I heard the old man say 'Is that a muslim?' to his companion and his companion said back to him 'Shhh, there's someone about to pass us' (I was about to overtake them at this point). The couple were passing a bench upon which was sitting a muslim woman (it was clear she was muslim from her clothing) and her child. I was close enough, and the pathway was quiet enough, for me to overhear their conversation. Anyway, I was walking along this path behind an elderly couple. There's a wide path along the side of the river which is popular with tourists and people out for a stroll, especially in summer. I was walking along the river on my way to campus at about 12.30 this afternoon. The second incident was clearly a direct (verbal) racist attack. I probably only remember it because it was followed, very soon after, by something much nastier. I wouldn't call the first incident I describe below, racist, but I think it at least implied a certain hostility towards, or fear of, muslims. In fact, I saw and heard a stupid drunken young woman call a (white) man (who'd been leering at her from across the road) a 'fooking nigger' a few days ago - but I've never seen such behaviour actually directed at non-whites before. Of course, I'm not saying that York is a bastion of anti-racism and I'm sure there are far too many racist cretins in the city (actually I seem to remember that the BNP got over 700 votes in York in the Euro elections). I'm quite shocked because I've never seen direct racist abuse in York before. Both instances came within 2 minutes of each other, although the hostility emanated from different people and was directed at different people. I saw two instances of hostility towards muslims today - one much much worse than the other.
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