The so-called “white savior,” Stacey Eden, posted a bit of video on Facebook of the verbal abuse of the Muslim couple on a train. It seems pretty clear that she didn’t take it or post it to show off, but to document the abuse and say “people, don’t do that.” She did a damn good job of telling the abuser “don’t do that.”
Here’s her caption:
So i sat there for a good 10 minutes before i started recording this, while i listened to this woman bad mouth muslims and call the lady sitting opposite me an ISIS supporter because she wore a scarf, then she told me to go join ISIS because i was sticking up for her. People like this make me sick. People who are so ignorant and disrespectful to other people who were clearly sitting there minding their own business.
She was saying some pretty horrible and hurtful things before i spoke up then as soon as i started defending them she stopped.People need to stop judging and putting others down over religion! EVERY RELIGION HAS GOOD AND BAD but if you take it back to the foundations, every religion is also built on LOVE. To LOVE one another.
The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticise others.
She did the right thing. “White savior” my ass.
Here’s what Hafeez Ahmed Bhatti said on his Facebook wall.
Yesterday, before the video:
I was in the train to catch my flight and she targeted my wife and commenting on her. However, one of young Australian lady was arguing with her that she should stop racism.
Nothing about wishing she hadn’t or feeling patronized or white-saviored.
A woman friend replied:
Ahh good on her.
He posted a story from the Daily Mail, with pictures of all of them including Stacey Eden. A friend of his commented:
Watu Izzu Mantasha, Watu Zillu Mantasha.
This verse from Surah Al-Imran, which is extensively quoted by the faithful, simply means Allah honors those He is pleased with and disgraces those He is not happy with..
MASHA’ALLAH man good to see & pray (love) for Stacy Eden
The last one, 20 hours ago:
This video was not recorded by me. But that is what happened to us on sydney train, God bless Stacey Eden who support us.
Not a word from any of them about how Stacey Eden robbed them of their agency as opposed to making them feel less isolated and alone.
God damn. When you see people in trouble in some way, yes, you try to help. You be a mensch.
Just as a note, “mensch” isn’t a cognate of “men” or “man” but is Yiddish for “a person of integrity.”
I know, that’s why I said it.
The ironic thing is that Ashitha Nagesh was also speaking for the couple and, as it turns out, was wrong about their feelings of the intervention. I do agree that Stacey shouldn’t have stated the reasons (she assumed) the woman was wearing a head scarf but, in the heat of the moment, it’s hard to say the perfect thing. Bystanders are in a much better position to stop bullying than the target is.
I was once at a gas station and, when I entered the shop to pay, a group of three white people (a man and two women) were verbally abusing the guy working there. The called him a “brown asshole” who probably wanted to “blow up our country”, among other horrible comments. You see, they had run out of gas down the road and he wouldn’t lend them a jerry can because, as he explained to them, it was against store policy. They threatened to call head office and get him fired which, in the messed up world of retail, might have even worked.
When I asked what the fuck their problem was, one of them told me that they were upset because they were on the way to a funeral. I asked why that would turn them into racist assholes. No answer. So I wrote down my phone number for the guy at which point the racists left in a huff. After they left, the guy thanked me repeatedly.
I didn’t do it because I’m white and he was brown. I did it because, as I’ve mentioned before, I fucking hate bullies. I have also been on the receiving end of bullying and bystanders have stood up for me. It’s what people do when they care about others.
Oops, wait a minute, I swore at them and called them racist assholes based only on their words and actions; sorry Nugent. But they weren’t thought leaders (as far as I know) so maybe it’s okay.
Just yesterday, there was a news splash about a public gang-rape committed on a Florida beach. The police reported that they have collected multiple online videos of the event, and others like it.
No interventions. Perhaps because the perpetrators were Black? I still find Stacey Eden a bit off-putting. But her actions were a bit of basic human decency, which should trump any racial-political-religious ‘reservation’ EVERY TIME.
Good for you, Stacey Eden. Thank you for providing a firm counter-example to far too many recent displays of Australian bigotry.
You’re quite wrong about religions: they are not based on universal love, and their purpose is not to control oneself. They are based on love of the in-group at the expense of the out-group. They are based on xenophobia and ignorance and superstition and fear. The purpose of specific religions is control of the lives of common people by the powerful.
None of those mistakes lessens the good work you did. I salute you, Stacey Eden, and want everyone to feel emboldened to confront bullies.