Pakistani Man Shares Screenshots Of How A Landlord Turned Him After Finding Out Where He’s From, Other Users Share Similar Experiences
It’s truly a shame that even in the year 2020, the phenomenon of ethnic and racial discrimination can still be observed in almost every single area of life. Take, for instance, the housing market. Even though 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Fair Housing Act, which was created to help limit discrimination related to landlords, tenants, and housing in the United States, the problem still remains critically relevant.
Various studies conducted in the last ten years suggest that ethnic and racial minorities still receive less favorable treatment than white people when seeking housing. Moreover, research shows that real estate agents and rental housing providers tend to show less available housing options to minorities compared to equally qualified whites. This type of study once again shows us how much work there’s still left to do for us to create a society that’s safe for each and every one of us.
The experience that one Twitter user, abbas96ali, recently had to go through proved this just as well.
P.S. Bored Panda had a chance to ask Abbas some questions, so make sure to scroll down for his answers.
More info: Twitter
Recently, this Twitter user named Abbas Ali shared screenshots of a conversation he had with a landlord who was offering a room for rent
The tweet included two screenshots of the conversation this man had with the landlord and the description said this: “My heart sinks when landlords ask this question because I already know I’m not getting the place then.”
“I think with the BLM protests happening in the US right now we are getting closer to not only raising awareness about racial and ethnic profiling and discrimination but maybe even getting closer to taking institutional steps of reform/abolishment towards ending them,” said Abbas. “However, the rest of the world has yet to catch up and go through such realisations in each of their own countries and regions, recognising their own type of institutionalised racism and discrimination.”
The beginning of this conversation seemed perfectly normal
Image credits: abbas96ali
The man approached the landlord by introducing himself as the potential tenant he’d just spoken to over the phone. The landlord replied and asked Abbas when he would like to come to see the place.
“Depending on which country you go to in the Middle East and what country you belong to/look like you’re from, you’ll have a different experience with such landlords or people. Some of these countries have much more blatant racism and discrimination than others do in this region, but there is a clear hierarchy in all of them. In the case of Dubai, generally, I feel like it’s a much less racist society or at least not as openly discriminatory, but I was warned by my colleagues since I first moved here to not tell them I’m Pakistani when looking for apartments and just to pretend I’m from Kuwait instead,” Abbas told us.
And then this happened
Image credits: abbas96ali
The landlord suggested the time that would work best for him and then asked Abbas a few questions. One of these questions was “Where are you from?”
“I feel like such racist stereotypes and discrimination exists in this part of the world largely because of how institutionalised racism is in the governments and societies that certain people feel like it’s the norm. And this kind of treatment spans all levels of society too, from laws to culture too,” Abbas continued.
For some reason, the landlord felt the need to know the ethnicity of his potential tenant
Image credits: abbas96ali
The man gave all the answers to the landlord’s questions except to the one asking his ethnicity. The landlord replied to the message by asking “where are you from?” once again.
“And even in the case of me simply looking for an apartment using a popular website in Dubai where the site even allows the ad poster to specify a “preferred nationality” for their tenants. And in gulf citizen’s own cultures have deep-rooted racism toward their own nationals too, with microaggressions and discrimination towards people with darker skin colour and people with mixed families or bloodlines, looking down upon or calling “impure” for nationals who have mixed parents or ancestral links to families in other non-Gulf countries,” said Abbas.
After finding out that the man was from Pakistan, the landlord suddenly decided that the room was no longer available
When asked what, in his opinion, we as a society should do to make people more tolerant and rational, Abbas said this: “I think we as a society need to further raise awareness of the racism and discrimination being experienced in this region specifically to help locals and local governments realise the effects of their laws, policies and societies on non-citizens. The discussions and conversations need to be made public and be driven by locals, as opposed to ex-pats because they could still face backlash, punishment or deportation with the current laws and restrictions. And hopefully, this will lead to much needed institutional reform in these countries.”
Image credits: abbas96ali
Apparently, it was already rented… even though just a few hours earlier, the landlord had been inviting this man to come see the place… yeah, right
Image credits: abbas96ali
Abbas ended our conversation by adding that “the pandemic has really accelerated the eventual tipping point for a lot of the ex-pats in this region with hundreds of thousands of people who have already left to return to their home countries in the past few months. They were always considered temporary guests rather than proper working citizens, so the ex-pat populations didn’t really receive much/any support by the government during this economic crisis when they started losing their jobs, and the jobs were the only thing keeping them here.”
Reading this conversation made many Twitter users extremely sad and pissed
Some were pointing out that according to the Fair Housing Act, such actions are absolutely illegal
Unfortunately, the story took place not in the United States, but in Dubai, and the laws there are obviously different
Finally, some internet users related to the story and decided to share their own similar experiences
You don't think just white people do this, do you? I had a nightmare trying to get a bedsit in London mid 90s. People were allowed racist adverts such as "Carribbean household only" yet I never saw any saying "Irish/White only". Later on, I looked for places with my then boyfriend, Malaysian. Many (uber religious) black landlords had an issue with unmarried couples, me being on benefits was a problem for others and then we found somewhere that I thought was perfect. Very pleasant tenant showed us around. My boyfriend was friendly enough until we'd left: "I'm not sharing a house with a bunch of Pakistanis." So whitey here had no problem with it - just good old fashioned Asian-on-Asian racism.
