It’s not uncommon to hear a lot of inappropriate conversations on public transportation, but when Jim Hardie, a white, eight-year Marine and Iraq war veteran, heard black men throwing around the n-word and the b-word on a bus in Seattle last week, he said he couldn’t tolerate it.

He told King 5 that he said to the young men:

“Given the nature of what we’ve gone through with the word n***** it’s not appropriate to loosely throw that word around or refer to white women as white b***** and I’d appreciate if they stopped that.”

But that confrontation didn’t go over so well. Camera footage shows the three guys first began arguing with Hardie, then hitting him before jumping off of the bus. Although the altercation was three against one, Hardie came out uninjured.

It’s interesting that Hardie said he stood up to the men to protect the other passengers on the bus. Despite the tussle, he said he would do it all over again to stand up for what he believed in. I wonder if his words had any effect on the young men. Judging by their reaction it would seem the answer is no.

What do you think about Jim Hardie confronting the men? Was it the right thing to do?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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