A Footscray man says he has been left shaken by a torrent of racial abuse that he experienced at a local hotel.
Peter Mum, who was born in Sudan and came to Australia 12 years ago as a refugee, said he was at the hotel on January 28 to celebrate a friend’s birthday party.
When he and another friend went into the courtyard of the hotel, which Star Weekly has elected not to name, a man from a group of four, who appeared to be aged in their 40s or 50s, began taunting him.
“One guy said, ‘Why are you so black, why are you so dark?’ I said, ‘Excuse me, that is not a question you can ask’, and then the four of them came closer and said things like, ‘You look very shiny’.”
According to Mr Mum, his female friend began crying and one of the men began abusing her as well.
“They said, ‘This is not an African hotel, this is an Australian hotel. You shouldn’t be here’.
“I said, ‘I am an Australian as well’. I was really very upset and very distressed; a good time became a very bad time.”
Mr Mum said a staff member came out and asked both groups to leave the hotel, at which point he called the police to report the abuse.
The youth worker said it was the first time he had experienced racial abuse since arriving in Australia in 2003.
He said he had found Footscray to be a welcoming and supportive community.
“This is a country where I have never found anything like this to happen.”
He has, however, been told by young African-Australians of other cases of racist behaviour.
“I didn’t know an innocent person can be abused for no reason like this,” he said.
Mr Mus said he is speaking out to encourage other people to stand up to racism.
“I want to send a strong message to Australian people that we can stop this.”
The incident comes after a man threatened and racially abused a woman on a train travelling between North Melbourne and Footscray on December 2.
In November an Apple staff member ordered a group of African-Australian students out of the Highpoint store because security were worried they might steal something.
Hotel management did not respond to a request for comment.
