Defence or unwanted interference?

Bugger politically correct.

I hate it intensely too. But it is the politically correct one.

"people of colour" I dislike this description intensly, I find it a racist statement, I am pinkish, so I am of colour. Black people are rightly proud of being black as are all other races, black > white and all shades in between.

I think that some, if not a majority of people of colour are rightly fed up of being protrayed as victims.

I think that the racial situation in this country has been overegged.
My children, as I have written elsewhere, mix and work and live, here and in other countries and places, with many many people of different nationalities.
They say that people of colour are a lot freer than we are as regards how they speak in their daily lives. That it is white people that are so hung up about it all.

The essence of the story is this: one stranger to the young couple started verbally abusing them. Another stranger stepped in and told him to stop. Perhaps stranger number two didn't need to step in but the young couple were glad that she had.

So why complain?

So, yes, people are free to express their feelings, whatever those feelings are, and other people are equally free to criticise the premises those feelings are based on if they see fit. Freedom of expression works both ways. The fact that the woman writing the article we've been talking about had such feelings and wrote about them doesn't make her right in her conclusions about Defender Woman whose motives seem to me to have been good.

By way of explanation for my conclusion about chips on shoulders, I made allowances for the racism of the woman I knew for a long time but when she tried to justify the actions of the Glasgow Airport suicide bomber and said that those trying to stop him causing a disaster were "just as bad" I realised that I had been making excuses for her for a long time and it was time to stop.

I agree, eloethan. The reason the complaining article was written is not because someone interfered in the couple's defence but because that someone was white. I knew a woman of Asian lineage who was like this. Whites were simply in the wrong whatever they did. Chip. Shoulder.

petallus She was expressing her feelings - but what were the feelings of the couple who had been abused?

Couldn't an equally critical article be written if those witnessing the abuse had just looked the other way and done nothing?

good work the woman who intervened. You did what most of us would not have the guts to do.

In the situation l mentioned in my previous post both man and woman were Asian. He was threatening her and trying to prevent her getting in her car and getting away from him. It was late morning in a quiet but central street. Its the only ever time I've done such a thing but I was quite concerned for the woman. I acted without thinking having observed the altercation as I walked along the street. Don't know what I would have done if he'd turned on me. PS I didn't film it and haven't even thought about it until I read this thread !

Petallus what if the roles had been reversed, and a white person had written an article saying that a black person shouldn't defend a white person who was being verbally attacked because they were themselves black and should keep out of it?
Would that have been ok?

Yes, and using phrases like "white stranger with a saviour complex". Dead friendly, huh?

The writer of the article was expressing her own feelings as an Asian woman.

Yes I agree that if it increases awareness of racial abuse and gives other people the courage to speak out against it, then that's a good thing.

But the internet is a two-edged sword, and it's equally possible that once it's posted, organisations like the dreadful Britain First could use the video for their own propaganda.

I agree that it's questionable, but that still doesn't make it necessarily wrong. It's just possible that Defender Woman thinks that the more publicity there is to people standing up to and challenging racist abuse the better it will be for everyone in the long run. Again, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because I believe she did something good, even though I doubt if I would have done the videoing thing even if I'd done the rest. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to do any of it though I would probably try to smile reassuringly at the couple to show that not everyone is a racist.

That's a good point jane.

I think what is questionable is posting the video on the internet presumably without the consent of the couple who were on the receiving end of the abuse.

I can see that the "saviour" is being rather too publicly "boasting" about her part in the incident.
However I strongly suspect that if you are used to being verbally abused by those with racist agendas you might generally be more likely to adopt a "shut up and say now't approach". On the grounds that you fear that if you do try to stand up for yourself you might be subject to some serious violence.
As some have said, as the man was apparently trying to make a point she shoud have waited.
In general though I think that if without putting yourself at risk of harm from the perpetrators, just literally standing by the abused person might be a good ploy.
I don't think it makes any difference if the helper is white or not but I suspect that any previous experiences that the person has had of being abused has had, will have a considerable effect on their feelings of confidence to manage, as in "challenging this situation" by themselves.

Just read about the effects on men and women who have been randomly attacked in the street, and women subjected to years of domestic abuse it saps confidence. Children who have been regularly bullied at school as well. They are often permanently afraid and will not be likely to stand up for themselves. It is safer to disappear into a corner and hide.

On the face of it, I would have thought someone would appreciate another person stepping in to lend their support. Muslims have had a lot of flak and may be reluctant to enter into a confrontation in public, not knowing how others passengers might react. Even if the young woman was a bit unwise to assume that the couple could not defend themselves, surely it is better than everybody keeping their heads down and offering no support?

If the couple in question thanked the young woman for her intervention, surely that indicates that they did not feel it was inappropriate?

The person who wrote the article was probably making some pertinent points but I thought her tone was unnecessarily cynical and sneering.

In your scenario, petallus, I wouldn't mind at all that someone else did my shouting (or whatever it was) for me. I'd just thank them and think "Some people!" about the original beraters.

Guess we're all different. Clearly both viewpoints are valid and neither repsonse to the scenario is 100% right or wrong. Things rarely are.

Agree with petallus.

In my scenario we are all white BTW

I image myself being verbally attacked on a train. I am trying to decide how to respond (ignore, reason, yell back) when up comes a stranger and starts berating my aggressor. I find I cannot get a word in.

Later my rescuer posts the whole thing on the web and becomes famous.

How would I feel?

Not grateful. Probably annoyed, marginalised and belittled.

I agree about the racism of the article's author that the comments highlight. A person tried to help two other people. That's all it's about really. The writer is only objecting because the helper was a white person.