by OLIVIA ALABASTER
BEIRUT: A bar in the neighborhood of Gemmayzeh has canceled an event, originally scheduled for this Friday, which invited guests to dress up as migrant domestic workers for the chance to win $100.
Event details encouraged bar-goers to, “this Friday night, be Sinkara or Milenga … be Soumatra or Domma … create your own maid costume, speak like them and look like a Philippino [sic], Bengladish [sic], Sri Lanka [sic] or any maid you want and definitely win 100 U.S. dollars in cash.”
The details of the event were originally posted late Tuesday evening on the bar’s Facebook group. A Lebanese organization, the Anti-Racism Movement, then reposted the event on its blog, which soon drew much online criticism. The owner of the bar then removed all details of the event.
Speaking to The Daily Star Wednesday, the owner denied that the event was in any way racist. “You just put on a costume, it was supposed to be for fun. Some people misunderstood it and thought it was racist.”
On the emphasis on foreign nationalities in the posting, she said “We hadn’t meant it in that way at all. You didn’t have to dress as a foreigner, you could have just put on an apron and dressed as your mom.”
“We took the event down after two hours, as we realized people had misinterpreted it.”
Farah Salka, of the Anti-Racism Movement, called it one of the most shocking recent examples of racism that she has seen.
“I see examples of it all the time, but with this, I was just like ‘wow.’”
The Daily Star for more
(Thanks to Robin Khundkar)