The traditional owners of Victoria's north-west hope a video of a racist tirade directed at one of their own will become a catalyst for a better understanding of the racism faced by Aboriginal people.

Key points: Robert Vigors and Karen Ridge were filmed accusing Robby Wirramanda Knight of not being a "true Aboriginal"

Robert Vigors and Karen Ridge were filmed accusing Robby Wirramanda Knight of not being a "true Aboriginal" Mr Knight posted the video in the hope it would raise awareness about systemic racism in Australia

Mr Knight posted the video in the hope it would raise awareness about systemic racism in Australia Mildura MP Ali Cupper said the most powerful thing people could do was teach children the right way to treat others

Robby Wirramanda Knight, the deputy chair of the First Peoples of Millewa-Mallee, filmed his neighbours Robert Vigors and Karen Ridge questioning his Aboriginality and attempting to remove an Aboriginal flag from his property on Friday night.

The footage was uploaded to social media and was viewed tens of thousands of times, attracting national attention.

Hours later, the video was trending on Twitter and sparked the hashtag #toostrongforyoukaren, which Mr Knight said to Ms Ridge as she failed to tear the flag from his house.

The video triggered a significant response on social media. ( Instagram: lifeofrubii )

"It's not an everyday occurrence of that severity in our life, but it is an everyday occurrence on some scale," Mr Knight said of the incident, which Mildura police are now investigating.

Racism a 'nationwide problem'

Darren Perry, chair of the First Peoples of Millewa-Mallee, said the incident could serve as a "catalyst" to trigger discussions about the "systemic racism" he said went "right to the upper echelons" of Australian society.

"I'd hope that this would turn into at least a national movement, just like we've seen the #MeToo movement start from something small and turn into an international movement," Mr Perry said.

"It's time for everyday Australians to address this. We want to walk together on a journey into the future with our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters in this country, but we can't do that until these old historic issues are addressed properly."

Darren Perry and Robby Wirramanda Knight are calling on Australians to stand up against everyday racism. ( ABC News: Christopher Testa )

Mr Perry said Aboriginal people's experiences of racism shaped their behaviour from a young age, and that incidents of racial profiling were still taking place in the community.

"It makes me wonder every day when I walk out my front door what I'm going to encounter. It's something that we've got to be prepared to cop at an increasing rate because we're trying to re-establish ourselves as traditional owners in our own country," he said.

He said his three children were recently given money to spend on snacks for a day at the pool but found themselves being treated as suspects of a shop theft on their trip to a supermarket.

"[The shop] didn't have what they wanted so they decided to go to another nearby supermarket to see if they had what they wanted, and my children were then accosted by a security guard and strip-searched," he said.

However, Mr Perry and Mr Knight both stressed the "nationwide problem" was not one caused by all people.

"We need people to understand that there's a lot of non-Aboriginal people in this country that support us," Mr Perry said.

Local MP calls for shift on 'culture of racism'

Ali Cupper, the state MP for Mildura District, responded to the video by placing an Aboriginal flag on the gate to her electorate office in the main street of the city.

She said her initial response to the furore prompted her to reassess her own understanding of everyday racism.

Mildura State MP Ali Cupper has vowed to hold talks to discuss a community response to the incident. ( Facebook: Ali Cupper )

Ms Cupper said the "most heartbreaking aspect" was Mr Knight's family having to explain to their children "why something like this would happen".

"That's the pointy end — that we are having to teach children how to cope in a racist world and that's not what should be happening in a 21st-century regional community," she said.

"I thought we were a lot further along than this but we're not, and the most powerful thing we can do to shift a culture of racism is for children in their formative years to hear direct messages from their parents about the way people should be treated."

Ms Cupper said she would hold talks with the First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee this week about a community response to the incident and work on other projects aimed at fostering traditional culture in north-west Victoria.

While she had no plans to contact Mr Vigors or Ms Ridge, she suggested the couple could "consider reaching out" to the traditional owners and Mr Knight's family "if they have reflected on their behaviour and think there's some repair to be done".

Rob Vigors and Karen Ridge were filmed attacking Mr Knight over his Aboriginal identity. ( Facebook: Karen Ridge )

Ms Ridge owns a Mildura travel agency, Mildura Travel and Cruise.

In a statement posted online this afternoon, Express Travel Group said it was "deeply disappointed by the comments made by the owners of Mildura Travel and Cruise, who are an independently-owned travel business and also hold a membership within the Express Travel Group".

"In light of these events, membership of Mildura Travel and Cruise has been terminated," it said.

The business was not open on Sunday morning.

Ms Ridge told the ABC over the weekend that she had received death threats and did not feel safe commenting "at this time".

She also said there were "always two sides to every story" and alleged "there was a great deal of harassment before this event".

On Sunday, McDonalds announced it had parted ways with its Mildura and Irymple franchisee, Mr Vigors.

The ABC has approached Mr Vigors multiple times for comment on the phone and at his home.

Mr Knight turns thoughts to next film

Having attracted a national audience to his home video, Mr Knight is already thinking about what more he can achieve with a camera to bring people together.

Mr Knight is a professional artist and filmmaker and helped create The Art of Incarceration, a documentary released this year about The Torch program which helps Aboriginal inmates at a Victorian prison connect with their culture and rehabilitate through art.

Mr Knight said the next film he was working on would look at the environmental rehabilitation First Peoples were striving for and hinted that it could have a broader message about "cultural awareness".

"The best way for people to help [Aboriginal people] is to educate themselves, so they can educate others."

Ms Cupper said Mr Knight's video, which has led to memes and "spoofs of Maccas ads" was likely "to become part of the popular culture" as a symbol of defiance.

"I would be concerned if this is what Mildura is remembered for but I would like to think that what we do next is going to be the more powerful memory," she said.