Heard that saying? dont judge a book by its cover? You never know what the story is about until you have read it. People are people and each person is different. No matter what ethnicity or colour they are you can never ignore the fact they they are a human being. If you want to shake my hand then i will shake yours. If not then jog on because i haven't got time for you!
Billy The Kid -
we're not allowed to shake hands any more. I prefer the awkward 'stop six feet away and wave with a smile' thing. Elbow bumping is just too cheesy. (bwhahah)
danielw lol
Eastern European here. I could write a book on white-on-white discrimination in the UK... Housing, job hunting, casual xenophobia on a daily basis at uni... Been there, seen it all. What hurts me however is that there are very robust procedures in place so far as you happen to be any other colour than white. The moment both you and the people harassing you are Caucasian, nobody wants to know it.
You should write an article and submit to to like the Guardian
Rachael Mary Stanley -
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Nobody was talking about discrimination against white people it was about discrimination against middle eastern people as a white person i agree with you i have been discriminated against because of my skin color as well but one of the problems other white people seem to have is taking an issue like this one which is about a MIDDLE EASTERN dude and somehow circling back to themselves and their own experience with racism now if we were talking about an issue with a hate crime towards another Caucasian this comment would be appropriate but if we keep ignoring problems other people have with racism and keep bringing it back to us pardon my french but we ALL are fucked
So what you are actually saying? That racism against a Pakistani person is somehow worse than racism against a white person and as such white people aren't allowed to talk about how were treated racist? It's this attitude that gave the racists just what they need. "See? Here's the evidence again. Racism against white people isn't that bad..." Why don't you just acknowledge that racism isn't the privilege of one race but that every race has racists. And everyone is allowed to talk about how they were the victim of racism. It makes us more aware of how racism can affect anyone, regardless of the color of their skin.
Very good comment. We need to respect other’s experiences by listening and allowing their experience to be valid and heard and not swing it around to being about ourselves. It’s a false comparison and devalues their experience. If you wish to share your own story, share it yourself under your own inertia, not buy stealing the light someone has tried to point at their issue. It’s what’s respectful and considerate. By saying ‘oh, you think you are the only (insert adjective on race/religion/sex) to experience such judgements?’ You belittle their experience and devalue anything else about to come out of your mouth, it is a completely passive aggressive ploy to deter attention from the issue at hand and is totally not cool.
Brittania Kelli love
Gilda like
Ok i think alot of people missed the point its not where the story is from and i promise i am not devaluing racism towards others i am talking about taking the time to listen and reflect on a situation instead of getting up in arms and going straight to well it happens to us too that doesn't seem helpful to me it reminds me of something a kid does when they want attention one of their friends will slip and fall and instead of helping them back to their feet they will say get over it i fell so much harder last week
This happened in the middle east (UAE) but OP is Asian, not Middle Eastern. Pakistan is in central Asia and shares a border with China.
Incel Slayer like
Why not read the article first? Pakistan is in Asia, and this happened in Dubai, i.e. in the Middle East. Racism is everywhere, but that does not mean that everyone is a racist. It also does not mean that anyone has exclusive rights to being the victim of racism. The more instances of racism are highlighted, the easier it will be for people to recognize the racism they themselves may harbour, and hopefully begin to change their ways. Finally, I do pardon your French.
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Rachael, your story sounds fake.
cc good
Bored Panda should really say what country these tweets are from. Its dishonest to pose this article without it, and apparently the property in question was in the United Arab Emirates, not in the West.
It is somewhat disingenuous of the author of the post to raise the point about the Fair Housing act as it is, in this instance, irrelevant. The story stands perfectly well without it.
It happens absolutely everywhere so I really don't think it makes a difference.
Does that change the story? Are you implying this practice is, and should be, acceptable in some places but not others?
Different things certainly are permitted in different countries. I've lived in the middle East (Qatar) and I would be surprised to find out if the situation described isn't extremely common and accepted in UAE.
It changes whether the victim can sue or not.
Maybe you should not assume every article is set in the United States. This is a "you" problem.
You assumed I meant the US, but all of the Germanic Diaspora is west of the UAE. And read the comments. Many of them assume like I did at first that this was a Libertine country where one would expect that discrimination is illegal. In the Middle East, this is not the case, and the UAE is known for being a human rights nightmare.
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There is no written fact of the landlords ethnicity in this story. The landlord might of been Asian himself so there is no evidence of racism here its just as usual what people assume!
You believe its just coincidence he demanded to know the renter's national origin and immediately said it was no longer available?
Somehow I feel that the apartment belongs to the owner who has the right to rent it to whomever he wants ...
Depends on local rental laws. Not sure how it is in Dubai, but you’re not allowed to do this in the US. I think it was called “redlining” back in the day: real estate maps with bullshit red lines around “certain” neighborhoods to steer prospective home buyers toward or away from, depending on their skin color. Totally disregarding the fact that, in the US at least, all money is green, regardless of whose bank account/wallet/hand it’s in. Just think of all the lost sales—-and commissions—-from this practice! (I’m not a capitalist, but pointing out loss of revenue/income like this might make a rather persuasive argument to use on at least some of the more money-worshipping diehards.)
This is really gross the thing i dont understand about this paranoia people have with middle eastern people is the majority of the major shootings and stuff like that recently in this country have actually been perpetrated by our fellow Americans the point being is you just dont know who will go crazy as cat shit one day so you may as well treat everybody with respect and decency and dignity until they actually give you a tangible reason to be an asshole
This happened in Dubai.
I agree with you, but Pakistani people are not Middle Eastern. They are from mainland Asia and quite far east of the middle.
