What if you're a witness to an act of hatred or racism?

It's a story that has shocked the community.

A man of visible minority was physically and verbally assaulted in a London grocery store on Tuesday. He was called an "illegal alien" by a man in a T-shirt and flip-flops and held against his will.

Police were called and the incident ended without injury. No charges were laid but the London Police Service's hate crime unit is investigating.

An incident like this could happen anywhere in public, which raises the question: how should we respond to incidents of this nature?

The host of CBC's London Morning, Julianne Hazlewood, turned to Leroy Hibbert for some answers. He's an educator and a leader in London's black community.

What would you have done if you had witnessed the confrontation in Sobeys?

Hibbert: I think what we should do, actually, is be there (for) the targeted person. Because what we're talking about as far as race and racism, is a power imbalance.

What happens when someone experiences that, many times they're one of the few racialized members of that community involved in that situation. So, I think it's important to stand by that particular person.

How do you respond?

Hibbert: We have to name it. We have to say it is racism. I think a lot of times we have justified racism because of various acts. So we think if a person does this, it's not as racist as doing (that). But racism crosses the board, regardless of (whether) it's a small comment or somebody doing something that's very drastic. But I think we have to name it to address that particular situation.

Q. Arden Keet , a witness who was there, she said she felt unsafe because the man appeared very agitated. When you're in that situation, what about your personal safety? You want to respond but you're also concerned about that.

Hibbert: That's true. That's very important. Personal safety is of paramount importance, but I think the person that's been targeted also feels unsafe. So I think what we should do is, even if it's physically going by that person, just consoling, walking with the person, supporting the person, that will (help) them to understand that they're not alone in this particular situation.

The interesting thing about this particular situation is that for people who are from a racialized community, it's not shocking. I think it's shocking for those that don't experience it. But this is how a lot of us walk throughout the course of our lives. And it's very difficult because we feel that sometimes we are walking alone.

How common is this in London?

Hibbert: It's quite common ... I was at a school just recently talking to a group of students for Black History month. I will not name the school or the board, but I was doing a presentation, and as I was doing (it) … somebody said, paraphrasing, 'I don't want to listen to this N-word person'. That happened to me directly … I know there were some teachers there that were supporting the student because I think the student may have had some other concerns that needed to be addressed. But the word was still said.

… A few weeks ago, I got a call at my home from a student at that school to apologize. He's in Grade 12 and he said 'Leroy … our school entirely does not feel this way. I do not want this to be a hindrance for you to come back.  And I called the student back and thanked him. And I said 'If your school wants me to come back, I'll have no problem doing that because I have no bitterness or hatred in my heart toward that situation.'

Were you surprised to get that call?

Hibbert: Yes. And it was very comforting, because even though these things do happen, he reached out and he was supporting the person that was "victimized" or the target.

In a lot of these situations, video of the incident is posted to social media.  What do you think of that?

Hibbert: I think it's important to identify the situation, because, for example, if the person was not there recording that, it's just their word against our word. And what happens traditionally, it's very difficult to prove your word against their's unless you have some sort of evidence and … you're going to the authorities to address it. For a long period of time throughout the years, people from racialized communities have not been trying to find their voice. They already had it, but I think what happens is people are not necessarily listening.

What would you do if you witnessed an act of hate? Maybe you've had to react in the past? We want to hear about it. Send us an email: londonmorning@cbc.ca