A service station in Darwin is at the centre of a racism scandal this week after video of an Aboriginal man who was refused service goes viral.
The man who only wanted to purchase a sandwich from the service station was refused service. When he exited the shop, he was lucky to meet Janine Kelly who posted the video shown below. Janine who is not from Darwin was shocked to see what had just happened and documented what Jerome had to say on video. At the time of writing, the video had been viewed over 5,000 times.
While making the video, Janine’s brother, Brendon, took Jerome’s money and went into the service station to purchase the sandwich Jerome wanted to buy. Janine’s brother was able to purchase the sandwich, however the shop attendant allegedly threw the change at him in the process.
Unfortunately this kind of occurrence is not unusual in many parts of Australia. Just last year another Darwin business made international headline for hosing an Aboriginal man away from businesses. Darwin was also ranked to be the 4th most racist town or city in Australia. Thanks to people like Janine, the world has a chance to hear the voice of people like Jerome who can’t even buy a sandwich with his own money.
Many viewers have pointed out that this is a clear case of discrimination and Janine plans to take this case further. Viewers have also begun to leave 1 star reviews on the service station’s Google Business listing, which you can also do here.
In an embarrassing twist, the business that refused to serve Jerome is situated next door to the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs (Nigel Scullion’s) office. The business is located just outside the entrance to Darwin’s airport in the suburb of Jingili.
We will keep you updated with any responses from the business, the Minister for Indigenous affairs and the media over the following days.
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