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The case of Shiloh Hendrix has become one of the most polarizing free-speech controversies in the country after Hendrix, a Minnesota woman, went viral after using the N-word during a confrontation at a Rochester playground.Now, Hendrix has been found guilty on one count of disorderly conduct related to her interaction with the man who recorded the incident.While BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock doesn’t condone Hendrix’s actions, he doesn’t like what this means for free speech — and he doesn’t believe that a woman should be charged for using a word that the black community uses all the time.“A woman in Minnesota got into a screaming argument with a grown man in a public park. She said an ugly, sinful word, and yesterday the state of Minnesota made her a criminal for it,” Whitlock explains, adding, “I’m about to tell you why she is not the one you should be afraid of. The government is.”While activists and even the attorney general of Minnesota wanted to charge Hendrix with a hate crime, Whitlock points out they couldn’t get a hate crime.“Because in the United States, there is no criminal law against hateful speech,” he says, noting that instead, they went for disorderly conduct.“The only count they convicted her on was the argument with the grown man who filmed her. Sentence, 90 days, suspended, a fine, community service, no cell, no bars. They didn’t punish her for what she said to a boy. They punished her for arguing with a man,” he explains.“They didn’t need to jail her. They needed to label her. They needed a word in an argument between two adults to become a crime,” he adds.However, the word she’s being punished for using is a word that’s repeated all the time in the black community.“Here’s the lie the rappers and mainstream media sell you,” Whitlock says. “That the word changes based on who’s holding it. That in a bigot’s mouth, it’s a weapon, but in a rapper’s mouth, it’s culture. That the color of a man’s skin launders that word clean.”“I have never believed that. Not once. It’s a lie. The word is the word. It’s poison coming out of a racist in a park. And it’s the same poison coming out of a stage in front of 20,000 kids who chant it all the way home,” he continues.“Melanin does not sanctify it. A beat behind it does not baptize it. If it’s a sin, and it is, then it’s a sin in every mouth,” he adds.Want more from Jason Whitlock?To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Despite Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) posting another photograph of himself, the governor of his state is demanding more evidence of McConnell's well-being.Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a letter dated Monday that McConnell should resign if he's unable to prove that he can continue to serve.'Provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.' "President [Donald] Trump is stuck in a war of his own making and has greatly strengthened the very country he claims is a threat," Beshear wrote."Prices continue to rise, crushing Americans who are working hard but not getting ahead. Americans' voting rights are being eliminated by the Supreme Court and threatened by congressional action. All while you are absent and refuse to communicate clearly and directly to the people you serve," he added. "As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign," Beshear concluded.McConnell's office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.The 84-year-old senator was hospitalized on June 14 after a fall that left him briefly unconscious and has also had a bout with pneumonia, according to his office. His absence from the Senate and public life has led many to speculate that his condition is far more grave than his office is admitting.A month after he entered the hospital, McConnell's office released a photograph depicting the senator and his wife, Elaine Chao, on his hospital bed. On Monday, he released a second photograph and said he was recovering at a rehabilitation center.RELATED: Mitch McConnell’s replacement might be chosen in court first Beshear also reportedly sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), asking him to begin the process of removing McConnell unless McConnell provides evidence that he is healthy enough to continue in office.If McConnell is forced to resign, his seat stays empty until a special election can determine his successor. The governor, who is a Democrat, is not legally allowed to temporarily fill the seat, as is the case in some other states. However, some have argued the governor might contest the law in court. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Trump administration is threatening action against a Maryland county after parents alleged their child was transitioned behind their backs. Parents sued Anne Arundel County Public Schools on July 8, alleging that unidentified high school staff secretly “socially transitioned” their child.‘The school was secretly helping their daughter pretend to be male.'The Departments of Justice and Education issued a joint statement — entitled "Trump Administration Cracks Down on School Districts Secretly 'Transitioning' Students and Hiding it from Parents" — accusing the school district of violating parental rights.The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives parents the right to review their children’s educational records. FERPA also empowers parents to request amendments to those records and control how they’re disclosed. The DOJ and Education Department allege the Maryland school denied parents records access relevant to their child’s supposed social transition.“When the parents approached school administrators about the matter, the principal declined to provide details about the student’s ‘gender transition,’ and the assistant principal refused to turn over the child’s relevant records,” according to the joint statement. “These policies and practices unlawfully impeded the parents’ ability to exercise their FERPA rights when it mattered most.”America First Legal and Consovoy McCarthy PLLC are representing the anonymous parents in Maryland’s U.S. District Court. RELATED: Tim Walz gets TORCHED over dolls with 'swappable genitals' meant for kids as young as 4: Report Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images Identified as the Does, the parents discovered that "the school was secretly helping their daughter pretend to be male" after they received an email referring to their daughter by male pronouns, according to the joint statement. They previously educated their daughter "according to their religious beliefs that God creates each person as male or female, that sex is based on biology rather than internal self-perception, and that sex cannot be altered," the parents' lawsuit states.