British Transport Police have launched an investigation into the video of a London Underground argument, during which a woman apparently told a black man that his ancestors “used to be slaves.” The footage was posted online last year.
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The incident between a white woman and a black man took place on
the Jubilee line subway train between Stratford and West Ham
stations, The Independent reported.
The quarrel apparently began after the two accidentally bumped
into each other and the woman reacted by saying “Don’t touch
me.” The man was apparently offended by the reaction, and
began shouting at the female passenger, blaming her for being
racist.
“You called me racist? I’m not racist. That is why people
have a problem with you guys. I have black friends. I’m not
racist,” the woman is heard saying on the video.
The male passenger continued shouting, leading the woman to say:
“It’s not about the skin. You can be pink. As long as you
behave [like] a human being, then I wouldn’t have a problem with
that.”
“You have a problem because you guys used to be slaves,”
she said. At this point, other passengers on the train became
angry, shouting at her to “shut up.” One person said,
“You can't say that. This is England!”
The man then rose from his seat and asked the lady: “Did you
just call me a slave?” five times in a row.
The woman said that she didn’t, prompting the male passenger to
say that the woman has “mental problems.”
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The argument continued for around two minutes, with no one
expressing support for the woman.
“You’re a piece of s**t. Honestly, I’m fed up with you
guys,” she eventually said, before walking across the
carriage and out of shot.
The video was posted online on March 3, 2014, with British
Transport Police opening an investigation nearly a year later.
“Officers are currently analyzing the video and are appealing
for the person who recorded it to come forward,” a police
spokesman said on Friday. Witnesses of the incident have also
been asked to contact British Transport Police.