“We had just had this amazing time celebrating the people that we love, many of whom we know would be targets for this,” says Willow Anderson, who had to listen to a racist tirade from a driver on January 1. “We wondered, what if they were in this cab?'
“The fellow was at the end of his shift and said something about some violence that had happened downtown.”“Then the floodgates opened. He thought I would understand, or something, how the province is going to hell in a hand basket,” she said.
“We had just had this amazing time celebrating the people that we love, many of whom we know would be targets for this,” said Anderson.She did not want to name the company because she feels the problem is bigger than any one driver. But she’s continued to try to contact the company since the incident. Her calls have gone unanswered, but she won’t stop trying.
“It’s affecting all of us. Racism is ugly and it’s huge and it’s everywhere, and that includes Newfoundland and Labrador.”Laurabel Mba says the Andersons did exactly the right thing. “When it seems like there’s a threat to the Newfoundland culture they’ve grown to love, the niceness seems to wear off.”
“Racism and discrimination and xenophobia have always been things that existed, but wasn’t OK to do publicly. It was something you said privately, where only like-minded people would be there. You weren’t going to be open about it.”
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