“Racism Is Still VERY Real”: Elderly Man Asks to Hold Baby, Stuns Mom by Shattering the Status Quo

An elderly man who held a woman’s sleeping baby in a doctor’s office while she did her paperwork is warming hearts across the web. Amidst a time when racial tensions are running high, it’s exactly the story America needs to hear right now.

Natasha Wison of Alabama captured the endearing moment in a photo, and since posting it to Facebook along with this message, it’s gone wildly viral:

“I was in the waiting room at the doc office today and this lady walked in with her sleeping baby! They handed her paperwork to do & as she was sitting there trying to figure out how to hold her sleeping baby while filling out the paperwork, this man, from across the room, asks her if she would like for him to hold her baby while she did her paperwork!!

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She smiled and said that would be wonderful!! This man went over there and rocked and loved on that baby like he was his!! My heart Melted!!!

Racism is still VERY real in our society today BUT THIS MAN GAVE ME HOPE & a sweet memory I’ll never forget!!
If you know this man tell him what an amazing person he is!!”

The short but oh-so-sweet story of tearing down racial barriers has now been shared by media outlets across the country.

The mom in the picture was later identified as Jade West.

“I felt relieved and appreciated at the fact that he wanted to help, he seemed really genuine,” West told “Good Morning America.” She was stunned that a stranger would do something so kind for her.

“He was talking to him as if he was his own grandchild and had known him his whole life,” the grateful mother added. “He was just the sweetest.”

While West said it’s fine for people to have different mindsets, it’s most critical that we care for each other.

“Regardless of skin color, we are all just human and can love one another!” she said. “I truly believe that if each one of us [does] our part and teach our children that color doesn’t exist, our next generation could be colorblind.”

For Wilson, the incident she captured hit particularly close to home because she has a biracial family, as she disclosed in an interview with CBS News:

“It was touching for me because my children are biracial. It was heartwarming especially because he was an older white man, just completely not thinking anything of race. Just loved on this baby as if it was his baby. He completely saw nothing of color, and neither did that mom.”

After family members recognized the gentleman in the picture as Joe Hill, Wilson was able to connect with him as well.

“I think it’s shown more people and given more people hope,” she said of the photo, adding “I’m just a small town girl. It’s got to be God saying ‘Look, people. We can love one another. It’s not hard.’ And it’s not.”