Kiwis suffer hate crime as tensions rise in US
A former Young New Zealander of the Year living in California and her Kiwi friend were threatened with a knife and racially abused, amid a wave of hate-crimes that have broken out since the US election result.
Divya Dhar, 30, who started her career as a junior doctor at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, was waiting with Vinny Lohan, 27, just inside the entrance at Millbrae train station in San Francisco when Dhar was forcefully shoved from behind.
"When she turned around the man, pulled out a six-inch knife.
‘‘I just kept quiet and the guy walked forward and started yelling ‘f-----g n----r, f---, you n----r’,’’ she said.
The pair escaped unharmed, but were left shaken in what was just Lohan’s second day in the city.
Lohan, who is also from Auckland, said the attack was definitely a hate crime.
‘‘It felt like he was fully conscious of what he was doing. The man was not happy to see us, it wasn’t discontentment, it was anger.’’
Dhar, who has lived in the US for five years, said there had been a recent rise in this type of violence, particularly after the election.
‘‘There’s a lot of racial tension in America right now,’’ she said.
‘‘I am pretty sad about what’s going on and it seems like it’s happening in a lot of places – I keep seeing my friends post from around the country, so obviously what happened to me is not isolated, which is even scarier, actually.’’
Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy called the abuse ‘‘a real wake up call’’.
‘‘We have seen Brexit, and now America. Kiwis must not be so naive to think it could never happen here. The only think ensuring it could never happen here are everyday New Zealanders. We must stand up for each other.’’