Written by Thana Roysmith
A bystander is anyone who witnesses a racist incident. Bystander anti-racism is action taken by spectators or others in response to incidents of interpersonal racism. (Guide to Bystander Intervention – Australian Human Rights Commission).
Do your part, take action as follows:
Direct action
Call out negative behaviour, tell the person to stop or ask the victim if they are OK. Do this as a group if you can. Be polite. Don’t aggravate the situation – remain calm and state why something has offended you. Stick to exactly what has happened, don’t exaggerate.
Distract
Interrupt, start a conversation with the perpetrator to allow their potential target to move away or have friends intervene. Or come up with an idea to get the victim out of the situation – tell them they need to take a call, or you need to speak to them; any excuse to get them away to safety. Alternatively, try distracting, or redirecting the situation.
Delegate
If you are too embarrassed or shy to speak out, or you don’t feel safe to do so, get someone else to step in. Any decent venue has a zero tolerance policy on harassment, so the staff there will act.
Delay
If the situation is too dangerous to challenge then and there (such as there is the threat of violence or you are outnumbered) just walk away. Wait for the situation to pass then ask the victim later if they are OK. Or report it when it’s safe to do so – it’s never too late to act.
Source: https://www.breakingthesilence.cam.ac.uk/prevention-support/be-active-bystander
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