Doing the right thing

When is not helping doing the right thing? Recently a New York Times journalist filmed a South African man being beaten to death for falsely being accused of theft, and the journalist did nothing to stop the mob. Every article I've seen, including the one linked on the black image to the right, seems to show the outrage of the American people at this journalists unwillingness to step in and stop the mob. I agree that if something could be done, he should have stepped in and done it. But if a mob of hundreds of people were attacking one man, and one other man tried to stop it, I guarantee they would both end up dead. So is it right to just step back and not do anything if it would risk your life? I would like to think that I'm the kind of person who would stand up to this, and beg the people to stop before it was too late, but I don't know if my fear would put a quick stop to that desire. I would hope that if it were one or two people and the journalist saw it, he would stop them, but hundreds? really? and we're mad about this? I think the article makes a good point that the journalist at least got the murder on tape, and was able to show really what is going on, but at the same time, it is written as if one man could stop hundreds, and I feel that he probably could not have done it. The point of the article is a good one though. Is a journalist in a position to stop a murder if he/she sees it taking place and CAN stop it, or should he/she step back and document the entire process? I think the journalist should (and in most cases WOULD) step in to prevent a murder, at least with my rose colored glasses that I wear all the time, I think the world is a good place.

But it really depends on where you are. On a totally different scale from murder (and please do not think I'm comparing the two) in this Dallas diner, "What Would You Do?" presents a waitress who berates a gay couple and sees what the other diners have to say about it. Many in Dallas step up. They give the statistics at the end, and show that actually, even though Texas is known for being more conservative and anti-gay even, more people in Dallas than in New York (one of the most liberal states) stepped in to tell this waitress/actress to stop treating these customers poorly. Every time I see parts of this show it makes me hope that if I were in the other customers' places I would step in and say something to stop it... let's just hope that is what this show does for people.

R