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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that woman on the jubilee line is a plain racist

328 replies

casusally · 16/02/2015 21:52

Listening to LBC today and lots of people where saying she did nothing racist saying "you guys used to be slaves". I'm glad the police are taking this seriously. Warning offensive video

www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/woman-comes-forward-after-racist-rant-video-shot-on-jubilee-line-line-train-10049662.html

OP posts:
Chessie00 · 16/02/2015 22:13

I've just watched the video and I don't see that she's a plain racist at all.

From what I could make out, a black man bumped into her and she said to watch it/don't touch me. He then replied that she wouldn't have a problem if he was a white man and called her a racist.

It's impossible to tell for certain as no one can see the actual incident but it seems to me that he's the one who instigated the arguement by starting the accusations. There's nothing on the video that implies she said/did anything racist, only the man calling her it.

The 'you have a problem because you used to be slaves' comment - my interpretation is that it's her clumsy way (considering English clearly isn't her first language) of trying to say that the man has a chip on his shoulder about his race. Which if the incident occurred exactly as that ^^ he clearly does. It was just a terribly bad way to put it.

peutetre · 16/02/2015 22:16

Are you one of the serially offended?

manicinsomniac · 16/02/2015 22:18

I agree that she is racist. She doesn't appear to have started the incident and he is as irritating as she is but some of the stuff she says is appalling.

Shil0846 · 16/02/2015 22:28

Just watched the video and it looks to me like the man was the one to make the argument about race. It is not clear to me that the woman is a racist at all.

The woman's native language doesn't appear to be English and she seems to be trying to say that the man has a general dislike of white people because of past inequalities (although she seems to be confusing American and British history here). She seems genuinely surprised to have caused such offense.

Birdsgottafly · 16/02/2015 22:39

At first the people around her were asking the Black Man to end the argument, he was determined to carry it on.

I think, after being told to shut up by him and him having a bad attitude against her, she tried to explain to him, what she though his problem was, though getting it wrong, because her English appeared limited.

If she is fluent in English, then my opinion would be different.

You could argue that the Man wouldn't be speaking to her in the same manner if she was Male.

FreudiansSlipper · 16/02/2015 22:44

don't be silly she has black friends

you are angry because you used to be slaves Hmm

wtf so basically black men or women are already angry regardless of what someone has said or done to them

if that is not racists I am not sure what is, judging someone by their race/colour

Chessie00 · 16/02/2015 22:48

so basically black men or women are already angry regardless of what someone has said or done to them

But that's just the point - the video doesn't show that the woman actually did do anything to the man...just that he was kicking off.

Birdsgottafly · 16/02/2015 22:50

He wasn't judged, she responded to him accusing her of only having an issue with him bumping into her, because he wasn't white.

He expected her to take his rant, interesting that he responded very differently when the men around him challenged him.

At the end she was trying to explain that English wasn't her first language and she wasn't from the UK.

TwitterWooooo · 16/02/2015 22:52

Racism isn't only defined by intention. What I mean is, just because english isn't her 1st language doesn't mean what she said isn't offensive. Ignorance is no defence.

FreudiansSlipper · 16/02/2015 22:56

she said

If you acted like a human being then I wouldn’t have a problem with that. You have a problem because you guys used to be slaves,”

the assumption that he is rude because his ancestors (maybe) were slaves

no doubt that he sounded rude and his manner aggressive but that assumption is racist and well you are black what do I expect not you are a rude person because that is the way your are

Chessie00 · 16/02/2015 23:20

but that assumption is racist

If someone bumped into me and I told them to watch it and they came back with 'it's because I'm black, you're a racist' then I would also deduce that they had a massive chip on their shoulder, directly related to their race.

It's not really an assumption iff the situation really was that black and white (pardon the pun).

FreudiansSlipper · 16/02/2015 23:25

chip on their shoulder

really Hmm

she made the assumption he was angry because of slavery that is quite an assumption to make, which may go to prove that he was right she had already made an assumption about him

but he could also just be a prick

BoffinMum · 16/02/2015 23:31

TBH I think he behaved rudely and she didn't express herself very well and said he had a chip on his shoulder. Neither came out well here and both should apologise.

