Gisele Fetterman: Racist attack 'makes me want to work harder for everybody else'

For Pennsylvania Second Lady Gisele Barreto Fetterman, the racist attack unleashed on her by a woman at a grocery store has become a teaching moment.

Fetterman, a naturalized American citizen from Brazil and former undocumented immigrant, is used to the vitriol that at times peppers critiques against her and underhanded comments meant as put downs.

Comments such as “go back to your country,” or the incident in which a woman, having clearly heard Fetterman’s kids call her “mom” asked her if she was the nanny or “the help.”

“For me it’s always been important that that person walked away with dignity,” said Fetterman Tuesday night during a phone interview from her Braddock home. “Even if they were inappropriate or rude, I wanted them to walk away with dignity. I wanted their experience with me to be positive.”

Fetterman is hoping that the woman behind the racist attack will do some self reflection.

“Maybe this is an opportunity for her to see herself and say, 'Wow. I don’t like what I see. How did I get here?” Fetterman said.

Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday identified the woman who verbally accosted Fetterman on Sunday with a racist attack. Police said the woman was not being charged at this time.

Fetterman, wife to Democrratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, caught the woman on video unleashing a racist verbal attack against her on Sunday at an Aldi store.

The incident, which began in the checkout line when the woman spotted Fetterman and began berating her with racial slurs; Fetterman said the woman accused her of being a “thief” and told her she “did not belong here.”

Fetterman urged others who encountered hatred and racism, perhaps even at their Thanksgiving table, to call it out.

“I encourage them to have a conversation,” she said. “Address that when you are together. I don’t think shaming changes people. It has to come from a deeper place.”

Fetterman is known around Braddock for her charitable work, including operating her Free Store and the 412 Food Rescue, to benefit those in her home community who need help.

Link: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/10/gisele-fetterman-racist-attack-makes-me-want-to-work-harder-for-everybody-else.html