Man asks for help to translate racist message in ‘Foreign Shame’ campaign
By Craig Knowles on Tuesday, March 24, 2015
It’s often uncomfortable waiting for an interview, but when an individual asks you to translate some of the racist posts that they have received on their Facebook wall…that’s a whole new level.
The Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights has started a campaign named Svetima Geda or ‘Foreign Shame’. The aim of the campaign is to highlight the feeling of shame created when you witness racist or discriminatory actions by others and help put a stop to it.
The video shows a group of people who were invited to an audition for an acting role being asked to wait on a sofa, where they are actually being secretly filmed.
While ‘waiting’ a black actor asks if they can translate some of the comments he has received on his Facebook page, because he has recently moved to the country and doesn’t know the language.
The participants soon realise what it is they are reading. Some read the racist posts out loud (such as “go back to Africa”), while others simply tell him they won’t read it, but what they all do is feel ashamed.
This incredibly powerful stunt will hopefully raise awareness of the effect online abuse has on people and encourage others to report it.