One Black man riled up the critics of social media after confronting a Latino boy about the N-word.

A May 31 video of the man calmly scolding a 12-year-old — or schooling, depending on whom you ask — sparked thousands of responses on Instagram. The preteen allegedly directed the slur while shopping at the Burlington store in Compton, Los Angeles, though the offensive word was not caught on camera.

Black Man Confronts California Boy Who Calls Him a Racial Slur and Teaches Him a Lesson
A California boy comes face-to-face with a stranger whom he calls the n-word. (Photos: Instagram/trpmedia_)

What was caught? The aftermath. The man stopped the boy in the aisles to express his frustration. He told him, “You’re on camera today. I’m a N-word, right?” Looking stunned and upset, the teary-eyed boy denied saying the derogatory term.

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The video’s caption read, “Help me make this go viral so he never does it again. Lucky I’m a changed man because that boy would have at least got slapped.”

The Black shopper went on, “I have love and respect for my Hispanics, but bruh, get ya’ll son before he run into the right Black man.”

Many online commenters lauded the Black shopper for his restraint and considered it a valuable lesson for the boy.

A top comment read: “Whoever his parents [are], better give that man a thank you for showing their kids grace, because I know a handful of individuals in Compton that wouldn’t have cared how old he was.”

One astute observer mentioned that letting offensive comments slide only leads to more casual racism: “If anything, he saved him. A lesson taught before a lesson was learned.”

“Everything is a game to them,” chimed in another. “These kids today are largely beyond unserious, but life indeed is very serious.”

But just as many critics pushed back, saying a “grown man” confronting a child on camera was overkill. One detractor said, “Imagine being a grown adult and having this much of an emotional reaction towards a kid [allegedly] saying a bad word.” Another put it more simply, “don’t press up on a 12-year-old kid.”

In the end, a 12-year-old may or may not have learned a lesson. The adults in the comments? They’re still working it out.

‘You’re on Camera Today’: Black Man Confronts California Boy Who Calls Him a Racial Slur, Then Teaches Him a Lesson