Wednesday’s bus terminus incident, during which a black Hungarian student was told to go back to his country, was not an isolated incident. This time, however, it was caught on camera. Sarah Carabott spoke to Maltese whose partners or children are black.
A father who often worries about his son’s future encourages him to speak Maltese when he is out and about, hoping it would put off any racist attack.
“So far, we have not experienced racism because our two children are still very young and only go out with us. However, we are of course worried about when they grow older. That student could have been my son,” he told this newspaper.
Hungarian student Daboma Jack was trying to instil some order in a chaotic queue at the Valletta bus terminus when the Tallinja card system was launched on Wednesday.
Irked, a Maltese woman spat at him and slapped him, screaming “go back to your country”.
Mr Jack reported the woman’s behaviour to the police. But to his surprise he was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit. Bystanders applauded.
According to the father-of-two, the woman’s assumption that the young student was a migrant was the typical reaction of those influenced by pushback discourse.
He said that if the student was Maltese and – unlike Mr Jack – was causing trouble, the officers would not have reacted in that manner.
But what really worried him was the bystanders’ reaction.
My wife was so upset that she didn’t even want to watch the footage of the incident
“Those witnessing the incident knew he was trying to organise the queue. Instead, they egged on the officers. It’s worrying that they witnessed an injustice and didn’t speak up,” he said.
This father urges his children to speak Maltese, aware that similar incidents can be avoided if the would-be aggressors realised the victim was not a migrant.
Another man who spoke to the newspaper said his fears were confirmed on Wednesday.
“My wife was so upset that she didn’t even want to watch the footage of the incident. We often voice our concern about the future of our son, but the usual reply we get is that racism in Malta is addressed at irregular migrants. However, Wednesday’s victim was an engineer studying for a Masters’ degree and he was probably better educated than 90 per cent of those queuing to top up their card. He didn’t fit the racist profiling,” he said.
“When your children are young, you don’t experience racism because the cuteness factor comes in. However, we’re very much aware of what he might have to go through when he grows older.”
This man’s fear of a racist mentality is coupled by the fact his son has autism. “The erratic behaviour of an autistic adult who is dark-skinned is a recipe for a racist reaction similar to that on Wednesday.”
The man believes that had there been no footage of the incident, people would have wrongly assumed that the young man had provoked the officers.
This father’s fears were reiterated by a woman who often witnessed people, including her relatives, speaking to her black partner in a condescending manner, assuming he could not understand them.
Her partner has experienced all forms of racism, including the “go back to your country” remark. He is so used to it that he doesn’t take such statements seriously.
There have been instances however, of “bigger” forms of racism, including an incident where he was accused of damaging a car.
The owner of the damaged car had seen a “black person” and immediately concluded that her partner was the offender. Documentary evidence, however, showed that her partner was nowhere near where the incident took place.
Referring to Wednesday’s incident, she said people who were not present at the terminus had concluded that he had attempted to jump the queue. “Imagine what they would have said if the incident was not caught on camera,” she added.