Good Overcomes Evil As Public Protects Hijab Wearing Woman (VIDEO)

With the election of Republican Donald J. Trump to the White House, there has been a surge in hate crimes across the nation. Attacks against gays, lesbians, trans people, Blacks, Hispanics and Muslims have all been on the rise.

At times it has seemed to progressives that the country has lost its collective soul, its national heart. How can we, as Americans, stand by and witness the persecution of our fellow citizens?

Since the election of Trump to the White House, it has sometimes seemed that those who hate outnumber those who love. Sometimes hope has seemed to be a very dim flicker of light in a very, very dark place.

But there are stories of goodness, of kindness, of decency that remind us that the ugly, hateful minority are just that.

Hillary Clinton received nearly two million more votes that Donald Trump. That means that the bullies are outnumbered. We have to remember that.

One story from Albuquerque, New Mexico, demonstrates that fact beautifully.

A woman was shopping at a local grocery store in the city. As she went to the checkout line at the Smith’s grocery, her hijab caught the attention of one of the hate filled bigots that Trump’s campaign has brought out of the woodwork. The hater was another woman, shopping for her bread and milk in the same store.

As the bigot began to scream at the woman in the hijab, other customers heard the commotion.

Barney Lopez was in the store getting supplies for his dinner when he heard the woman yelling. He said:

“I went down the aisle to go get sodas and then all of a sudden I hear somebody starting to yell at her. They’re saying things like ‘Get out of our country, you don’t belong here, you’re a terrorist!’”

Lopez said that as employees of the store came to the sound of the attack, other customers stepped in to protect the innocent victim. He described one other female shopper stepping forward and putting her arms around the woman in the hijab, shielding her from the raging Islamophobe.

Employees of the store quickly stepped in and ushered the loudmouth out of the store. She was reportedly yelling the entire way. After she was kicked out of the store itself, though, she remained in the parking lot.

She was still screaming anti-Islamic attacks.

Employees escorted the woman in the hijab to her car after her shopping was completed, to shield her from more harassment.

Lopez was pleased with the outcome. He said:

“At the end, I felt like really hopeful and proud of the community that everybody banded together.”

We should all take courage from the actions of these Albuquerque shoppers. The good guys outnumber the bad guys.

We really do have to remember that.

Featured image by Frank Boston via Flickr. Available through CC BY-2.0.

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"