US Rapper Le1f Accuses Australian Border Security Officer Of Racial Profiling

US artist and rapper Le1f has claimed he was racially profiled while going through Melbourne Airport earlier this week.

Le1f (real name Khalif Diouf) is down under for what’s been called his “final” Australian tour, and while he says he’s previously been singled out by a Border Security officer multiple times, he wrote on Twitter yesterday that it’s happened once 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,” he said.

https://twitter.com/le1f/status/965539420026949632

In a separate tweet, Le1f said he didn’t love Australia.

“I love to perform, to be with friends & to make money,” he wrote.

“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.”

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

Melbourne Airport replied to Le1f’s tweet, and asked him to provide specific details about the latest incident. He told them he did not have “faith” that if he revealed the information that Australian institutions “would not find a way to punish me for my freedom of speech”.

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. maybe tomorrow.

— Khalif (@le1f) February 19, 2018

Today, he sent Melbourne Airport the exact details of the incident via Twitter.

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@Melair https://t.co/qn4e7HaGQl

— Khalif (@le1f) February 19, 2018

Le1f has spent some time in Australia over the past few years. He’s been a part of festivals like Sugar Mountain, and has played headline shows here as well. Last year, he debuted a virtual reality film plus live sound and dance performance celebrating Australian indigenous culture, alongside indigenous performers and artists.

Le1f is due to play his next Australian show in Brisbane on 2nd March.