Indigenous TV icon Ernie Dingo has revealed how he reacted after a man targeted him with a racist slur at a train station.
Indigenous actor and television presenter Ernie Dingo has revealed he “whacked” a man who directed a racial slur towards him at a Perth train station today.
Dingo, 63, was waiting for passengers to get off a train at about 8am when he noticed a white man, aged in his thirties, watching him.
In a post on Instagram, Dingo shared his account of what happened next, in his own words. “This last bloke was watching me. As gets beside me getting off, he says ‘F***ing Abo’ and walks off,” he said. “I chased him and scruffs him. ‘Say it again.’ He is scared now, and I whack him on the right side of his head. “He slips and falls trying to get away. His foot falls between the platform and the train. I drag his arse away from the edge. “As he is laying there I ask again, ‘Say it again. Give me an excuse to whack you.’ He doesn’t.” At that point, two other men came to the man’s aid and asked Dingo to “leave him alone”, saying the man had an intellectual disability. “Well if he is going to say that s*** to me, I’ll have a go at him,” Dingo told them. “I’m 63, I don’t take that s*** from anyone. I get on the train and this lady says, ‘Are you all right? I heard what he said.’ We chatted and, as I told her, ‘He should’ve known better.’”
He said he would have preferred to miss his train and wait for the next one, rather than let the racist comment pass without acting. Perth’s Public Transport Authority confirmed an incident happened this morning, but could not confirm the details. Meanwhile, Dingo said he had not made a complaint to police and did not want to take the issue any further.
The response to his account on social media has been supportive. I love Ernie Dingo. He's a lovely human being, and it's awful to think he has been subjected to disgusting racist abuse, in 2020. But this line just makes me love him more: "I’m 63, I don’t take that s**t from anyone.” https://t.co/Ca01oDW1RF — Tara Moss (@Tara_Moss) June 17, 2020
Who do I talk to about replacing all the Captain Cook statues with ones of Ernie Dingo whacking a racist? — Andrew P Street (@AndrewPStreet) June 17, 2020
Dingo grew up in Western Australia. Among other accolades, he has received a General Division of the Order of Australia and been declared a Living National Treasure.
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