthony, a Black teen, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations — after allegedly stabbing a White teen to death at a Texas track meet. 

I watched in horror as Black people began creating a narrative around this teen and began throwing money at him – all before due process. This was nothing but pure racial tribalism and I could see how it would be an affront to those outside the race.

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So when Shiloh Hendrix of Rochester, Minn., called a Black boy — of Somali heritage and autistic — a racial epithet for the crime of going through her diaper bag, she reacted in a manner that revealed more about her low quality of character than anything. 

I have kids and anyone who goes to the playground knows that kids are always getting into other people’s stuff. Never once have I heard any decent person insult a kid. You either educate the kid or let the parent know what happened. That’s how you civilize kids.

But Shiloh instead spewed racism. When she was being recorded, she doubled down, flipping the camera off and repeated the racial epithet and said, "I don’t give a sh**."

The video has been spread across social media platforms like X and TikTok. The NAACP held a town hall, urging authorities to charge Hendrix with a hate crime. The Rochester Police Department investigated but as of now no charges have been filed against Hendrix.

It was at this point that Hendrix flipped the script and decided to make herself the victim here. She launched an online fundraiser called, "Help Me Protect My Family," and said she needed to relocate due to "threats."

 Many conservatives, outraged at the perceived racial double-standard, decided to reward Shiloh’s despicable behavior. These tribal conservatives framed Hendrix as a victim of "cancel culture" and said if Blacks can raise money for a black teen charged with murder, then we can support a White lady and her racism.

 As of May 8, 2025, she had raised $750,000 — all for calling a child a racial epithet. Some call this "vice signaling" as opposed to "virtue signaling."

Now we have those on the right saying the racial epithet loudly and proudly on social media. We have seemingly endless social media battles where videos featuring the worst attributes of each race are thrown at each other's face.

 Is America better off?

 No.

Many of us have been fighting for a better America. With Trump in office, we finally have the chance to push back at the racial essentialism that has divided our nation for the last 60 years and even more profoundly so since the death of George Floyd. Engaging in vice signaling costs us the high moral ground and gives ammunition to the Left — "See, we told you all along the Right was racist and look at how they uplift a racist."

Anyone who knows the left knows that the Shiloh debacle is not going to impact or convince them in any way. The left will just exploit this incident as evidence of racism to fuel its long march.

But let me tell you what I know. I know there is a better America out there. There is a better America out there where people are beyond sick and tired of this racial tribalism that gets us nowhere. 

There is a better America where people want to return to the land of individualism, merit and brotherhood across all class, race, and religious lines. 

There is a better America out there where people want to surround themselves with like-minded people who realize the great gift they have been given by being born in this country and want to use this gift to make themselves into somebodies.

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I saw this better America for myself several years ago when I stayed on a rooftop for 346 days to raise money for my new community center on the South Side of Chicago. I had no help from the government and I knew my community didn’t have the funds to build this center. And I’m just a pastor who doesn’t know much outside of my faith. All I did was follow the path of Jesus and put my faith in America. 

 What I didn’t experience was the lowdown racism of Shiloh Hendrix. Instead, what I experienced was something so beautiful that I will never forget as long as I walk this earth. 

As I began doing my Rooftop Revelations series, releasing an article and video every day, I started hearing from Americans from all over. Florida. Alabama. Alaska. California. Maine. Rhode Island. Many from places I have never been to. They wrote me letters saying that my stories touched them and they wanted to help. A woman who cleans house wrote that she doesn’t make much but wanted to donate her earrings for a day: $85 dollars.

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What touched me was how they believed in my community. They knew how the policies of post-60s liberalism had made so many people in my community dependent on the government. They wanted to help me help these people restore themselves to the path of the American Dream where they can be somebodies.

 That’s the America I know and love. I will never let racial tribalism — the work of the devil -- distract me from the greater purpose that is America.

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