Actually it does. For example the mountain K2 sits on the China-Pakistan border. This can be seen on any map.
Read the whole article before making your insipid comments, genius. This didn't happen in America. IT WAS A MIDDLE EASTERNER BEING PREJUDICED AGAINST AN ASIAN.
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Maybe you should go read more than the lead. The author specifically mentions a 'Fair Housing Act'- and states (round aboutly) that it was signed into law in 1968. the US Fair Housing ACT was signed into law in 1968, and so far as I can tell from a not-at all-authoritative duck duck go search, the UAE doesn't have a promient fair-housing law. Which clearly implies a suggestion that this happened in the US.
It might have nothing to do with paranoia. It might have something to do with bad experience about taking care of the room. Honestly.... In my flats I won't let anyone in from middle east anymore. They are flat destroyers. Three times it happened to me, and it is already two times too often.
That’s weird. Everyone from the middle East I know are clean freaks.
Its his loss. If he dont like Asians and gave you the room he would only screw you over anyway like putting the rent up, not doing any repairs and so on... its what you call a slum landlord!
I get trouble with this too. Im not anything related to being black im tanned but i still get called a n****er. People can be racist af. *Sorry if i sounded rasict myself. I love black people they're awsome*
There's awesome people of all races, colours, religions, sexualities etc. Don't let the small percentage of small-minded, braindead dickheads give you a negative view of the world.
Many years ago (33) before we got married we were looking for home loans. My then fiancé now husband, is from Chinese heritage. One bank wouldn't give him an appointment to find out about their loans and another bank, who I dealt with on my own, told me that our loan had been approved and we just had to drop in with some papers as a formality. My husband took the papers in and two days later I got the phone call to say our loan had been denied. This was in Australia.
That's shocking but Aus is known for being racist af.
Rhon +
Rhon love
Rhon ?
Rhon -
Rhon yes
This has been happening forever. We all know it too. Wish I had more confidence that real change will come. But I don't. Best I and we can hope for is another step forwards, sadly. Not enough, but better than nothing. Not good enough though. Not at all.
There was no reason for him to even ask that question. The building owner should be informed, he might not know the landlord is such a *#%*!
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Typical. You ate from USA. Aren't you? And probably you don't own a flat you can give for rent. If you would have.. You would think otherwise
It's quite ironic and funny in a very sad way that the person using this story to try to excuse his prejudicial views on potential tenants then makes prejudicial statements about people from a whole nation. Someone buy the man a mirror, he needs a good long look at himself.
So, you are saying outside the US it is normal and OK to be racist and discriminatory?
Personally, as long as they’re not loud and obnoxious, I really don’t care what “demographic” my neighbors are part of. But I do think that living in a more diverse neighborhood is way more interesting and cool than being surrounded by people just like yourself. When I was 13, my parents and I moved to the Los Angeles area from a small town in Maryland. First day of school, I found myself in class with a much wider variety of people than I had ever known—-and I loved every minute of it! Getting to know people whose walks of life were totally different from mine, I realized that we are all so much more alike than different. I did eventually move away, and back to a smaller town, but consider myself lucky to have had that kind of enriching experience at 13 rather than 30, 40, 50 or older. I wasn’t old enough to consider it culture shock. To me it was just school, only a helluva lot cooler than school had ever been before.
Hmmm. It's always easy to place the race card. I'm not saying this isn't it, but let me use some examples of my own. I've rented out houses for many years. I've had good tenants and many, many bad tenants. One particular race that I have rented houses to has consistently played me out by just giving bounced checks and then staying in the house and not paying rent because they can abuse the system (one stayed over a year with no rent). After having the same race do this to me 5 times in a row, I don't rent to them anymore. It's not me being racist, I just simply can't afford to give these people free housing at my expense (never mind the condition of the house they leave it in). It's no longer racism, just smart business sense for me. Again, not saying this is the issue here, but people need to realize the full picture and the full scope of the world we live in.
Don Hummy like
I had this same sort of trouble trying to find a place to rent with three kids several years back. With 5 in the family we were excluded instantly from everything that had anything to do with the state, max 2 beds in all buildings, max 4 people. So that left only private landlords who heard three kids and wanted nothing more to do with me.
thats disgusting behaviour from the landlord
No it's not. Probably he had a bad experience with Pakistani people. It's his. He can give it for rent for whomever he want or don't want.
That is quite stupid. The "bad experience" he had with Pakistani people does not apply to the millions of Pakistani people in the world. Funny, if you had a "bad experience" with blonde people, something tells me you are smart enough to know that not all blondes act that way...but cant apply the same logic to people who may have simply been born in the same region.
@brittania I am doing just fine with my business. Companies learn from mistakes. So did I. I take my risk every time I give my property for rent. But if I want to minimize it by not giving it away to a risk group that bad behaviour? That's called business. You don't have a business or own property i guess. So you aren't qualified at all to comment on that. And it were three families. Not three people. You should read carefully.
It is deplorable behaviour. If you believe all Middle Eastern people will destroy your flats because three people from the Middle East destroyed your flats you are behaving in a prejudicial way. I was held up at gun point by a black man, do I think all black men will hold me up? No, that's ridiculous. There are plenty of people that destroy rented property, if you don't like that risk, perhaps it's time for a career change.
@Roland, once again your assumptions are wrong. You really need to stop being so prejudiced, it’s not a good look for your business, your soul, or the world. Using a post on how racially and ethnically profiling people in need of housing to perpetuate the racist idea that Pakistani people shouldn’t have access to housing in order to make yourself feel better about your own xenophobic choices is dispicable. You are part of the problem.
