Muslim woman called a ‘rat’ by racist customer in Costa Coffee
A Muslim woman spoke of her anger and frustration after a white, middle-aged couple made abusive and racist remarks, including the man shouting, “There’s a rat in here” at a branch of Costa Coffee in Leeds.
Speaking to Tell MAMA, she described how she felt targeted by the racist comments due to her ethnicity and because she was wearing a salwar kameez, in a mostly white area of the city.
After finishing her drink, the woman directed a demeaning ‘aww’ sound at her as she left.
The racist incident occurred on November 2, three days before new national restrictions took effect to reduce the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).
In a statement to Tell MAMA, a spokesperson for Costa Coffee said: “Costa Coffee is passionate about creating an inclusive, warm and welcoming environment for our team members to work in and for our customers to enjoy. Racism and discrimination has no place within Costa Coffee.”
The spokesperson further confirmed to Tell MAMA that they will look into the matter internally to see if any complaints to staff about the racist incident had occurred.
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