It may be true that there are fewer bigots today than in the past. But the fact remains that every day, somewhere in the world, people suffer racist attacks. Some high-profile examples come from the UK in recent days, where hate crimes are on the rise after the Brexit vote, which stirred up strong feelings about immigration and integration.
It may be true that there are fewer bigots today than in the past. But the fact remains that every day, somewhere in the world, people suffer racist attacks. Some high-profile examples come from the UK in recent days, where hate crimes are on the rise after the Brexit vote, which stirred up strong feelings about immigration and integration.
If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of seeing a racist attack unfold, what’s the best way to intervene?
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The first barrier to overcome in these situations is the “bystander effect,” which states that the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any single individual will help. This is because there is a diffusion of responsibility: the bigger the group, the stronger the feeling that surely someone else will step up to help. Or, put another way, the bigger the group, the more likely an individual can say, “If others aren’t helping, I shouldn’t either.”
There are ways to overcome this. A higher sense of emergency, say physical harm, can help. However, most racist attacks are verbal. In these cases, a 2012 study suggests, “public self-awareness” can help. The presence of a camera has been shown to spur some to feel more responsibility to help. The best way, however, is to acknowledge and confront the “bystander effect” head on—most people won’t do anything unless someone finds the courage to act first. You can be that person.
Now that you have decided to intervene, there are a few things to keep in mind:
If the situation is brought under control, there are more things you can do to help the victim.
Racism is corrosive, and the only way to deal with it is to acknowledge and address it. It will not go away overnight, but if we all take charge when we see it, lots of small actions will have a big effect.
