"I can't undo what happened on that Sydney train this week. But I can say this."

I am about to ask you to have your heart broken. Voluntarily.

Are you up for it?

It’ll be quick.  Thirty-seven seconds to be precise. In 37 seconds, your heart will crumble. Or feel strangled. In 37 seconds you’ll feel all the feelings. The awful ones, anyway. Embarrassment. Horror. Anger.  Disgust. Shame.

At least I hope you will.

On Wednesday afternoon a 54-year-old, well-dressed woman in a mustard jacket reportedly unleashed a tirade of abuse at other passengers on a Sydney to Newcastle train.

According to media reports it started because some young kids aged between four and ten didn’t automatically give up their seats to the woman. And she flew into a rage at them.

As if that isn’t horrific enough, what comes next is INEXCUSABLE. The woman in the mustard jacket moves past the kids and launches into a racist rant at a man and woman who get up to offer her their seat.

It’s one of the ugliest things I’ve seen in a long, long time.

Watch. Watch at least until the 37-second mark.

Can’t watch the video? Here’s a snippet of what came out of her mouth.

“Who is this little jerk off he can only get a gook, he can’t even get a regular girlfriend — it is so sad.

“Is it really that small that you can’t get an Aussie girl? Poor man. Look at this bogan he has got a gook — look at it. She probably thinks he is rich.”

Mustard Jacket Woman then pulls at her eyes to make herself look Asian and starts impersonating the woman’s accent.

Gook?  GOOK?

There are no words. None.

Of course since the incident was made public, the woman in question has been identified and charged. She’s also offered an explanation for her behaviour citing a marriage breakdown, an unpleasant online dating experience and her fear that  “all the wealthy Asians are coming out to Australia and buying property.”  But here’s the bit of her apology that stood out the most to me:

“I was called white trash earlier in the week so I know it’s not nice. But it’s only names. It’s not like I’m murdering anyone.  You know the old adage sticks and stones. At the end of the day they are just names.”

Ah, but they’re not.

Names hurt. Words hold incredible power. And the insults and cruelties we spit and hurl and hiss at each other, get under our skin. They ring in our ears for years afterwards. They often create a hairline fracture on our self-esteem. Because so often we take on these insults as truths. Anyone who has ever been bullied, ever been humiliated – publicly or privately – knows that.

I don’t’ know where all these racist attacks are coming from. I don’t know who these people are who are continually being filmed behaving in ways that make my spirit crumple.

So here’s what I want to say to the 46% of Australians who were born overseas or who have a parent who was born overseas.

Here’s what I want to say to Australia’s indigenous peoples, the traditional owners of our land.

Those racists who are making the news? They do not speak for me.

The woman on the train this week, the teenage girls who kicked and spat and punched an elderly indigenous man in February, the female commuter who called ABC journalist Jeremy Fernandez  “a black c*nt” on a bus in Melbourne last year – they do not stand for me.

Those sports fans that racially vilify our indigenous players – who whisper and hiss the word ape or coon – they stand alone in their hatred. They do not speak for me.

The readers who routinely email my editor and tell her to ‘f*ck off you Muslim terrorist” – petty hatred and insecurity may bubble under their skin but it doesn’t bubble under mine.

I stand for an Australia that is smart enough to embrace diversity, a country that sees it as a strength. A country that prides itself on compassion and generosity and kindness.

If you have ever been told you are not welcome here, if you have ever been made to feel that you are not wanted  – I say you are. I welcome you with open arms.

Is there a worse word to be called than gook? You bet there is.

Racist.

Do you agree with Bec? Please share this post – with your friends, with your family, with your work colleagues – and let everyone know that the racist people making news do not speak for you.

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At Mamamia absolutely everything is up for discussion: from pop culture to politics, body image to motherhood, feminism to fashion. We unashamedly cover what everyone is talking about today: whether that’s stories which will make you laugh out loud, cover your mouth in shock, help you get informed or start you thinking about an issue in a different way and sometimes, we help you to just switch off the brain power from a few sweet minutes and kick back.

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