An app driver in the state of Pennsylvania, in the United States, kicked a passenger out of his car after she made a racist comment before the race started. In the episode, the woman celebrates the fact that the conductor is a white man – like her – and calls him “a normal guy”. The scene was recorded by the driver and the video was shared on social media.
The incident happened on Friday night (13), when James W.Bode, driver of the Lyft platform, was driving through the streets of the city of Catasauqua. When he received the ride order notification on his cell phone, he parked in a stretch so the customer could board.
According to the DailyMail newspaper, the woman, identified as Jackie Harford, was surprised by the driver’s appearance. In the video, she says, “Wow, you’re like a white guy. You’re a white guy!”
At first, Bode doesn’t seem to believe the content of the statement and asks Jackie to repeat it. The woman, in turn, replies, “You’re like a normal guy. You speak English.”
As soon as he realizes that the driver was offended, Jackie apologizes and taps him lightly on the shoulder, in order to deflect the situation. The driver, however, repudiates the customer’s behavior and asks her to leave the vehicle. “No, you can get out of the car,” she said.
He adds, “This is completely inappropriate. If someone who wasn’t white was sitting on this bench, what difference would it make?”
Jackie replies, “Are you serious?”
Seconds later, the woman’s partner, whose name has not been identified, approaches the car and confronts Bode about what was happening. The driver then reports the brief episode of racial slur, but the man disagrees with the reason for refusing the service and the two begin to argue. Soon after, Bode manages to get Jackie and the escort out of the car.
“Alright, I’m not going to run the race, you guys can leave,” he said.
The couple cursed and threatened Bode, who took the opportunity to record the attacks suffered. In one of the clips of the video, the man says: “I could punch you in the face”.
“That’s aggression,” Bode countered, before calling them racists. Even so, Jackie and his companion continued to attack the driver and called him a “black lover”, giving the speech a pejorative connotation. “Get out of here,” added the passenger’s companion.
“I’m calling the police for you man, it’s all on camera. It’s all on camera,” replies the driver.
Jackie Harford and her husband own the biker bar Fossil’s Last Stand in Catasauqua. At the time, Bode threatened to release the video: “This is great, everyone will know [do que aconteceu]”
repercussion
After the friction, Bode went home and shared the recording on his social media. In the text of the publication, he confirmed that he had filed a police report and warned netizens: “If someone makes me uncomfortable, I will do the same, especially in my car or property.”
Many people applauded him, especially for the way he handled the situation. In addition to calling him a “hero”, some of them thanked him for exposing a situation of racism and publicly denouncing the aggressors.
Bode later thanked him on his Facebook profile for the support of users. “To everyone reaching out and showing support, thank you. I really appreciate it. But this is how it should be everywhere, always. I shouldn’t be ‘the guy’ who did or said this… We should all be that person,” he said. “Speak up if you’re uncomfortable because it will make racists uncomfortable.”
