Before you press ‘Play’ be aware that this video ain’t for the kids – the language is vile. And to be fair, so is this woman. Spouting off her racist bile. She’s been on Twitter all day. She’s truly nasty, and it’s a shame for her kid.
But let’s dig a bit deeper, shall we? I have a suspicion – can’t prove it, but I’ve seen it before – that she’s been ‘doing’ something. Drink, drugs, maybe both. Slurring words, shouting, no sense of surroundings, the signs are there. Not an excuse, but might explain some of it.
And you then ask the question, how did she get like this? You aren’t born a bigot. You don’t wake up one morning and think ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to hurl racist abuse on a packed Croydon tram’. Nope, she’s clearly been brought up this way. Parents, friends, media. All contributed.
Listen to the rant. It’s about immigrants coming over. Polish people, people coming to ‘her’ country and taking the jobs.
Lets compare it to the right-wing press. England is the most overpopulated country in the EU, says the Mail. 'Brussels says let in more immigrants', screams the Express. '90% of Immigrants live in England' says the same paper. 'Poll highlights anger over immigrants' according to the Sun.
I’m not saying that the right-wing media are responsible for this nasty lady’s behaviour. But lets face it, we could carry on for weeks with headlines like this, and it reinforces the views of people just like Mrs racist-tram-lady.
Can I suggest, instead of threats and lynch mob rule, as some of Twitter seems to be calling for, it would be better to arrest this woman on the current laws that protect people against racist abuse, and then do something about the culture that leads to it. Things like, as an example, newspapers trying to scare the crap out of people with stories like those above?
***I read she has been arrested. Good. That’s how democracy and the rule of law works in this country.