Here’s how you shut down a bigot in just 30 seconds (VIDEO)
In early March 2016, video footage from a tram in Manchester showed a bigoted passenger being challenged for his abusive language.
The video was recorded by Manchester resident José, who moved from Peru to the UK three years ago to do a master’s at the University of Manchester.
According to José, there was a couple on the tram speaking Spanish, and an abusive passenger kept telling them to “speak English”. When they ignored his aggressive request, he said “go back to your own country”.
Fortunately, one fellow passenger confronted the man. 24-year-old HR worker Niall said:
he thought I would be on his side because I am British. But I told him exactly what I thought… I would like to think anyone would have done the same… it’s a shame that we even have to deal with behaviour like that in this day and age.
The bigot answered Niall’s challenge by asking about his own ethnicity and sexual orientation. And just as Niall said he was gay and asked why that was relevant to the discussion, another man stepped in to back him up.
The new challenger told the racist he’d just call the police if the man continued behaving as he was. He insisted very simply:
Read on...
It’s not on
This is the exchange that shut the bigot up for the rest of the journey:
https://youtu.be/B-9zG9RMpwY?t=37s
José praised the passengers who challenged the man’s abusive behaviour, telling the Manchester Evening News:
You would only get a reaction like that in England.
Niall, however, says:
unfortunately there are too many incidents like this that happen on trams in Manchester
In other words, while it’s great that people stand up against bigots, racism in the UK has not yet died the death it deserves.
But Niall has faith that, upon seeing interventions like the one he was involved in, the opposition to bigotry will continue to grow and the voices of racists will become silent. He insists:
after we stood up to him he remained completely silent… Hopefully that will encourage others to do the same and look out for each other when they see something like this happening
Get involved!
– Support HOPE not hate.
Featured image via News Production/YouTube and Davykamanzi/Wikimedia Commons
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
