‘Terrorized’ by LIRR race rant
A woman who was the target of a racist rant on the Long Island Rail Road spoke out Friday, saying the man made her feel “worthless” and “disrespected.”
“I was put in a position where I didn’t know what to do but stand up for myself and not allow this man to belittle me in front of people,” said Soraya Orelien, 25, who was headed home to Lynbrook after a long day of classes at a Manhattan college.
“All I did was get on the train. I didn’t expect to be terrorized and threatened by someone.”
A rider recorded a video of the man’s tirade aboard a Long Beachbound train on the evening of April 19.
The unidentified man, who claimed to be upset that Orelien was talking too loudly, went off on her and another young black woman who defended her.
“Shut the f--k up, you f--king loudmouthed monkey motherf--ker,” the man screamed to the women, who never appear in the video, but are heard responding to his insults.
“I can’t listen to your f--king black ass no more . . . You f--king loudmouthed bitch . . . At least I got a f--king mother. Do you know who your mother is? You don’t know who your mother or your father is because you’re a f--king monkey, that’s why.”
The video captured only a portion of the rant.
The man also got in the women’s faces, mimed monkey movements, and threatened to “smack the s--t” out of Orelien, the young woman said.
“Clearly the man is deranged. Hateful,” she said. “I did nothing to him.”
Orelien said she is shocked and saddened by what happened to her.
“Those derogatory words and terms really affected me,” she said.
Orelien said she is speaking up in hopes that this kind of hate isn’t directed at anyone else.
“I want to let people know that this happened to an African-American woman,” she said.