Recently there's been a spate of ugly racist incidents in Australia prompting an article in The Age by Tim Soutphommasane who argues that "combating racism involves a test of citizenship. Too often, otherwise good citizens fail to do their part we find it easier to shrink away to rationalise that the safest option is to mind our own business and not speak up".
I've no argument with Soutphommasane's basic philosophy, but the piece stirred up some painful memories for me. I've never been the victim of a racist attack but several years ago I was embroiled in a racist incident when I intervened on someone else's behalf. I'd probably pass Southphommasane's "citizenship test" with full marks and a bouquet and sash for good measure. But I'm not sure that I would intervene again. Here's what happened. I left work and took the train home on the Midland line in Perth. It was a Friday. I was looking forward to getting home and indulging in a glass or two of wine after a tough week. The train was packed full of I imagine similarly minded commuters. Shortly after the train left the station a man started to verbally harass a young Asian couple standing near the doors. The train was so crowded that I couldn't see the man who was issuing the abuse. I could only hear him. "What are you f***ing slopes doing here? Why don't you f*** off back to your own pissant countries instead of coming here and f***ing ours up? We should have just bombed every f***ing one of youse in the war." It went on and on in that combination of fury and vulgarity that racists seem to have patented. No one in the carriage I was sitting in was happy that this was going on. There was certainly no sense of triumphalism that the racist was telling it like it was. You could see it in people's eyes that we were all thinking What should I do? And the longer we tried to work this out and the longer the abuse went on the more collectively ashamed we became. I'm not aware of making a conscious decision to intervene. I didn't take a deep breath and think "right, here goes". Something in me responded before my rational self engaged. I stood up and said "I don't think anyone's terribly interested in your opinion so why don't you just pipe down?" Incredibly, my prissy riposte did not convince the racist to "pipe down". Instead, it simply transferred his anger to me. He elbowed the other passengers aside and barrelled through the carriage until he was inches from my face. He was much, much bigger than me. As sometimes happens in the thick of a critical situation a terrible clarity came over me. I remember registering the size of his pupils and the smell of his breath and thinking You're not drunk. You're not pinned. This isn't drugs talking, this is pure, unadulterated aggression. The second thing I realised was that I was in it now and my only hope of getting out of it physically unscathed was to convince this guy that I was up for a fight. That underneath my pin-striped suit and spectacles I was as raging and unpredictable as him. He told me that he was going to rip me limb from limb. I poked my index finger into his chest and, never breaking eye contact for a second, said "Just you try it mate. Just you f***ing try it". He then issued some disgusting sexualised threats that don't bear repeating. It was at that point that other (male) passengers around me stood up and told this guy to back off. A couple of passengers took out mobile phones and called police and Transperth. I left the train at my usual stop. I and some other passengers advised the attendants about the man on the train and they were on walkie-talkies advising other attendants up the line. A couple of passengers told me "Good on you". I walked to my car, unlocked it, put the keys in the ignition and then fell apart. My hands shook uncontrollably and I couldn't stop crying. All my so-called "bravery" deserted me. My hands didn't stop shaking for three hours and I had nightmares for a week. All the things that the adrenalin of the moment suppressed went banging around my head. What if that guy had gotten off at my stop and followed me home? What if no one on the carriage had spoken up for me? What if he had assaulted me? What if he'd been armed? I remember talking about the incident with my dad (I talked about it to anyone who would listen for a long time afterwards). After thinking about it for a few moments my dad said this: "If he'd punched you, you would have gotten a black eye. Saying nothing would have hurt you more in the long run". At the time I thought my dad's statement was wise and profound. There is no doubt that opting for being a bystander would have shamed me. But I'm not sure that I would do the same thing if confronted with a similar situation. I sure as hell will not advise my little girl to follow my example and put herself at risk of physical harm against someone so manifestly unhinged. Is this cowardly? Morally indefensible? Selfish? And if I don't intervene can I in good conscience say that I'm not a racist? http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/i-stood-up-to-a-racist-on-the-train-20130416-2hxev.html ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
