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Here’s one way to handle racist online bullies: Drown them out.
Georgia mom Sydney Jade is receiving a “massive outpouring” of support after a photo of her 3-year-old son became the target of racist insults last month.
Cayden was at his mother’s workplace in Atlanta when a coworker, identified by Atlanta Black Star as Gerod Roth but who uses the online alias of Geris Hilton, snapped an image of himself with the child in the background.
Roth posted the image on Facebook last month, and the comments quickly showed the Internet at its absolute worst. Roth’s friends posted racist jokes and hateful commentary, including references to slavery.
“He was feral,” Roth wrote in what appears to be his only comment.
Roth told Fox 5 Atlanta that the “feral” comment referred to kids running around the building and that he actually told one person not to make racist remarks.
“I just really feel upset, not only with myself, but also the character that was based off the comments that my friends had made,” Roth told the station. “Cayden has been victimized but I have been targeted.”
A black friend who added #BlackLivesMatter to the image also said Roth is not racist.
“My Dawg isnt Racist, he just made a bad joke & im sure when he is given the outlet to speak about his regret, he will,” wrote Skylar Felton on Facebook.
Roth said he has apologized to Jade by email. He was also fired from his job at Polaris Marketing Group last week, although the company said it was for unrelated reasons, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
