Specifying Racial Preference When Renting Out Properties Is Racist
Please don't justify or make excuses for blatant racism.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 07 Oct 2018, 01:44 PM
"Prefer Chinese."
"Prefer Indian."
"Prefer Malay."
Wah, rent out house also need to specify race ah. Why so racist one?
If you're already thinking of justifications and explanations for this, stop it lah.
I've heard it all before. So many excuses from racist landlords who either act on stereotypes or based on previous bad experiences.
"I had a terrible experience with Indian tenants. They were very noisy and smelly."
"My African tenants were a 'nuisance'."
"I don't want people to bring any non-halal things into my house."
Look, I understand it must be really frustrating to have trusted someone to take good care of your property and be a good tenant, only to find out later that they're horrible at both.
Maybe you've had the misfortune of dealing with "tenants from hell" who were all, coincidentally, of the same race. But that doesn't mean you're now allowed to put tenants of that particular race in a box and assume they're all irresponsible people who will make your life miserable and/or destroy your property.
That's like saying all Germans are Nazis. Sounds ridiculous, right?
Over time, we have normalised this unacceptable behaviour, allowing landlords to guiltlessly specify racial preferences when renting out their spaces
I tell you ah, if we keep ignoring this problem, it'll eventually come to a point where people will start putting racial preferences for everything.