A man from Atlanta was fired last week from Polaris Marketing Group after he and his friends made racist statements towards a Facebook profile photo of him with an African-American child.
Geris Hilton, whose real name is Gerod Roth, posted a selfie with the son of a co-worker, Sydney Jade Shelton, on the profile. Shelton's son is three-year-old Cayden, who is a frequent visitor in their office. Roth's friends made racist comments on his photo such as, "I didn't know you were a slave owner," and "Send him back dude those f-ckers are expensive." Roth consented to these comments and even replied to these comments that the kids "was feral," People reported.
Roth reacted to the issue after the photo went viral. "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 said, according to The Mirror.
"Cayden has been victimized but I have been targeted."
The company's president has since fired Roth but said it was for unrelated reasons. "It breaks my heart that Sydney and her adorable son Cayden were subjected to such hateful, ignorant and despicable behavior," Michael Da Grace said on Facebook, according to The Huffington Post.
"Cayden visits my office almost every afternoon after daycare, he's sat at my dinner table and I consider him a part of the PMG family."
The company's Facebook page has also released a statement.
Shelton was finally relieved that the people who expressed racist comments were gone from the office. People from all over the Internet have expressed their support, and the hashtag #HisNameIsCayden went viral.
"I never thought that it this would get this big. Someone in Kenya messaged my mother and said they were supporting us," Shelton said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I never imagined something like this happening in a million years. At 25, I am just trying to work and support my son."