Latest racial incident involving slurs against little boy goes viral, riles Rochester

ROCHESTER – Video of a local mom using racial slurs at a city park has gone viral, prompting shock from the community and concern from area leaders as Minnesota’s third-largest city deals with yet another racial incident in recent months.

The video that made the rounds on social media Wednesday depicts a man confronting a white woman at a playground at Soldiers Field Memorial Park for reportedly using a slur against a Black child. The woman repeats the slur to the man behind the camera, at one point saying the Black child took something from her and her toddler.

“If he acts like one then he’s going to be called one,” the woman could be heard saying in the video.

Social media commentators have claimed the Black child is around 5 years old and autistic. The Minnesota Star Tribune could not independently confirm the identity of the boy or the woman in the video as of Thursday morning.

The video spread among community social media pages on Facebook, Reddit, TikTok and elsewhere. Officials with the Rochester branch of the NAACP said Wednesday on Facebook that they planned to investigate and respond to the incident.

“We will hold this person accountable for this despicable racist act against a child,” local NAACP President Walé Elegbede wrote in the post.

Some commenters called for the woman in the video to lose her job, while others cautioned against leaking her private information, or “doxxing,” would be harmful to her and her child.

This is the latest in a series of high-profile racist incidents in the community over the past year.

In April 2024, four teens spelled out a racist slur using cups on a chain-link fence on a pedestrian bridge near Century High School. The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office declined to charge the teens, arguing the incident did not meet the legal definition of a hate-based crime in part because it wasn’t directed at a single person.

Last August, state Rep. Kim Hicks’ home was vandalized with slurs and swastikas. A Rochester synagogue was also vandalized that same weekend with similar symbols. The case has been forwarded to federal officials for hate-related crimes against a politician.

Rochester officials held several town hall meetings last summer and fall in response to the bridge and vandalism incidents. Several community groups have organized new programs as well, including an initiative between Mayo Clinic and the NAACP that focuses on community support access.

But community leaders are concerned the uptick in public incidents are affecting Rochester’s residents. Mayor Kim Norton said she’s received emails from former residents and people outside Minnesota worried over whether Rochester is a safe environment for their family and friends.

“The perception is very upsetting,” Norton said.

She stressed the incidents stem from the actions of a few. She also highlighted antiracist initiatives she hopes to see at local events this summer.

“We can keep sending the messages; we can keep standing in solidarity with those who are being marginalized,” Norton said. “That’s what we have to do, and we will continue to do that in this city because it’s the right thing to do.”

Much more work needs to be done to address Rochester’s racism, according to some community leaders. Pastor Andre Crockett Sr. of Vision Church said local residents of color have dealt with racial issues for decades, from the slurs he saw on bathroom stalls at Rochester Community Technical College in the 1980s onward.

More of those incidents are cropping up online, which Crockett worries will hurt the area’s children and young adults far more than in the past.

“I think that we still haven’t healed completely from all the incidents over the past couple of years,” Crockett said. “We need more safe places that not only adults can go to but where kids can go to.”