Actress Tanishaa Mukerji faces racism while partying in New York

Tanishaa Mukerji

Tanishaa Mukerji, who is currently in New York where she attended the CRY America charity gala earlier this week, alleged she was subjected to racism at The Jane Hotel on Saturday night.

Talking to mid-day from the US, the actor said that she was partying with her friends at the hotel's club when one of the employees started hurling insensitive remarks at her. "I don't understand what triggered it as I was polite, but he turned rude. One of the employees, an African-American, said that we looked as if we were fresh off the boat and couldn't speak English. That was insulting and blatantly racist. My friends and I were shocked. It's traumatic to experience this kind of racism in the US; I have never faced it earlier."

Mukerji with her friends at the hotel

Deeply disturbed by the unceremonious treatment being meted out, Mukerji said that she approached the hotel authorities who apparently did precious little. "We didn't get any support from the hotel staff. I told them to call the cops, but they refused to do so," says the actor, adding that she tried to capture the staff's uncourteous behaviour on video as her friends and she staged a walkout. "I was trying to record the incident on my camera.

The video I posted online ends abruptly because the guy stopped me and told me to switch my recorder off. It's unfortunate when you experience something like this in a land that stands for rights and liberty. I am saddened that an African-American behaved like this, considering they have experienced discrimination themselves."

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