A woman called out 'white power' to a group of children on a bus in Auckland.
Video / Supplied
The parent of an Auckland teenager was shocked to find out she had witnessed what he described as "racial profiling" on her bus back home from school.
The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon, on the 782 bus from Mission Bay to Sylvia Park, taking a number of students from SelwynCollege.
Gatluak Chuol, who is originally from Sudan but has been living in New Zealand for more than a decade, says his 15-year-old daughter felt hurt by the incident and has not yet recovered.
Chuol told the Herald the New Zealand-born teenager felt upset by the woman's attack. After the woman began shouting "white power" and berating the students on the bus, who were from different ethnic backgrounds, his daughter decided to take video of the incident.
According to the father of the student, the woman also berated the bus driver, who was Asian.
"Kids from different ethnic backgrounds freaked out, remembering the Christchurch terrorist attack," the father said. "The driver was also an Asian and she was berating him. My daughter was in the bus, she videoed it, and as an African descent, she felt hurt and has not recovered from it yet."
A woman boarded a bus full of students in Auckland and began shouting 'white power'. Photo / Supplied
In a photo sent to the Herald, which we have chosen to blur, the woman can be seen giving the middle finger to the students sitting behind her on the bus.
Chuol says the fears in migrant communities from different ethnicities, such as his one, have been exacerbated by the Christchurch terror attack last year - and many are still figuring out how to cope with it.
The concerned dad says his daughter has witnessed previous instances of racial profiling in New Zealand but "never to this level".
The public bus was mostly filled with students from the college at that time of the day, around 3.30pm, and the father says only three of those students were white.
Despite having experienced a number of incidents of racism in the past, Chuol says the family still feels welcome in New Zealand, as he explains that "not all communities are the same" and they don't let "the actions of one person speak for the community".
The footage has been sent to both NZ Police and Auckland Transport and the father is hopeful the woman can be tracked through the Hop card.
A police spokesperson told the Herald they were yet to receive a formal report of the incident.