Why would a lanlord even ask the question "where are you from?" It doesn't make sense.
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Because he won't waste time with somebody who he don't want to give it for rent
This is very very common in India. If you are a muslim or Christian then chances of getting an accomodation on rent is very difficult. Owners first ask for name and then start talking. Even if you belong to the same city.
Nos Here what
I am white. So was my then-partner back in the 90'ies. We went to view an apartment that was available. We called the owner telling him we liked it, so we made an apoitment to get things sorted out. My boyfriend looked a bit like Steven Tyler (wardrobewise) and when we came to the owner's door, he told us he rented the place out just before we came along. After that experience I had my mom call the owner and ask about the apartment. It was still available.
Saskia Oostvogels love
Saskia Oostvogels ?
Such things do not surprise me.
It just shows that racism will never be eradicated. That sounds like a grim statement from me but I'll elaborate. What I'm really saying is that the majority of society would never dream of intentionally judging someone because they're different to themselves but... There's always going to be some dickhead (or pockets of dickheads) who are bigoted, racist, ignorant, thick twats. Even in the year 3000 (if humanity makes it that far) there'll be a small percentage of dickheads. We're not terrible people as a society, definitely not perfect by any means but society in a damn side better regarding bigotry than it was at the beginning of last century.
Amen. People who hanker for the old days are always closet bigots. Things are generally improving
This is why we need to have a own house...for 25 years im trying trying but still couldnt get a own house...
Joseph Karthic +
I used to date someone with an 'ethnic' first name and a 'non-ethnic' middle name. He used his middle name when he looked for apartments, otherwise, the potential landlords wouldn't even return calls or requests.
Oh gosh, that's terrible.
That is awful, poor soul. Yet the landlord can not even spell in his/here mother tounge.... That does day a lot.
Liv like
Totally jacked if authentically discriminated against... but devil's advocate - it was 5 hours later, it is *possible* it had been rented in that time.
Have you ever considered for even one second that landlords might have had some seriously bad experiences with Pakistani, Eastern europeans (or other backgrounds)? Why is racist when every time you rent your house to a certain ethnicity, when they leave it is a disaster and you have to give 10 times the deposit to repair damages? I have seen some people in Europe (non europeans) cleaning the whole kitchen with buckets of water, because they do it in their countries in this way, but european houses are different and the climate is different and so on. And many of those stereotypes might stand to be true - many asians have very very large families, don't repair if something is broken, don't pay on time, are very loud, when they cook the whole neighbourhood smells and so on. It is an amazing culture, but landlords care about their property. Are you going to be happy if there is a loud family with 10 children above you and if you complain, they always cry"racist". go on - downvote
Assuming a whole race or ethnic group acts the same way because of the examples set by a few is prejudice. It is no different to discriminate housing based on ethnicity/race/religion/gender as it is to say all Muslims are terrorists, All Jews are whatever, all black people are whatever. These prejudices are the beginnings of racism and xenophobia. Like I said to the racist landlord I was held up at gun point by a black man, I don’t go around assuming all black men are going to hold me up, because I have common sense. Now, I don’t know about you, but being robbed at gun point seems like a more traumatic experience than having your property not looked after in the way you desire, so if after my traumatic experience I can still understand reason and statistics to stand up against prejudice, then why can’t a landlord? Now this is Bored Panda, people come here for lighthearted and heart warming stories so can the few vocal people arguing in support of racism, and xenophobia please Shut up?
Pacifico Fernandez like
Pacifico Fernandez love
TL; DR the OP is racist!
In some US jurisdictions, if the landlord lives on the premises (or in an attached duplex), they are allowed to 'discriminate,' unfortunately.
I am a landlord and can't believe this guy is so oblivious to the law he'd violate it so obviously and in writing. I am very careful to never discourage people from viewing our homes or applying. This should be taken to whichever regulatory body enforces Fair Housing. The strength of the application and credit should be the deciding factor.
It took place in Dubai, Fair Housing laws don’t apply. If you’ve ever been to Dubai and see the contempt displayed for certain ethnicities, this is no surprise at all. It’s not uncommon for rich families to bring in people from poorer countries to work for them and then confiscate their passports so they can’t leave. I’m not making this up, google it.
So when you have a dozen applications who are all equal good? So how you decide then? By sympathy. Thats it. And if you have bad experiences with a similar groups you will decide against them. Face it. It's like that.
Landlord here. I have given my flats three times to family from middle east countries. Once for. An iraqi family and two time for Pakistani families. And that will never happen again. Obviously they don't learn in this countries how to take care of stuff, pay the rent in time and how to clean. That's not racist. That's experience you gather as a landlord. Never happened to any other families i gave my flats for rent. And yes... They were all european.
Thats literally racism....youre assuming that every middle eastern person is like that, and thus discriminating
Sarah Blough love
So based on a couple of incidents you condemn vast groups of people? That is textbook. I suggest you sell your property's and find a new vocation.
