An Indian-American family that faced racial harassment last month, is planning to file charges against the woman who verbally abused them.
The victim, Pervez Taufiq mentioned that they plan to press charges, as there has been no accountability or remorse from the woman. However, pursuing legal action has been difficult because, at first, he did not know her name.
“Now her own family and her friends have come forward to us, reached out to us and said, ‘We want to apologize to you’… ‘we need to share her name with you, and we need to tell you what’s going on’. That was enormous, obviously for us,” Taufiq said.
The incident occurred in November when 50-year-old renowned photographer Pervez Taufiq was traveling with his wife and three children from Mexico to Los Angeles on a bus. While aboard the United Airlines shuttle bus, a female passenger launched a racist tirade against the family.
The whole ordeal was posted online by Taufiq which shows the woman abusing them and passing derogatory gestures at them. She can be heard saying, “Your family is from India, you have no respect. You have no rules.”
In an interview with PTI, Taufiq said, “Our thought process is we need to take her and hold her accountable in the court of law. United, unfortunately, was not able to help us with anything.”
Tuqik also informed that the woman has been identified as Arlene Consuela, a name of Mexican descent. He added that “this is the irony of it all, “So one immigrant is basically telling another immigrant that they are not American.”
In an interview, the woman claimed that her behavior was due to a brain injury. Taufiq responded, stating that while brain injuries may cause speech impediments, “they certainly don’t make you racist.”
As the video of the incident went viral, Taufiq expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support he and his family have received, both on social media and in person.
“We have had calls and text messages from people in China, France, UK, Australia, all over the world who have seen this video… and have reached out to say, ‘we just want you to know we’re with you.’ That is the most touching thing that could ever happen,” he said.
“There are, of course, going to be a minority of people who are hateful, who want to spread division. But I think they’re the minority, really. And there are more of us than of them,” he added.