It’s crazy to think that blatant racism from a brand as big as McDonalds would still exist in 2020, but the coronavirus outbreak has clearly brought out the worst in some people. McDonalds China has had to issue an apology after one of its branches in the industrial city of Guangzhou barred black people from entering. The sad part about this is that we wouldn’t even have known about it was it not for a video that went viral on Twitter.

The video video showed a man holding a sign which said black people were barred from the branch in Guangzhou, and they should notify the police for medical isolation. The note said: “We’ve been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant. For the sake of your health consciously notify the local police for medical isolation. Please understand the inconvenience caused.”

Of course, people were enraged. Responding to the matter, McDonalds said that when it found out about the notice it temporarily closed the restaurant. McDonald’s China also apologized for the discriminatory incident, saying:

During the temporary closure, staff will also be retrained, the spokesperson added.

The blatant discrimination against those of African descent comes at a time where tensions are running high between Africans and local people in the city. The incident highlights the systemic racism that has been boiling in the city as as China fears of a second wave of the coronavirus.

It’s not just being denied entry to restaurants that African people have to worry about. Many of them living in China have already been kicked out of their homes and forced to sleep on the streets or pay for hotels after online rumours that coronavirus was spreading among African people.

Rather ironic that the Chinese would do this given that their own people have been racially discriminated for “spreading the coronavirus”. It’s sad to think that people all over the world are letting fear turn them into the kind of people that would discriminate based on the colour of skin.