American traveller ‘shocked’ after hearing derogatory ‘n-word’ in NZ

Tatyana Welch was shocked to hear a derogatory word used in Rotorua. Photo / @little.welch.travelers

An American woman travelling in New Zealand with her family said she was shocked to hear someone say the derogatory n-word in the country.

Michigan travel content creator Tatyana Welch, 31, said she was in Rotorua waiting in line with her husband and two young children for the iconic Skyline Luge when the incident occurred.

“This kid - I want to say he was in his late teens ... so old enough to know better and do better - sitting with a couple of girls and one of the girls he was with, her hands were starting to turn black from holding on to the handlebars to go down the luge,” Welch explained in a follow-up TikTok video uploaded Thursday.

@little.welch.travelers

Gosh… you really can’t escape it apparently. I had such high hopes that this travel experience would show me that not everywhere is “like America”… yeah, apparently I was wrong. 😑 #familytravels #travelwithkids #journeyaroundtheworld

♬ original sound - little.welch.travelers

“He was laughing and saying, ‘Oh you’re turning into a -‘ insert derogatory word here.”

Welch, who embarked on a year-long trip around the world with her family in September to “show our children that life is more than our little corner in America“, said the person saying the racial slur failed to notice that she was standing next to him.

Despite the other girls - who had noticed Welch’s presence - telling him to stop talking, “he kept repeating it,” Welch said.

Eventually, they made eye contact. “He was really embarrassed ... He clearly knew he was wrong for saying that,” she claimed in the TikTok video.

Shortly afterwards as she is on the luge, Welch filmed her reaction to the moment, which she first uploaded to TikTok on Wednesday.

“Watch me disassociate as a trauma response after hearing some say the ‘n’ word in New Zealand right in front of my face,” read the overlayed text on the video that has now amassed more than 222,000 views.

A dejected-looking Welch said in the video clip she had hoped in their travels they would see a “change in how people act”.

“I just was not expecting to hear somebody use that term here,” she added.

@little.welch.travelers

I hope this can a productive conversation but it’s TikTok so my hopes are low #familytravels #travelwithkids #journeyaroundtheworld

♬ original sound - little.welch.travelers

The video attracted plenty of comments from Kiwis. Some were sympathetic to Welch’s experience. “Arohamai sorry that happened to you Aotearoa’s not necessary like that,” one comment read.

Many others tried to justify the incident. “It’s not used to offend in NZ we throw it around like ‘bro’,” claimed one commenter.

“Unfortunately NZ is highly influenced by America so that word is sadly very common in this country,” wrote another.

Another person wrote: “The comments from NZ are not it”.

Speaking to the Herald, Welch said that she was “completely shocked” when she heard the word. “I get that in America they use the slang version of that word in their music videos and song lyrics, but no one in America is running around using the derogatory term for that. [Using] the hard ‘r’,” she said.

Welch, who is a person of colour, explained in a video clip that she has experienced a “fair share” of racism.

“It is very triggering for me to hear somebody say that right in front of my face in a country that is supposed to be accepting of all races,” she said.

When the Herald asked her about her general experience as a person of colour in New Zealand, she said: “Our experience here in New Zealand has been nothing short of amazing.

“The people have been unbelievably welcoming and kind everywhere we’ve went and that notion has not changed just because of that little incident with the ignorant kid.

“It was one isolated incident and I don’t wanna take one situation and make it out to be the entire country. Nowhere is perfect and I guess that was ignorant of me to think that New Zealand would be perfect.”