New York Rapper Le1f Has Accused Australian Border Force Of Racism
An officer allegedly threatened to make his "life harder".
New York rapper Le1f has publicly blasted customs officials at Melbourne Airport after being allegedly racially profiled and threatened by a Border Force officer.
Le1f — who’s in the country for his final Australian tour — was travelling through Melbourne Airport on February 16 and 19 when he was apparently stopped by the same customs officer.
When Le1f commented that “As a black man, I go through [this] a lot”, the officer allegedly replied: “Keep using that black stuff on me, and I’ll report you to my supervisor.”
He also threatened to make Le1f’s “life harder.”
a customs security at Melbourne Airport @Melair who’s been singling me out when i enter Australia just did it again. I said as a black man, I go through it a lot. He said “keep using that black stuff on me, and i’ll report you to my supervisor” and that he’ll make my life harder.
— Khalif (@le1f) February 19, 2018
Melbourne Airport followed up with a request for more information on Twitter late last night, to which Le1f replied that he would not be doing so immediately.
“I’m sorry but tonight I do not have faith that, if I pursue this in this way, the institutions and systems of bureaucracy in this country will not find a way to punish me for my freedom of speech, which is not a right in the Australian constitution,” he wrote. “Maybe tomorrow.”
He then responded this morning, naming the exact dates and times that he was transiting through the terminal.
Terminal 2, around 10am, 16 Feb
at bag claim 4 for UA98
then,
Terminal 2 around 9pm, 19 February.
i believe i was taken to security #3— Khalif (@le1f) February 19, 2018
Le1f– real name Khalif Diouf — also noted that this was not an unusual incident, and that he experiences “blatant racism” on a daily basis whenever he travels through Australia.
y’all think i love Australia. no. i love to perform, to be with friends & to make money. these are all things i can do in Australia as well as in a number of other white-homogeneous or colonized lands, and I choose to do so here at the expense of blatant racism on a daily basis.
— Khalif (@le1f) February 19, 2018
It’s not the first time this year an artist of colour has highlighted Australia’s issues with discrimination and racism. Just over a month ago, Ctrl hitmaker SZA wrote in a now-deleted tweet that she’d been followed around Sephora store while touring with FOMO festival.
Retweeted SZA (@sza):
Being followed around in Sephora is especially funny cus I used to work dere lol . I know the drill sis
— Mystic Sounds Show (@RealNativeTribe) January 13, 2018
Melbourne Airport has yet to make a public statement regarding Le1f’s claims.