There are hopes a vile tirade directed at an Aboriginal artist in Victoria, Australia, by a husband and wife will spark a national debate about discrimination.
Robby Wirramanda Knight, the deputy chair of the First Peoples of Millewa-Mallee, captured on video the incident involving Robert Vigors and Karen Ridge, who questioned his ethnicity and tried to pull down an Aboriginal flag.
Vigors has since lost the franchise to two McDonald's restaurants he held, and Ridge's travel agency had its membership of the Express Travel Group ended.
The video spread quickly on social media, with the hashtag #toostrongforkaren trending, after Ridge failed to tear down the flag.
Darren Perry, chair of the First Peoples of Millewa-Mallee, told the ABC he hoped the publicity from the incident would trigger debate about the "systemic racism" found in Australian society.
"I'd hope that this would turn into at least a national movement, just like we've seen the #MeToo movement start from something small and turn into an international movement," Mr Perry said.
Ali Cupper, the state MP for Mildura District, said she was heartbroken by the thought of Mr Knight having to explain to his children what had happened.
"I thought we were a lot further along than this but we're not, and the most powerful thing we can do to shift a culture of racism is for children in their formative years to hear direct messages from their parents about the way people should be treated."
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