Unofficial Signs Condemning Hate Posted on BART Trains
WEST OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- A vigilante message is getting double takes on BART.
The mystery posters are using colorful language to condemn hate.
Some BART riders want people to know racism and sexism are not allowed in the system, so they posted some home-made signs on BART trains.
The signs aren't official, but their message may not be too far off the mark.
The call for kindness has some pretty harsh words.
It looks like an official BART sign, with the logo on top, telling passengers: "Racism, sexism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia are prohibited in the BART system at all times. Get your s*** together."
BART rider Mary Sanders said, "It's a little blunt. But aren't we all kind of blunt right now. I mean we're at a time where we are blunt."
BART Rider Priya Raghunatha agrees.
"There are so many things that are offensive right now. So get your s*** together is not so mean at this current situation,"Raghunatha said.
Someone posted the signs after an ugly confrontation on BART went viral online. An Assyrian-American woman was riding home from work on BART when a fellow passenger accused her of being a terrorist.
That confrontation came just two days after Donald Trump was elected.
The Southern Poverty Law Center says there had been nearly 900 reports of hate crimes in the ten days following the election -- almost 100 of those cases took place in California.
Raghunatha said, "It's giving all other people the power to say whatever they want because the leader now is allowed to say everything offensive."
BART says they didn't make the sign and did not sign off on it.
A BART spokeswoman says they took down the few posters found on trains along the Richmond to Millbrae line.
Sanders said, "We should all get our s*** together and get along."
BART is working on a profanity-free message and will soon post it on trains.
