Biracial couple insulted on Dartmouth street

A biracial couple in Dartmouth, N.S., was shocked after a man yelled insults at them from across the street earlier this week.

It happened Sunday morning when Stephanie Johns and Chris Murdoch were walking along Ochterloney Street, pushing their son Maceo in his stroller.

Johns said she heard the man yelling, "Let's go over this again: you don't marry outside of your own race. It's ugly. It's unnatural."

'I felt sick'

He wasn't looking in their direction. He was just hollering, Johns said.

"I don't think that anything that blatant has ever happened to us before," Johns said. "I felt sick."

Murdoch, who's black, said he's experienced a few bluntly racist situations, but this one took him aback.

"I had never experienced someone who seemed to have a very specific problem with mixing of races," Murdoch said.

"Especially being from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. You know it's something that seems very common so I was a bit surprised that he had an issue with it."

On high alert

Murdoch said it's possible the man has some mental health issues.

"Not that I believe that that 100 per cent excuses what he said," Murdoch said.

The couple has thought a lot about what happened to them.

"Stephanie and I certainly are always aware that we might run into people who have issues with our relationship even in 2016, which is unfortunate," Murdoch said. "But now I think we're on more high alert than ever."

'Thankful to live where we do'

The couple has been preparing to have conversations with Maceo eventually about potential prejudice.

"Obviously things are pretty bad in the [United] States, and it's a, a way different problem than we have here," Johns said. "But this stuff still happens."

They both think the event was unfortunate, but it does make them see the positive because something like this hasn't happened to them before.

They do have many interactions on the street, Murdoch said, but it's usually people complimenting Maceo or smiling at the family.