McDonald’s apologizes for refusing to serve Africans in China

A woman held up a sign inside a McDonald’s that said the restaurant did not serve black customers.

The sign wasn’t displayed in some city in the segregated American South during the 1950s.

It was recently displayed in Guangzhou, China, which has the largest African population in China. Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, has a population of 14.90 million.

McDonald’s, which later apologized for refusing to serve Africans, is one of many businesses in Guangzhou, that believe Africans carry the coronavirus.

Africans have had to undergo forced testing and arbitrary 14-day isolation with some having been evicted from their apartments in addition to facing harassment by police, according to several news reports.

The United States has warned African Americans to avoid traveling to Guangzhou.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, Jr. tweeted various videos and stories #Guangzhou were appalling.

“Abuse and xenophobia has no place in our fight against the global pandemic. Chinese authorities must do more to stop these attacks against Africans working in China,” Nagy was quoted as saying.

The African Union, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has summoned the Chinese ambassador to immediately restore relations.

Chinese officials charged that it does not tolerate discrimination against our “African brothers.”

McDonalds Corp., which is headquartered in Chicago, announced that it closed the restaurant in Guangzhou for a half a day for diversity and inclusion training after an internal investigation confirmed black customers had been barred from entering the building, according to several news reports.