Last night, Daily Mail AU published an exclusive interview with Nilson Dos Santos, a Brazilian-born Australian man who’s worked in Sydney as a barista for nine years, and has run his own Surry Hills coffee shop for five.
On Saturday, Dos Santos called the cafe to inquire about a job opening, and the cafe owner — who identified himself only as ‘Steven’ — asked him where he was from. Dos Santos answered that he was Brazilian, and was invited to come in to interview the next day — but when he arrived at the cafe, he was turned down immediately.
For being black.
“When I came to the café for the interview today, he looked at me and looked surprised. He didn’t like what he saw.
“We sat down and he said,
‘but you’re black?’
“I said ’yes’ and he told me,
‘but my customers are white. I don’t think they’d like to have their coffee made by black people. That’s not part of the coffee culture. You’re African’.”
The cafe owner confirmed the story with Daily Mail.
“There are a lot of white customers at the café and I think the clients here want local people, not African people,” he explained.
I didn’t ask any questions because I prefer the barista to be local, not from Italy or other countries,” Steven continued. Steven, from Shanghai, arrived in Australia this year; as Daily Mail points out, he needs to run his business for two years to secure an Australian visa.
“When I choose staff, maybe the waitresses are better with being local, the same with barista (sic). In some people’s opinions African people can’t make good coffee.”
“We need to offer good service at this café, and I think the coffee culture is more about white people.”
Read more at
http://junkee.com/a-darlinghurst-caf...6IogIcF4MV1.99