When you jump of a bridge.. And you broke your boney... Three times already.. You will do it a fourth time? I better go for that one's who are more likely to take care of my stuff. And yes.. They can one after another. So three times shit out of three times makes 100% bad investment. For sure everyone with a half healthy mind and business understanding will not give the flat to this group again. Own your own stuff guys before you comment on people whi had bad experiences with this ethnicity
Also you have no flat to give for rent. Have you? Probably not. So shut up. And talk to me if you are a landlord yourself
I agree with you. I would not rent my apartment to my own parents if I were a landlord. They are really lousy tenants and I can say most of the people from their community (immigrant neighborhood) are the same. They try to pass the time in the new country with the least possible expenses and never pay attention to mold, dirt, repairs etc. and take more people to live with them. We are white btw, but immigrants
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@al Jones nowhere written the owner said I don't give it to you because you are from Pakistan. He simply stated.. No flat for you. Good luck with sueing him. You people don't seem to understand. It's HIS property. HE may give it for rent to whomever HE want. And if he don't want to give it to this one particular guy, its HIS decision. No matter if you think its racist because YOU make it up in your head that it's racist. He didn't say it is because you are Pakistani.
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Well Julija, maybe this is partly due to Covid-19. Not always it's about racism.
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And then there's the chance that the landlord actually did rent it already. Which would make Abbas' grievance quite unfounded -- BUT, it sure will make him fit in great here in victimhood-olympics-USA !
Now you know that's probably not the case. Most likely he was discriminated against. Why do people claim that people lie or are babies when they are being discriminated against? White people are less likely to acknowledge the existence of racist incidents. When Black people are being prejudiced they know they are because they do it on purpose, with purpose, it's usually as a reaction to what was done to them.
@John Smith how would you react if you were being discriminated based on your skin color?
Yayaboobo haha
So you're saying when blacks are prejudiced it's a reaction to mistreatment....but when whites are prejudiced they're just being assholes? Got it. Your logic is powerful.
Yes whites ARE being assholes because only assholes are prejudiced. Black ones too. It seems like you just need a little attention Mr. John Smith. It'll be okay sweetie.
Kind of have to agree. Victimhood Olympics USA... Thats true.. Everybidy can sue everyone because of the most ridiculous reasons. For me it's simple. It's his flat and he give it for rent to whom he want. End of discussion. A landlord anyway decides because of something whom he give the flat for rent. Any reason is good... Woman, man, with children, without children, too young, too old, wrong country, not black enough, way too black, not white enough, too small, too tall, too heavy, too slim... Doesnt matter. So people without own flats you can give for rent. Shut up. You have no clue. You are just complainers.
You don't need to own a flat to know what racism is and just because you do doesn't entitle you to be racist. And not allowing someone to rent a flat because of the colour of their skin IS racist. End of discussion.
You don't think just white people do this, do you? I had a nightmare trying to get a bedsit in London mid 90s. People were allowed racist adverts such as "Carribbean household only" yet I never saw any saying "Irish/White only". Later on, I looked for places with my then boyfriend, Malaysian. Many (uber religious) black landlords had an issue with unmarried couples, me being on benefits was a problem for others and then we found somewhere that I thought was perfect. Very pleasant tenant showed us around. My boyfriend was friendly enough until we'd left: "I'm not sharing a house with a bunch of Pakistanis." So whitey here had no problem with it - just good old fashioned Asian-on-Asian racism.
Heard that saying? dont judge a book by its cover? You never know what the story is about until you have read it. People are people and each person is different. No matter what ethnicity or colour they are you can never ignore the fact they they are a human being. If you want to shake my hand then i will shake yours. If not then jog on because i haven't got time for you!
Billy The Kid -
we're not allowed to shake hands any more. I prefer the awkward 'stop six feet away and wave with a smile' thing. Elbow bumping is just too cheesy. (bwhahah)
danielw lol
Eastern European here. I could write a book on white-on-white discrimination in the UK... Housing, job hunting, casual xenophobia on a daily basis at uni... Been there, seen it all. What hurts me however is that there are very robust procedures in place so far as you happen to be any other colour than white. The moment both you and the people harassing you are Caucasian, nobody wants to know it.
You should write an article and submit to to like the Guardian
Rachael Mary Stanley -
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Nobody was talking about discrimination against white people it was about discrimination against middle eastern people as a white person i agree with you i have been discriminated against because of my skin color as well but one of the problems other white people seem to have is taking an issue like this one which is about a MIDDLE EASTERN dude and somehow circling back to themselves and their own experience with racism now if we were talking about an issue with a hate crime towards another Caucasian this comment would be appropriate but if we keep ignoring problems other people have with racism and keep bringing it back to us pardon my french but we ALL are fucked
So what you are actually saying? That racism against a Pakistani person is somehow worse than racism against a white person and as such white people aren't allowed to talk about how were treated racist? It's this attitude that gave the racists just what they need. "See? Here's the evidence again. Racism against white people isn't that bad..." Why don't you just acknowledge that racism isn't the privilege of one race but that every race has racists. And everyone is allowed to talk about how they were the victim of racism. It makes us more aware of how racism can affect anyone, regardless of the color of their skin.
Very good comment. We need to respect other’s experiences by listening and allowing their experience to be valid and heard and not swing it around to being about ourselves. It’s a false comparison and devalues their experience. If you wish to share your own story, share it yourself under your own inertia, not buy stealing the light someone has tried to point at their issue. It’s what’s respectful and considerate. By saying ‘oh, you think you are the only (insert adjective on race/religion/sex) to experience such judgements?’ You belittle their experience and devalue anything else about to come out of your mouth, it is a completely passive aggressive ploy to deter attention from the issue at hand and is totally not cool.
