What Would You Do?

I was idly clicking through channels on the TV the other night when I came across a show on ABC called "What Would You Do?" It apparently works like a sort of "moral dilemma" version of Candid Camera. The producers set up a scene with actors, and unwitting people walk into the scenario and have to make a choice or respond to what they're experiencing.

In this particular episode of the show, a realtor is tending an open house at an expensive home. As people drop in to view the home, they experience a scenario in which a minority couple comes in, and the realtor tries to steer them away from the home and the neighborhood. She says things to the couple such as, "Perhaps you're looking for something more urban ...with people more like you," and "This house might not be for people like you; there aren't a lot of people of color in this area." Later a Muslim couple comes in and the realtor gets even more pointed, referring to terrorism and their facility with the English language.

The episode was fascinating, watching the expressions on people's faces, and seeing them struggle with whether to say anything, and what to say. The question is: if you see someone doing something harmful or wrong, would you interfere? According to the producers, only one third of the unwitting witnesses chose to speak up.

I've thought about this nearly every day this week, and wondered what my response would have been. We'd all like to think that we would speak up, whether forcefully, or whether as gently as the grey-haired woman did in the clip. But would I? Would you?