[URBAN NOTE] "Rage and racism on the TTC"

[rfmcdonald]

Alok Mukherjee's essay, published last month in NOW Toronto, makes me worried. Degrading public services may well have an effect of ncouraging people to be more open about their issues with diversity.

Maybe it’s the the weather. Or maybe Donald Trump and Nigel Farage are to blame. Or it may be the sorry state of public transit.

I’ve been a daily user of the TTC for my entire adult life. Over the past few weeks, I’ve encountered a level of rage and hostility among passengers, related especially to race and immigration, that is inexplicable.

I do not recall ever observing this kind of aggressive and angry behaviour on TTC vehicles so frequently. I am not alone.

Recently, on a Toronto morning radio program, a woman described the horrendous behaviour of a middle-aged white man who loudly and in racist language harangued two women sitting behind him.

When a young Black man tried to reason with him, he pulled out a can of mace from his pocket and sprayed his face.

Mukherjee goes on to describe more like events.