Race-based verbal attack-- what would you do?

[Anonymous]

"Oooh, Jesus would be pissed by you, you racist inbred pig!!"

[Anonymous]

"oh, my God you must have a small dick."

[Anonymous]

It really depends on your read of the situation. I've confronted men who behave this way before, when I was sure they would back down, and when the person they were verbally attacking was in a vulnerable position, such as a young, non-confrontational woman.

For example, at the height of COVID, I confronted a man in a MAGA hat who was yelling at a very young (18-19ish) female employee of a store who told him he needed to wear a mask or he had to leave. Instead he just kept yelling at her about his freedoms or whatever. She was overwhelmed and freaked out, so I stepped in and told him he either needed to put his mask on or leave, or I would be calling my law enforcement husband (which was a total lie, but I've learned to always tell men I have a husband who is either law enforcement or a lawyer, depending on the context).

Unfortunately, many men are extremely violent nowadays and it's not always safe to do so. If nobody is in immediate danger, it's sometimes better to just offer support to the victim afterwards. If someone is in danger, call 911.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, and I assure you I am not a troll.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, him making his point was in regard to how the interaction started-- a disagreement between two people that had nothing to do with me. Once it escalated to verbal attack I felt compelled to at least try to intervene.

I believe you, OP, and I agree with the PPs who said it was nice of you to say something. Do I think you could've worded your intervention a bit differently and called him out on his racism? Yes. But I also understand that it can be hard to come up with the exact right thing to say on the fly. Thank you for intervening and helping the clerk; I'm sure she appreciated it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, For all of you saying it’s a troll post, have none of you ever ran across a racist hothead before? I mean it’s not super common but it does happen. I got the N word thrown at me in a road rage incident when I was a teen. Certainly not an every day occurrence, but there are people who exist who behave like this.

Absolutely! And we should call it out and make them feel just as uncomfortable as the person being attacked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"oh, my God you must have a small dick."

That's pretty good, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was nice of you to saying something, OP.

Agreed....we live in a precarious time with unhinged people but you stood up for the employee and she probably appreciated it more than you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Oooh, Jesus would be pissed by you, you racist inbred pig!!"

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at H Mart in Fairfax when an Asian man yelled at all the white people that they don't belong at the store. Racism works both ways.

Cmon…you know the white people felt nowhere near as threatened as when a white man is yelling at a racial minority about not belonging.

[Anonymous]

You always think of a better thing to say later. You did well in the moment, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering how others would have handled this situation:
Yesterday I popped in to my local convenience store to get coffee on the way to work. As I was leaving, the white man in line behind me had a disagreement with an Asian woman behind the counter and became verbally aggressive ("You people should just go back where you came from" and similar comments on and on). I felt the need to speak up, so I addressed the man with "OK, you've made your point, time to let it go." I wanted to offer some support for the employee, but I didn't want to further escalate the situation. He did lower his voice and just muttered under his breath. I left at that point. I kept thinking about it all day, though, and wondering if there was something more I could have done.

10/10 this never happened.

Reads like ragebait troll thread. Not even creative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"oh, my God you must have a small dick."

And someone hopefully would have videoed you being knocked across the room on your A.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad you said something, OP, but I do think “you made your point” was not appropriate after his racist comment. I’m an Asian woman and understand that calling someone out on their specific behavior can escalate the situation. You could say something simple, like “you should leave now.”

[Anonymous]

I might have stayed to protect her. And said, “I am so sorry there are people like him. I am one of many in the community who appreciate you.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was nice of you to saying something, OP.

+1

I think you’re brave. And you tried to diffuse while defending a fellow human. Thank you, OP.

-An Asian American woman