Brittania Kelli love
Gilda like
Ok i think alot of people missed the point its not where the story is from and i promise i am not devaluing racism towards others i am talking about taking the time to listen and reflect on a situation instead of getting up in arms and going straight to well it happens to us too that doesn't seem helpful to me it reminds me of something a kid does when they want attention one of their friends will slip and fall and instead of helping them back to their feet they will say get over it i fell so much harder last week
This happened in the middle east (UAE) but OP is Asian, not Middle Eastern. Pakistan is in central Asia and shares a border with China.
Incel Slayer like
Why not read the article first? Pakistan is in Asia, and this happened in Dubai, i.e. in the Middle East. Racism is everywhere, but that does not mean that everyone is a racist. It also does not mean that anyone has exclusive rights to being the victim of racism. The more instances of racism are highlighted, the easier it will be for people to recognize the racism they themselves may harbour, and hopefully begin to change their ways. Finally, I do pardon your French.
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Rachael, your story sounds fake.
cc good
Bored Panda should really say what country these tweets are from. Its dishonest to pose this article without it, and apparently the property in question was in the United Arab Emirates, not in the West.
It is somewhat disingenuous of the author of the post to raise the point about the Fair Housing act as it is, in this instance, irrelevant. The story stands perfectly well without it.
It happens absolutely everywhere so I really don't think it makes a difference.
Does that change the story? Are you implying this practice is, and should be, acceptable in some places but not others?
Different things certainly are permitted in different countries. I've lived in the middle East (Qatar) and I would be surprised to find out if the situation described isn't extremely common and accepted in UAE.
It changes whether the victim can sue or not.
Maybe you should not assume every article is set in the United States. This is a "you" problem.
You assumed I meant the US, but all of the Germanic Diaspora is west of the UAE. And read the comments. Many of them assume like I did at first that this was a Libertine country where one would expect that discrimination is illegal. In the Middle East, this is not the case, and the UAE is known for being a human rights nightmare.
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There is no written fact of the landlords ethnicity in this story. The landlord might of been Asian himself so there is no evidence of racism here its just as usual what people assume!
You believe its just coincidence he demanded to know the renter's national origin and immediately said it was no longer available?
Somehow I feel that the apartment belongs to the owner who has the right to rent it to whomever he wants ...
Depends on local rental laws. Not sure how it is in Dubai, but you’re not allowed to do this in the US. I think it was called “redlining” back in the day: real estate maps with bullshit red lines around “certain” neighborhoods to steer prospective home buyers toward or away from, depending on their skin color. Totally disregarding the fact that, in the US at least, all money is green, regardless of whose bank account/wallet/hand it’s in. Just think of all the lost sales—-and commissions—-from this practice! (I’m not a capitalist, but pointing out loss of revenue/income like this might make a rather persuasive argument to use on at least some of the more money-worshipping diehards.)
This is really gross the thing i dont understand about this paranoia people have with middle eastern people is the majority of the major shootings and stuff like that recently in this country have actually been perpetrated by our fellow Americans the point being is you just dont know who will go crazy as cat shit one day so you may as well treat everybody with respect and decency and dignity until they actually give you a tangible reason to be an asshole
This happened in Dubai.
I agree with you, but Pakistani people are not Middle Eastern. They are from mainland Asia and quite far east of the middle.
Actually it does. For example the mountain K2 sits on the China-Pakistan border. This can be seen on any map.
Read the whole article before making your insipid comments, genius. This didn't happen in America. IT WAS A MIDDLE EASTERNER BEING PREJUDICED AGAINST AN ASIAN.
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Maybe you should go read more than the lead. The author specifically mentions a 'Fair Housing Act'- and states (round aboutly) that it was signed into law in 1968. the US Fair Housing ACT was signed into law in 1968, and so far as I can tell from a not-at all-authoritative duck duck go search, the UAE doesn't have a promient fair-housing law. Which clearly implies a suggestion that this happened in the US.
It might have nothing to do with paranoia. It might have something to do with bad experience about taking care of the room. Honestly.... In my flats I won't let anyone in from middle east anymore. They are flat destroyers. Three times it happened to me, and it is already two times too often.
That’s weird. Everyone from the middle East I know are clean freaks.
Its his loss. If he dont like Asians and gave you the room he would only screw you over anyway like putting the rent up, not doing any repairs and so on... its what you call a slum landlord!
I get trouble with this too. Im not anything related to being black im tanned but i still get called a n****er. People can be racist af. *Sorry if i sounded rasict myself. I love black people they're awsome*
There's awesome people of all races, colours, religions, sexualities etc. Don't let the small percentage of small-minded, braindead dickheads give you a negative view of the world.
Many years ago (33) before we got married we were looking for home loans. My then fiancé now husband, is from Chinese heritage. One bank wouldn't give him an appointment to find out about their loans and another bank, who I dealt with on my own, told me that our loan had been approved and we just had to drop in with some papers as a formality. My husband took the papers in and two days later I got the phone call to say our loan had been denied. This was in Australia.
That's shocking but Aus is known for being racist af.
Rhon +
Rhon love
Rhon ?
Rhon -
Rhon yes
This has been happening forever. We all know it too. Wish I had more confidence that real change will come. But I don't. Best I and we can hope for is another step forwards, sadly. Not enough, but better than nothing. Not good enough though. Not at all.
There was no reason for him to even ask that question. The building owner should be informed, he might not know the landlord is such a *#%*!
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Typical. You ate from USA. Aren't you? And probably you don't own a flat you can give for rent. If you would have.. You would think otherwise
It's quite ironic and funny in a very sad way that the person using this story to try to excuse his prejudicial views on potential tenants then makes prejudicial statements about people from a whole nation. Someone buy the man a mirror, he needs a good long look at himself.
