The owner of Forbes and Burton café in Darlinghurst made headlines earlier this month following reports that he didn’t want to hire Brazilian barista Nilson Dos Santos because he was black.
The owner, identified only as Steven, has shut his doors but it remains unclear if the business has closed down.
Steven, a recent migrant from China, has since faced a torrent of racial abuse online with dozens of racially offensive comments posted on the cafe’s Facebook page.
The comments, which were still being posted weeks after the news broke, included references to “gooks”, “uneducated immigrants” and something called “angy [sic] chinaman syndrome”.
Other posters called for Steven to return to China.
'We should never respond to racism with racism'
Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane has slammed the online reaction, saying racism cannot be tackled with further discrimination.
Dr Soutphommasane told SBS it was encouraging that people had taken a stand against Steven’s comments, but urged the public to rein in unconstructive comments.
“It is important that all of us are prepared to call out racism when we encounter it,” he said.
“In the case of the Darlinghurst café owner, we can only hope that he has learnt that racial discrimination is unacceptable and that the vast majority of Australians will condemn it.
“But we should never respond to racism with racism.”
The Facebook page has also attracted racist comments in support of Steven’s actions.
One post read “I like my coffee like I like my Australia. White. Everyone else pls go”.
Other images, such as the one below, have also been posted.
The image caption reads "we fought and died for your freedom, and you won't speak out now because you're scared of being labelled a 'racist'?!".
Mr Dos Santos has since found employment as a barista at another cafe in the same suburb.
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