Some more thoughts on Shiloh Hendrix.

May 09, 2025

In case you have made the arguably wise decision to stay out of this discourse, let me give you a short summary of who Shiloh is. She set up a GiveSendGo over having her private details leaked. This followed footage of her calling a Black child a nigger for stealing out of her little son’s diaper bag. There has been some debate over the details, like the age of the child stealing and whether or not he has autism. She was also filmed by a man who went to court over a sexual offence and so there is the issue of what he was doing in a playground with a phone.

The overall debate has reached the likes of numerous YouTubers making videos over this, sub stackers writing essays and Piers Morgan’s usual lively panel. It seems, if one was to neatly generalise, that you have two camps of people. One thinks Shiloh is a racist and should not be receiving any money on GiveSendGo. The other camp think the use of the n word causes too much hysteria and that Shiloh is actually a hero who stood her own against yet another troublesome Black man.

I wrote about Shiloh over the weekend but I have been lamenting the increasingly ugly direction the discourse has taken. Shiloh’s case was compared to Karmelo Anthony where he (or his family) set up a crowd fund to raise money for a fair trial. He stabbed a man, who happened to be white, to death over a dispute. Some have asked why is he allowed a crowd fund and why people are leaving comments stating “death to the white man” but Shiloh is expected to be yet another timid white person.

Black comedians like Chris Rock have used the n word, so people ask, why can’t Shiloh? Some Black men have used it towards White men, with “nigger” being a point of reference for behaviour as opposed to skin colour. The thing is though, the damage has been done and the n word IS considered a racial slur no matter how much people try to make arguments that deviate from that. I have considered those arguments myself but let me tell you, if I heard the n word out and about, I would find it to be aggressive and unnecessary.

I read an excellent article by an author I really admire, Helen Pluckrose. She is considered highly by me particularly today when I have read two other posts by her, reminding me of a sane voice of reason. Helen is the quintessentially fair person whose posts and articles are an antidote to polarising discourse. Like her, I too would never pull a Shiloh, especially over someone stealing from my child’s bag. Even if I have my phone or keys in there, I would tell them in a firm voice to simply stop. I would probably address the parents also, if not first. All this would be done in a civil way. Perhaps, this is also a British thing. The worst behaviour we tend to engage in as a society seems to happen when driving when sometimes normally calm people glare at other drivers or “flip the bird.” The latter is rare as most of the aggression I have encountered has been by men who would be rude and angry anyway or by boy racers.

Calling someone a racial slur, including the n word, just doesn’t happen in the playgrounds and parks I’ve been in and not to toot my horn but growing up in Scunthorpe and walking through Harehills, I’ve encountered some feisty attitudes. My husband was saying to me also that Shiloh Hendrix went too far. Plus, she didn’t just blurt out the n word, she made the case for using it. Even if she later feels she has done something wrong, she has garnered enough support from others who believe she didn’t do a thing wrong.

I am pretty sure numerous people are donating to her because they support her use of the n word and/or that she represents a resistance to white hate or anti white sentiment. However, as Helen says, to frame her words into a question; is the tribal response the best way to move ahead in a civilised society? I know part of human nature is to be tribal, to pick sides, to have definite opinions on things and to consider anyone questioning this a traitor.

The Shiloh Hendrix case is an interesting one for the reason that it has garnered so much heated discourse but I have to say, it leaves an ugly taste in my mouth and I lament that society has become increasingly ugly. At the same time, I understand some of the reactionary takes in support of Shiloh (I personally think reactionary is fitting description).

Please do read Helen’s article below and thank you for reading mine.

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