NYC Commuters Stripping A Subway Car Of Nazi Bullshit Is Today’s Good Vibe

We’re not going to pretend a crowd of New York City commuters banding together to remove slapdash Nazi graffiti from a subway car is some kind of cultural turning point.

We’re not going to say it’s nothing, though.

Earlier today, NYC resident Gregory Locke took to Facebook to share this little story about everyday rejection of hateful ideologies. 

He uploaded a series of photos: the first showed “Jews belong in the oven” scrawled over a subway map, and the next captured a man leaning towards the map with a cloth.
Locke explained he “got on the subway in Manhattan tonight and found a Swastika on every advertisement and every window.

The train was silent as everyone stared at each other, uncomfortable and unsure what to do.”
Well, someone did know what to do. Locke wrote “one guy got up and said, “Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need alcohol.” He found some tissues and got to work.”
That they bloody well did.
Locke wrote “I’ve never seen so many people simultaneously reach into their bags and pockets looking for tissues and Purel (sic). Within about two minutes, all the Nazi symbolism was gone.

“Nazi symbolism. On a public train. In New York City. In 2017.

“I guess this is Trump’s America,” said one passenger. No sir, it’s not. Not tonight and not ever. Not as long as stubborn New Yorkers have anything to say about it.”
In the few hours since being posted, the images have gone ballistic on social media. His post has already been shared over 100,000 times on Facebook, with many thousands more viewing it via a Reddit mirror. 

The world has experienced some seismic shifts in the past few years, and the authoritarian, ethno-nationalist dickheads of this world won’t be stopped with hand sanitiser alone – but seeing this kind of impromptu community action has to give you some glimmer of hope.

Source and photo: Gregory Locke / Facebook.

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