Update:
Mamamia previously reported that members of the Australian public stepped in to defend a Muslim woman against street harassment in a filmed social experiment — and now, The Daily Mail reports that a group of friends in Newcastle have defended two Muslim women from a similar — real-life — incident.
Patrick Burgess, a 24-year-old skater based in Melbourne, was visiting friends in Newcastle when he and his friends assisted two Muslim women who were verbally abused by a pedestrian.
Police claim the man threatened to kill Mr Burgess and his friends during the frightening incident.
Mr Burgess consoled the women — a 26-year-old woman and her mother — afterwards and offered statements when police arrived, The Daily Mail reports.
“It’s up to the greater public to start actively condemning these actions, looking out for one another, and talking about this issue to hopefully influence a greater understanding of what is going on, rather than just ignoring it and allowing it to perpetuate,” Mr Burgess said.
Mamamia previously reported…
“Excuse me but what are you wearing?”
“Don’t you want to be part of Team Australia?”
“Is there a bomb in there?”
These are just some of the loaded questions hurled at Australian Muslims every day.
And in the current climate where the views of bigots wanting to ban the burka and ‘send them back to where they came from’ are getting a lot of airtime, it can be easy to forget that Australians with no prejudices still exist; those who don’t vilify an entire sect of our society based on the atrocities committed by a select few.
A new social experiment conducted by some Muslim Australians proves that most Australians are all kinds of wonderful.
Here’s how it went down.
First, a prejudiced man approaches women wearing various types of headdress in public. He protests, “Excuse me, but what are you wearing? This is Australia. We don’t have a place for people like this”.
He harasses another pair simply enjoying a day in the park, “don’t you want to be part of Team Australia?”
He then mocks a 10-year-old boy and pulls at his bag: “Do you have some bombs in the bag?”
But here’s something to make you feel better. Everyday Australians- who had no idea the Muslims in the video were running an experiment- stepped in and told the man to shut up.
It was all kinds of awesome. Take a look:
Faith in the goodness of Australians= officially restored.
Watch the whole brilliant video below:
How would you react if you saw someone abusing another person on the street? Would you step up?
Top Comments
There was a story on mamamia a week or two ago about a woman who wore a scarf to show solidarity with muslim women. I saw her point but decided to show my support by standing up for anyone I saw bullied or abused by haters.
I told a friend about the story and what I had decided to do. My friend asked me if I wasn't worried that I would be attacked myself. I told her that the only thing I was afraid of, was to live in a place where people felt free to abuse others.
I'm really happy to see that other people feel the same way that I do. I don't agree with the pm's "team Australia" stand, I believe in "team humanity".
So how do we know if the responders weren't actors too?
They were trying to prove we were racist so why would they show that we aren't ?
I thought that if they were trying to demonstrate that we're NOT racist, they might have 'helped' a slightly more compassionate response. Just in case they struck patches of onlookers who didn't jump in to intervene.