So, you are saying outside the US it is normal and OK to be racist and discriminatory?
Personally, as long as they’re not loud and obnoxious, I really don’t care what “demographic” my neighbors are part of. But I do think that living in a more diverse neighborhood is way more interesting and cool than being surrounded by people just like yourself. When I was 13, my parents and I moved to the Los Angeles area from a small town in Maryland. First day of school, I found myself in class with a much wider variety of people than I had ever known—-and I loved every minute of it! Getting to know people whose walks of life were totally different from mine, I realized that we are all so much more alike than different. I did eventually move away, and back to a smaller town, but consider myself lucky to have had that kind of enriching experience at 13 rather than 30, 40, 50 or older. I wasn’t old enough to consider it culture shock. To me it was just school, only a helluva lot cooler than school had ever been before.
Hmmm. It's always easy to place the race card. I'm not saying this isn't it, but let me use some examples of my own. I've rented out houses for many years. I've had good tenants and many, many bad tenants. One particular race that I have rented houses to has consistently played me out by just giving bounced checks and then staying in the house and not paying rent because they can abuse the system (one stayed over a year with no rent). After having the same race do this to me 5 times in a row, I don't rent to them anymore. It's not me being racist, I just simply can't afford to give these people free housing at my expense (never mind the condition of the house they leave it in). It's no longer racism, just smart business sense for me. Again, not saying this is the issue here, but people need to realize the full picture and the full scope of the world we live in.
Don Hummy like
I had this same sort of trouble trying to find a place to rent with three kids several years back. With 5 in the family we were excluded instantly from everything that had anything to do with the state, max 2 beds in all buildings, max 4 people. So that left only private landlords who heard three kids and wanted nothing more to do with me.
thats disgusting behaviour from the landlord
No it's not. Probably he had a bad experience with Pakistani people. It's his. He can give it for rent for whomever he want or don't want.
That is quite stupid. The "bad experience" he had with Pakistani people does not apply to the millions of Pakistani people in the world. Funny, if you had a "bad experience" with blonde people, something tells me you are smart enough to know that not all blondes act that way...but cant apply the same logic to people who may have simply been born in the same region.
@brittania I am doing just fine with my business. Companies learn from mistakes. So did I. I take my risk every time I give my property for rent. But if I want to minimize it by not giving it away to a risk group that bad behaviour? That's called business. You don't have a business or own property i guess. So you aren't qualified at all to comment on that. And it were three families. Not three people. You should read carefully.
It is deplorable behaviour. If you believe all Middle Eastern people will destroy your flats because three people from the Middle East destroyed your flats you are behaving in a prejudicial way. I was held up at gun point by a black man, do I think all black men will hold me up? No, that's ridiculous. There are plenty of people that destroy rented property, if you don't like that risk, perhaps it's time for a career change.
@Roland, once again your assumptions are wrong. You really need to stop being so prejudiced, it’s not a good look for your business, your soul, or the world. Using a post on how racially and ethnically profiling people in need of housing to perpetuate the racist idea that Pakistani people shouldn’t have access to housing in order to make yourself feel better about your own xenophobic choices is dispicable. You are part of the problem.
Why would a lanlord even ask the question "where are you from?" It doesn't make sense.
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Because he won't waste time with somebody who he don't want to give it for rent
This is very very common in India. If you are a muslim or Christian then chances of getting an accomodation on rent is very difficult. Owners first ask for name and then start talking. Even if you belong to the same city.
Nos Here what
I am white. So was my then-partner back in the 90'ies. We went to view an apartment that was available. We called the owner telling him we liked it, so we made an apoitment to get things sorted out. My boyfriend looked a bit like Steven Tyler (wardrobewise) and when we came to the owner's door, he told us he rented the place out just before we came along. After that experience I had my mom call the owner and ask about the apartment. It was still available.
Saskia Oostvogels love
Saskia Oostvogels ?
Such things do not surprise me.
It just shows that racism will never be eradicated. That sounds like a grim statement from me but I'll elaborate. What I'm really saying is that the majority of society would never dream of intentionally judging someone because they're different to themselves but... There's always going to be some dickhead (or pockets of dickheads) who are bigoted, racist, ignorant, thick twats. Even in the year 3000 (if humanity makes it that far) there'll be a small percentage of dickheads. We're not terrible people as a society, definitely not perfect by any means but society in a damn side better regarding bigotry than it was at the beginning of last century.
Amen. People who hanker for the old days are always closet bigots. Things are generally improving
This is why we need to have a own house...for 25 years im trying trying but still couldnt get a own house...
Joseph Karthic +
I used to date someone with an 'ethnic' first name and a 'non-ethnic' middle name. He used his middle name when he looked for apartments, otherwise, the potential landlords wouldn't even return calls or requests.
Oh gosh, that's terrible.
That is awful, poor soul. Yet the landlord can not even spell in his/here mother tounge.... That does day a lot.
Liv like
Totally jacked if authentically discriminated against... but devil's advocate - it was 5 hours later, it is *possible* it had been rented in that time.
