An Atlanta-based man has been fired from his job after posting a picture to Facebook mocking a black child.
Geris Hilton, also known as Gerod Roth, posted the picture, depicting himself and the son of a co-worker, which then garnered several racist comments from his Facebook followers.
Commenting on the picture, users on the site left comments such as, “I didn’t know you were a slave owner” and “Pls [sic] tell me his name is Toby [stolen African child from book, Roots]?”
Hilton also took part in the attack, responding to the comment, “Dude where the hell did you get a black kid??”, with “He was feral”.
When prompted to explain why the little boy was “feral”, the man responded with, “Because he was abandoned in the Atlanta projects, to fend for himself, he is deaf mute, ca’t [sic] properly communicate and is in and out of a shelter home, that is the definition of feral.”
But that was not the case at all.
The little boy was neither feral, nor unwanted, but the three-year-old son of his co-worker, Sydney Shelton.
The little boy, whose name is Cayden, accompanies his mother to work nearly every day and is well known with his mother’s co-workers.
Since the racist tirade went viral around the internet, Ms Shelton has found herself the target of invasions of her privacy, as well as further racist attacks.
But Sydney isn’t willing to let what her co-worker posted destroy the reputation of her son, who has been another target since the post went viral.
In an effort to defend Cayden, Sydney took to her own Facebook to post a heart-warming response.
“This is Cayden Jace!” read the post, “The love of my life, the apple of my eye, my EVERYTHING.”
“All this lovely personality wrapped up into one small person’s body. When people hear about him, these are the pictures I want them to know about. Not that disturbing image and its comments.”
“We are above all of this nonsense that has been going on,” wrote Sydney, “Cayden and I truly appreciate all of the love that we have been shown in the last 24 hours.”
“You guys warm my heart, more than words could ever express. This little guy has every piece of my heart, he is my world and #HisNameIsCayden.”
Since her posting, the hashtage #HisNameIsCayden has circulated thousands of times and has been shared all around the internet.
When asked about the viral response to her post, Sydney commented, “Cayden is a child. He is not abandoned. … He is loved. If people are going to see my son, I want them to see my Cayden. I want them to get that image out of their heads.”
Mr Hilton has since been fired from both his jobs over his comments, and several other companies in Atlanta have announced they have terminated the contracts of those seen commenting.
Michael Da Graca Pinto, the President of the Polaris Marketing Group where both Sydney and Mr Hilton were employed, issued a statement that he was “disgusted” to learn of Mr Hilton’s attack on Cayden.
“It breaks my heart that Sydney and her adorable son Cayden were subjected to such hateful, ignorant and despicable behaviour. Cayden visits my office almost every afternoon after day care, he’s sat at my dinner table and I consider him a part of the PMG family,” wrote Mr Pinto, “The atrocious lies, slander and racism he and his mother have been forced to endure are wholly intolerable. … It has no place in the world.”
Mr Hilton also issued a statement claiming that he is upset about being “targeted” because of his comments.
“I really feel upset, not only with myself, but also with the comments that my friends made,” Mr Roth said. “I feel as if, not only has poor Cayden been victimised, but also myself for being targeted.”