“When confronted by the Does about this conduct, AACPS personnel first tried to lie and then, when that didn’t work, insisted that their actions complied with AACPS policy,” the lawsuit states.“AACPS wrongly believes that it has greater authority than parents to control and direct the upbringing of students. AFL is eager and willing to correct this notion," senior counsel at America First Legal Ian Prior told Blaze News. "Parents have a fundamental right to know what is happening with their children at school, and they have every right to stop government officials from pushing radical gender ideology on their children.""AFL is proud to stand with the Does as they fight to protect their daughter and vindicate their constitutional rights.”AACPS did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Education referred Blaze News to the DOJ. AACPS policy, linked to the district website as of Tuesday afternoon, holds that information about a student’s gender identity can be considered “confidential medical information” and encourages staff to address students by their preferred pronouns."Let this serve as notice to every school district in the country: FERPA is not optional,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Blaze News. “The Department of Justice will enforce it to the maximum extent of the law, and any district that hides a child's sensitive information from their own parents should expect immediate federal action."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In 2016, I got a call from my editor at Simon & Schuster in New York. The company was putting out a new edition of my first novel, "Girl" (1994), and redoing the cover and interior design, in preparation for its re-release.A new edition is usually a happy occasion for a writer. If your book is still relevant after 20+ years, that’s an accomplishment.Books have a moral authority that TV, TikTok and YouTube lack. And we all know how leftists crave moral authority.On the phone, my editor told me that besides a new cover, the company had some young editors look at the text as well.At first, I didn’t understand. Why would they review the text after 20 years?She explained that these editors were recent college graduates who had studied racism, sexism, and the latest critical theory. Their job was to ensure that Simon & Schuster didn’t accidentally publish something inappropriate or hurtful to unrepresented minorities or aggrieved groups.Sense and sensitivityThis definitely sounded unusual to me. But I wasn’t worried. "Girl" had been considered “edgy” in its time, but it had sold well and been made into a movie. It had been translated into several languages.I assumed whatever controversy it had generated was now deemed to be within the bounds of acceptability.So I was surprised and alarmed when she told me these new editors had some issues with "Girl."In this way, I was introduced to the possibility that progressive activists — “sensitivity readers” — could literally edit your book.Because "Girl" was 20 years old, I was given the option of declining any major changes. Therefore, no real damage was done.But it was a scary omen for the future. If they were scrutinizing older books in this way, what would they do to books that hadn’t been published yet?RELATED: My parents ‘arranged my marriage’ at 16; maybe I should have taken them up on it Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images10 years onRecently, I came across a new nonfiction work that addresses this trend in publishing: "That Book Is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing."In this compelling book, young literary scholar Adam Szetela goes into great detail about the arrival of “sensitivity readers" and the other forms of Orwellian madness that descended on the publishing industry shortly after Trump took office.It is quite entertaining to read and gives countless examples of how ridiculous and convoluted leftist ideology has become in the book business.During this period, writers, editors, fans, and bloggers accused each other of racism, sexism, white supremacy, homophobia, and every other imaginable transgression. Careers were destroyed, people were fired, first-time authors saw their dreams dissolve before their eyes. And this over things like, “Is a white writer allowed to describe a black character?”It was the ultimate purity spiral. It was a circular firing squad!The left eats itselfWhen I first heard about "This Book Is Dangerous," I assumed young Szetela was a conservative. Who else would write such a book?But no: He has a Ph.D. in English literature from an Ivy League university (Cornell). Which means he’s required to be left of center.So he’s not writing from the point of view of "look at these crazy cultural Marxists trying to destroy our culture."No, he’s trying to reel in his leftist peers because he can see how much damage they are doing to their own (and his) cause!It’s satisfying to read books where leftists tell on themselves, where by some fluke they stumble onto the truth, then are forced to denounce that truth, and then realize they are attacking themselves!It’s like watching a dog chase its tail. “Hey Fido, that tail you’re biting? That’s you.”Influencing the youthAnother thing we learn from "That Book Is Dangerous!" is how much of this cultural warfare was waged inside the young adult and children’s genres.Surprise, surprise, it turns out that socialist/progressive/DSA types really want to control what young people are exposed to.And one way they do that is through books. Especially books that get read to them by their parents or recommended by their teachers at school.Books have a moral authority that TV, TikTok and YouTube lack. And we all know how leftists crave moral authority. Even when they have to denounce each other to get it.Politicized Publishing Inc.So yeah, I recommend "That Book Is Dangerous!" It’s a good read and a vindicating experience for anyone who has dealt with the now fully politicized publishing industry.My own relationship with that industry quickly deteriorated in the years that followed this situation. Not that I had any say in the matter. Once Trump was elected, heterosexual white guys were mostly unwelcome in mainstream publishing.This was the publishing industry’s petty revenge on American men for daring to vote for Trump.As for myself, I felt lost without my mainstream writing career. But eventually I found new writing opportunities, where I feel much more at home and in sync with my colleagues.