An Indian-American family who was racially abused last month plans to press charges against the woman who abused them, emphasizing the need for accountability and speaking out against hate.
The incident occurred in November when renowned photographer Parvez Taufiq, 50, was traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles on a bus with his wife and three children. While traveling on a United Airlines shuttle bus, a fellow female passenger made a racist comment against the family.
Taufiq posted a video of his family’s ordeal online, in which the woman is seen racially abusing them, using abusive language and making insulting gestures. “Your family is from India, you have no respect. You don’t have any rules,” the woman says.
At one point when Taufiq says he is an American, the woman pushes back, expletive, “You’re not American…you’re…from India.” “Our thought process is that we have to catch him and hold him accountable in court. “Unfortunately United were not able to help us anything,” Taufiq told PTI in an interview on Sunday.
He said there was no sense of accountability or introspection from the woman’s side.
“We are going to press charges…we are seriously considering pursuing this. We have legal people who have consulted with us and told us that this would be a smart move and that this should not just happen overnight.
“Our generation is very different from my parents’ generation. I think in my parents’ time, they kept their heads down, kept quiet, things like that. I think that time It’s over. And I think it’s up to our generation to really make sure that this is not the type of thing that you can do without consequences,” Taufik said.
He said they initially did not have the woman’s name and this made it difficult to pursue any legal action against her.
“Now his own family and his friends have come to us, reached out to us and said, ‘We want to apologize to you’… ‘We need to share his name with you, and we need to let you know That’s what’s going on. It was definitely a big deal for us,” Taufiq said.
She further revealed that “It’s a habit in her hometown and people know her to do this type of thing, and she has this type of behavior, even her friends and family, half of them, don’t talk to her anymore. Do it because of this”.
The woman has been identified as Arlene Consuela, noting that her name is of Mexican origin, “the irony of it all,” Taufik said. “So one immigrant is basically telling another immigrant that they are not American.” Taufiq said his eldest son, who is 11, was sitting next to the woman in the business class cabin, who was asking him questions about whether his family was from India. On the shuttle bus, she also told Taufik’s young children to “shut up” because they were talking excitedly about other planes on the road.
In an interview with a news outlet, the woman blamed her brain injury for her behavior. Taufik said that brain injuries can cause speech impediments “but they certainly don’t make you a racist”.
After the incident, Taufik said he felt it was his “duty and responsibility” to make sure that “people know that, yes, it happens. No, it’s not OK. Stand up for yourself, and shine a light on it.” “The fact is that…if you’re on a bus with someone who is being racially harassed, a family who is being racially harassed, you stand up. He expresses gratitude to the only person on the shuttle bus who stood up for him and his family throughout the incident. “I’m very grateful to the one gentleman who stood with us. Further, I’m going to make a personal comment – if I see something like this, I’m going to get personally involved, I’m going to take them apart- I will not let you be isolated,” Taufiq said.
The fact that no one on the entire bus came out in support of the family as they were being targeted with racial comments was “disturbing us,” he said. “It was cruel not having anyone. And the silence, as they say, was incredibly deafening.” The photographer said anyone who has gone through or is going through something like this should know that there is support, that there is right People will support him, and “many of us will stand by his side.” “And people who are racist, I think they should also learn a lesson from this, maybe they were on the wrong side of it.” As the video of the incident went viral, Taufiq said he was grateful for the outpouring of support he and his family have received on social media.
“We’ve had calls and text messages from China, France, Britain, Australia and around the world from people who have seen this video… and reached out to say, ‘We just want you to know that We are with you’. It’s the most touching thing ever,” he said.
Taufik, whose work constantly takes him to destinations around the world, recalled that on a United flight from New York to his home in Boston over the weekend, one of the airline’s staff members recognized him, stopped him and said ‘ Is it okay if I hug you?’ “And gave me the tightest hug ever, and said, ‘We just want you to know that we really stand with you, and we’re very sorry that this happened.’ To me it speaks of the humanity that exists in people.
“Undoubtedly, there will be a minority of people who hate, who want to sow division. But I think they’re really a minority. And there are more of us than them,” he said. PTI YAS SCY
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)