# Why so few spoke up for a woman who was abused on a city bus **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus/641766 "2012-11-21T20:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blueslipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@blueslipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueslipper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus/641766/1 "2012-11-21T20:28:20Z")
The woman starts singing in French at the back of the bus. No-one can escape listening to her. She is no Edith Piaf. She is asking for trouble. That does not mean there should be racist abuse. She does not though appear to be black. So how can the guy be abusing black people! He is nutter. Do not respond. If you as a bystander get into an argument with nutters like these on a bus you are certain to make the situation worse. I applaud the people on the bus for staying quiet- that is the best way to diffuse the situation. It is all a storm in a teacup. Were there stabbings and gunshots? Just people talking and shouting. The guy who made the video on youtube is just inflaming the situation by putting pictures of knives and manipulating the whole situation. > **[Why so few spoke up for a woman who was abused on a city bus](https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus-20121121-29qc4.html)** > > HOW many times does someone have to scream, ''I hate blacks'', at a foreigner on a crowded bus before you protest? What if the same bigot yelled, ''Speak English or die, motherf---er'' - would you tell him to stop? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6J6PF47CM) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus/641766/2 "2012-11-21T20:36:25Z")
I can’t tell what happened based on your links. The DJ’s video is too edited to be reliable. So I can’t say what the best way to defuse it would be until I know what “it” is. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus/641766/3 "2012-11-21T21:20:04Z")
I’m not Aussie so I can’t comment, but this link cuts to the chase of the video: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6J6PF47CM#t=1m15s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6J6PF47CM#t=1m15s) I don’t know why he’d post the super-edited version first and the raw video long after everybody gave up and stopped watching. It also doesn’t help that his (genuine) video is a “Video Response” to [this goofy comedy video about cross-dressing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z561zzApn5g&feature=watch_response_rev). Why would you do that? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-spoke-up-for-a-woman-who-was-abused-on-a-city-bus/641766/4 "2012-11-21T21:38:25Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > It also doesn’t help that his (genuine) video is a “Video Response” to [this goofy comedy video about cross-dressing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z561zzApn5g&feature=watch_response_rev). Why would you do that? Because it’s made by the same person, and the expectation is that “I liked this one, so I’ll click the other,” drumming up “hits.” I can’t click it here, but with “amberlamps” a few years ago, the best thing is to sit down and shut up, let the police deal with it.