Racism is entirely unnecessary and dangerous, often turning ordinary situations into volatile confrontations. An incident like this occurred recently in a Los Alamitos hospital parking lot in California, and was captured on video. While the lead-up to the altercation is unclear, footage shows a driver hurling racist slurs at a bystander who was filming for his own safety.
The video focuses on an agitated driver in a grey polo shirt and black cargo shorts who exits his white Mercedes vehicle and directs abuse at the person recording from the roadway. “[Expletive] you! You piece of [expletive]! Piece of [expletive] Mexican! [Expletive] Mexican piece of [expletive]! Get out of my way!” the man yells angrily. The person recording can be heard saying things like, “Oh, yeah. Good.“, “He’s all mad.” and “Look, look, look.”
Interestingly, a Public Safety Officer (PSO) can be heard off-screen exclaiming, “Hey!” to the driver, and the California man turns to him, saying, “This guy is trying to call me out. And all I’m trying to do is park. Get this [expletive] piece of [expletive] out of my face!” before turning to the cameraman and stating, “Yeah, go ahead and film me, you piece of [expletive].”
Meanwhile, you can hear the PSO on his radio explaining that the incident is happening at the “entrance” of the hospital parking lot. The California man also turns to another driver behind him and yells at him, shouting, “I’m just trying to get out of here. Why don’t you [expletive] move!” As the PSO intervenes and attempts to defuse the situation from escalating further, the furious driver tells him, “He came up to my car, sir. He’s trying to pick a [expletive] fight.” though the cameraman denies this and claims that he was just “getting dropped off.”
Continuing to explain his side of the story to the PSO, the driver states, “I don’t have a problem. He came up to me to try and start something.” before turning to the man filming and going off on another racist tirade, saying, “God, you’re a [expletive] [racial slur], aren’t you? You’re a filthy [racial slur] [racial slur], aren’t you?” The uniformed PSO doesn’t seem best pleased by his conduct, and tries to get between the two, stating, “Hey, hey, hey. Okay, I want you two to separate. I’m serious, you guys.“
With the video now circulating online, social media users have been quick to share their thoughts in the comments. On Instagram, one user wrote, “I look forward to when he’s made famous.” Meanwhile, over on Reddit, one netizen declared, “Is that a racist Canadian? That accent is something.” while another added, “outrageous. i am so sorry.”
While the consequences of the incident remain unclear, the driver’s conduct and use of racist slurs cannot be condoned. Hopefully, incidents like this remind everyone that racism is harmful, needless, and has no place in society.
