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

ROCHESTER – Video of a 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.

The Rochester branch of the NAACP on Thursday called on authorities to investigate the incident.

The group also called on witnesses and the family of the boy to contact them to gather information, describing the woman’s actions on video as “an intentional racist, threatening, hateful and verbal attack against a child.”

DFL lawmakers in the Rochester area on Thursday afternoon condemned the incident while commending the witness who confronted the woman.

“This disgusting rhetoric has no place in our community, and we’re grateful that a bystander took action and prevented further escalation by the perpetrator,” Sen. Liz Boldon and Reps. Andy Smith, Kim Hicks and Tina Liebling said in a statement.

Some commenters called for the woman in the video to lose her job, while others cautioned against leaking her private information, or “doxxing,” arguing it 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.

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.”

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.