Have you ever considered for even one second that landlords might have had some seriously bad experiences with Pakistani, Eastern europeans (or other backgrounds)? Why is racist when every time you rent your house to a certain ethnicity, when they leave it is a disaster and you have to give 10 times the deposit to repair damages? I have seen some people in Europe (non europeans) cleaning the whole kitchen with buckets of water, because they do it in their countries in this way, but european houses are different and the climate is different and so on. And many of those stereotypes might stand to be true - many asians have very very large families, don't repair if something is broken, don't pay on time, are very loud, when they cook the whole neighbourhood smells and so on. It is an amazing culture, but landlords care about their property. Are you going to be happy if there is a loud family with 10 children above you and if you complain, they always cry"racist". go on - downvote
Assuming a whole race or ethnic group acts the same way because of the examples set by a few is prejudice. It is no different to discriminate housing based on ethnicity/race/religion/gender as it is to say all Muslims are terrorists, All Jews are whatever, all black people are whatever. These prejudices are the beginnings of racism and xenophobia. Like I said to the racist landlord I was held up at gun point by a black man, I don’t go around assuming all black men are going to hold me up, because I have common sense. Now, I don’t know about you, but being robbed at gun point seems like a more traumatic experience than having your property not looked after in the way you desire, so if after my traumatic experience I can still understand reason and statistics to stand up against prejudice, then why can’t a landlord? Now this is Bored Panda, people come here for lighthearted and heart warming stories so can the few vocal people arguing in support of racism, and xenophobia please Shut up?
Pacifico Fernandez like
Pacifico Fernandez love
TL; DR the OP is racist!
In some US jurisdictions, if the landlord lives on the premises (or in an attached duplex), they are allowed to 'discriminate,' unfortunately.
I am a landlord and can't believe this guy is so oblivious to the law he'd violate it so obviously and in writing. I am very careful to never discourage people from viewing our homes or applying. This should be taken to whichever regulatory body enforces Fair Housing. The strength of the application and credit should be the deciding factor.
It took place in Dubai, Fair Housing laws don’t apply. If you’ve ever been to Dubai and see the contempt displayed for certain ethnicities, this is no surprise at all. It’s not uncommon for rich families to bring in people from poorer countries to work for them and then confiscate their passports so they can’t leave. I’m not making this up, google it.
So when you have a dozen applications who are all equal good? So how you decide then? By sympathy. Thats it. And if you have bad experiences with a similar groups you will decide against them. Face it. It's like that.
Landlord here. I have given my flats three times to family from middle east countries. Once for. An iraqi family and two time for Pakistani families. And that will never happen again. Obviously they don't learn in this countries how to take care of stuff, pay the rent in time and how to clean. That's not racist. That's experience you gather as a landlord. Never happened to any other families i gave my flats for rent. And yes... They were all european.
Thats literally racism....youre assuming that every middle eastern person is like that, and thus discriminating
Sarah Blough love
So based on a couple of incidents you condemn vast groups of people? That is textbook. I suggest you sell your property's and find a new vocation.
When you jump of a bridge.. And you broke your boney... Three times already.. You will do it a fourth time? I better go for that one's who are more likely to take care of my stuff. And yes.. They can one after another. So three times shit out of three times makes 100% bad investment. For sure everyone with a half healthy mind and business understanding will not give the flat to this group again. Own your own stuff guys before you comment on people whi had bad experiences with this ethnicity
Also you have no flat to give for rent. Have you? Probably not. So shut up. And talk to me if you are a landlord yourself
I agree with you. I would not rent my apartment to my own parents if I were a landlord. They are really lousy tenants and I can say most of the people from their community (immigrant neighborhood) are the same. They try to pass the time in the new country with the least possible expenses and never pay attention to mold, dirt, repairs etc. and take more people to live with them. We are white btw, but immigrants
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@al Jones nowhere written the owner said I don't give it to you because you are from Pakistan. He simply stated.. No flat for you. Good luck with sueing him. You people don't seem to understand. It's HIS property. HE may give it for rent to whomever HE want. And if he don't want to give it to this one particular guy, its HIS decision. No matter if you think its racist because YOU make it up in your head that it's racist. He didn't say it is because you are Pakistani.
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Well Julija, maybe this is partly due to Covid-19. Not always it's about racism.
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And then there's the chance that the landlord actually did rent it already. Which would make Abbas' grievance quite unfounded -- BUT, it sure will make him fit in great here in victimhood-olympics-USA !
Now you know that's probably not the case. Most likely he was discriminated against. Why do people claim that people lie or are babies when they are being discriminated against? White people are less likely to acknowledge the existence of racist incidents. When Black people are being prejudiced they know they are because they do it on purpose, with purpose, it's usually as a reaction to what was done to them.
@John Smith how would you react if you were being discriminated based on your skin color?
Yayaboobo haha
So you're saying when blacks are prejudiced it's a reaction to mistreatment....but when whites are prejudiced they're just being assholes? Got it. Your logic is powerful.
Yes whites ARE being assholes because only assholes are prejudiced. Black ones too. It seems like you just need a little attention Mr. John Smith. It'll be okay sweetie.
Kind of have to agree. Victimhood Olympics USA... Thats true.. Everybidy can sue everyone because of the most ridiculous reasons. For me it's simple. It's his flat and he give it for rent to whom he want. End of discussion. A landlord anyway decides because of something whom he give the flat for rent. Any reason is good... Woman, man, with children, without children, too young, too old, wrong country, not black enough, way too black, not white enough, too small, too tall, too heavy, too slim... Doesnt matter. So people without own flats you can give for rent. Shut up. You have no clue. You are just complainers.
You don't need to own a flat to know what racism is and just because you do doesn't entitle you to be racist. And not allowing someone to rent a flat because of the colour of their skin IS racist. End of discussion.