Cookie bar boss calls out racism on social media

When a Kiwi businesswoman was the target of a racist post on social media questioning whether she should be featured on a local advertisement, she hit back.

New Zealand-born Deanna Yang, who is of SingaporeanChinese descent, has been running the Moustache Milk and Cookie Bar for the last four years.

The 26-year-old was featured recently on a Visa pay wave ad and then in an Instagram post smiling and holding up a cookie.

One of the comments on Instagram said: ‘‘Asians on a NZ ad. God help us.’’

Yang wrote a strong blog post in response to that commenter and to the many others who still see her as an outsider in her own country.

She said after 26 years of it, she has learnt to shrug it off.

Yang said she wrote the post What does a Kiwi business-owner look like? Well, not like me – because I look Asian in order to be transparent about both the good and bad in her life.

She was humbled and touched by reactions to it.

‘‘I know that for every bad experience there are always more New Zealanders who have shown acceptance and aroha towards Chinese New Zealanders.’’

She said Asian culture sometimes tended to sweep issues like this under the carpet.

‘‘My blog is not so much about creating a gap where there is a ‘them’ and an ‘us’, but just sharing my experiences to hopefully open up a rhetoric about an issue that is usually stigmatised within Asian culture to discuss openly.

‘‘The more we are honest about our experiences and show vulnerabilities to each other, the more we realise we are all just human in the end – regardless of race or gender or sexuality – and the more we can understand each other and bring down those walls,’’ Yang said.

In the blog post she said she wasn’t born yesterday.

‘‘I get it – in fact, I’m used to it. I was born in Waitakere Hospital, West Auckland, 26 years ago and since then have been conditioned to accept being screamed on the streets by ‘Kiwis’.

Yang went on to say that she adored New Zealand despite the many racist encounters she had on a day-to-day basis.

‘‘The more we are honest about our experiences and show vulnerabilities to each other, the more we realise we are all just human.’’

ROBERT KITCHIN/FAIRFAX NZ Chief cookie officer/owner of the Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar, Deanna Yang. Her blog post challenges the racism she faces as a New Zealander of Asian descent.