There has been an outpouring of support for the sister of a man murdered in the Christchurch terror attack, who was subjected to a racist rant while out shopping with her mother.
The mayor of the Waimakariri District has invited Aya Al-Umari and her family into his own home to offer them an apology for what happened.
Despite the headline-making rant showing racism is alive and well in New Zealand, Aotearoa's Race Relations Commissioner still envisages a future without it.
"Teaching unteach racism in schools, there's a number of projects and programmes right throughout Aotearoa that is going to help hopefully one day eliminate racism," Meng Foon tells Newshub.
Aya filmed the rant from a woman she dubbed 'Karen' while out shopping with her mother at Canterbury's Rangiora Farmers.
The woman can be seen in the footage saying "going home overseas would be a good idea".
After the rant went viral on social media and was reported on by multiple news outlets, Aya and her mum received an outpouring of support.
"Even though she told me to go home, home is in New Zealand for me and it certainly feels like it, especially from all the support messages I have been getting," Aya says.
Her brother Hussein Al-Umari was murdered by the far-right terrorist who attacked two mosques in Christchurch on March 15 last year.
Since then, there has been a spotlight on New Zealand's racism problem.
"We are very strong and pushing the Government to actually have separate hate crime legislation ASAP," Foon says.
Newshub asked people in Wellington and Auckland on Wednesday which region was New Zealand's most racist - and one kept coming up. Christchurch.
The city may have a bit of an image problem, but Waimakariri's mayor Dan Gordon says he can comfortably say the district is a welcoming community.
He's invited the Al-Umaris back and into his own home to offer them an apology.
"I have sent a message to Aya Al-Umari and her family to let them know how appalled I was that they were subjected to totally unacceptable behaviour," Gordon said in a post on Facebook.
"We are thankful for the staff that stepped in and the bystanders who stepped in," says Aya.
The Al-Umari family are heartened by the support and hope others who see racism will also step up and call it out.