AfroPuffs · 16/02/2015 23:32

He isnt the most polite and cordial man is he....but she definitely was racist and highly offensive/ignorant.

Slavery is not the only history that black people have!

Chessie00 · 16/02/2015 23:34

chip on their shoulder. really hmm

Yes. Why? Confused

FreudiansSlipper · 16/02/2015 23:39

how often do you use that term? no doubt you will say often

come on it is 2015 not 1975

what does it actually mean he has a problem with his colour ?

LovesBooks · 16/02/2015 23:41

Hmm she does come across as racist but then he threw in race far too quickly. I have never had comments like that personally but I know my nan has had the racism card pulled on her after telling a black woman that she was there first in the queue. Completely unracist, she did not mention the lady's race at all, she would have said it regardless of a person's race if they pushed in front of her however this woman immediately went on the defensive so I think the man was also in the wrong. Not every negative comment a person gets its because of their race, it's because they are genuinely rude or have done something wrong etc so the man does not come across well either.

OutsSelf · 16/02/2015 23:42

Not all black people are the descendants of slaves. And British history and American history do differ in relation to this but a fundamentally similar in that there were slaves in Britain and the colonies depended on slave labour.

OutsSelf · 16/02/2015 23:46

I haven't watched the video but "don't touch me" sounds like a pretty dodgy way to react to being bumped into. If I'd seen that happen and heard her react in that way I'd have thought she was racist

Hubb · 17/02/2015 00:05

Absolutely racist. Referring to him as not behaving as a human being...and the making the comment regarding slaves...really baffled as to why some posters think this is not racist.

Agree that it's not about intention or her grasp of the English language.

Maybe the guy mentioned race too soon for some people's liking...but how do you know her reaction to being bumped into wasn't exaggerated because of his race? You lot weren't there to say that his feeling was wrong. The very phrase race card is fucking offensive and racist in my eyes.

Chessie00 · 17/02/2015 00:05

Not really sure of the point your're trying to make Freudiansslipper.

I wouldn't say I use the phrase 'chip on their shoulder' often ...but it is a regularly used phrase, not one that went out in the 70's where I'm from. If you've not heard the term before, maybe it's a regional thing - I'm in South Wales. It's pretty self explanatory really and I'm struggling to think of any other way to describe it...that you have a problem/persecution complex with something that you project onto others.

If I told someone who bumped me to watch it and they said 'you're saying that because I'm tall, you'd never say it to a short person' - I'd think they had a chip on their shoulder about their height.

If they said 'it's because I'm a woman, you'd never say it to a man' - I'd think they had a chip on their shoulder about their sex.

Because the sex/height/race/eye colour in this case was irrelevant. So for someone to bring it up and try to make it relevant - yes, huge chip.

ExtraJudgeyPants · 17/02/2015 00:11

Chessie

How do you know it was irrelevant? It could be said that there is a stereotype of black males is that they are aggressive criminals... Maybe she has an unconscious dislike of being bumped into (especially) by black people.

Naive to think that we are not affected by the stereotypes we are fed in the media.

Why can't people just admit it instead of making really awkward comparisons about tall/short people.

Feel the need to state I disagree with the stereotype! Just in case some people accuse me of being racist for being scared of black people Hmm

Chessie00 · 17/02/2015 00:11

Absolutely racist. Referring to him as not behaving as a human being

The guy looks like an aggressive asshole to me. Not sure how that is 'absolutely racist' if she thought the same Confused

Chessie00 · 17/02/2015 00:16

How do you know it was irrelevant?

This isn't my opinion, it's fact.

Race IS irrelevant when it comes to being bumped on a train.

Nothing in the video shows that she mentioned his race at all.

If he assumed her reaction was due to his race then the problem/stereotype is his, not hers.

Hubb · 17/02/2015 00:17

Scientific racism was used to justify slavery by dehumanising non white people. As in they were seen as less human..hence the black people/monkey bullshit we sometimes come across. Black people were kept in zoos at one point for gods sake!!

So calling him an aggressive arsehole may be apt if that's the way he was behaving. Referring to him as less than human seems racial in light of the above. Even though she probably never realised it.

Met plenty of aggressive arseholes, never felt the need to refer to them as sub human.

Scientific racism is genuinely fascinating I recommend you watch a documentary on YouTube about it