Pizza-Racism at Istanbul Airport

A racist incident took place at the Istanbul airport while I was waiting for my connecting flight onwards to my destination. Anyone who has been to this airport would know it's a magnanimous piece of real estate where most flights to every part of the world transit. Since my flight had been delayed, I looked for a cafe to grab a bite while I was waiting for my airplane. Reading Christian Jacq's 'RAMSES', and biting into my chicken burger, I noticed a group of guys saunter into the cafe. They were in high spirits, laughing and joking about something.


 A closer look at them told me they were probably African students, first-time travelers heading to some eastern European country in search of the elusive bourgeois education. As I watched, three out of the group sat at a table for four and the fourth guy went to place their orders. He came back with 3 pizzas and the group settled down to eat. I was a little surprised as I really couldn't understand how four guys could devour 3 giant pizzas but as it wasn't my business, I went back to reading my book. When I looked up again, I realized the group had lost all interest in the pizza. They eyed the slices with dis-interest and there was this bored look on their faces. I figured the pizza didn't appeal to them that much. It was then the unthinkable happened

 The manager of the cafe walked in, took one look at the pizza slices on the table and started a tirade. He asked who sold the pizza to the Africans and when the waiter stepped forward, the next statement the manager made shocked me to the marrows. The manager asked the waiter why he would sell ''pizza'' to a bunch of Africans when he knew quite well they wouldn't be able to eat it. ''A bun would just have been fine'', he concluded pointing to the table. I was dazed beyond words. I took a look at the Africans and noticed they hadn't been aware that they had just been victims of the most ridiculous racial profiling I've ever witnessed. My first reaction was to slowly get up and confront the manager but as the group never got a wind of what just happened, I thought otherwise. One lad got up from the group the second time and walked to the counter. Oblivious to what had just transpired, he smiled shyly and even as I stared intently, the manager regarded him icily, ducked out for a while and produced four cans of Fanta.

My flight was announced over the loud speakers and I was more than glad to leave. As I walked towards customs, I couldn't stop thinking of how ignorant some people could be. If in 2012 people can still hang racism on something as frivolous as pizza, then mankind is in a heck load of trouble. As sad as it seemed though, the incident was just a reality check as the students are likely to experience more racist acts towards them as racism is still a major problem in most eastern European countries.