Nicky was yards away from the bar when he got the message (Picture: @SoSowemimo/Twitter)
A 32-year-old black man cancelled his date after a woman he’d been speaking to on Tinder for weeks said she ‘doesn’t go to black people places’.
Nicky Sowemimo was taken aback when he got the message, just as they were about to meet for their first date at Soho Zebrano in London’s West End.
The unnamed white woman said she was afraid to go into the cocktail bar by herself in case there were too many black people.
She said she would not go to Caribbean food chain Rum Kitchen by herself again because she was ‘nearly the only one white person there’ last time.
A dumbfounded Nicky said: That’s… a strange thing to say’.
He added: ‘Gonna be honest I really don’t like what you’re saying.
‘If you’re uncomfortable about black people why are we meeting?’
He was taken aback by the WhatsApp message (Picture: @SoSowemimo/Twitter)
His date seems unrepentant as she casually responds: ‘It’s cool we don’t have to meet up then. Probably wasn’t meant to be then.’
The woman was aware of Nicky’s background and ethnicity when they first matched, which left him all the more surprised.
Recalling the date that never was, he told Metro.co.uk: ‘If I’m honest there were a couple of questionable comments last week.
‘Maybe I overlooked them and brushed them off. At the time it wasn’t enough for me to assume the worst, I generally don’t assume the worst of people.
‘It all just kind of came out very quickly – it went from zero to 100.’
He was just yards from the bar before he stopped in his tracks and decided to abandon the date.
Nicky says it is not unusual for people in inter*acial relationships to still have ‘quite unpleasant views’
The 32-year-old was almost at the venue when he cancelled (Picture: @SoSowemimo/Twitter)
Nicky added: ‘It’s not even a place that I would say is predominately frequented by black people so that doesn’t make sense.
‘That’s actually quite a startling level of concern that you can’t actually go into this place. You’re that scared that you can’t go into it.’
Sadly, he says he has met people before who claim they are not r*acist because they are dating someone of another ethnicity, while avoiding places where they themselves are a minority.
The communications officer added: ‘There are obviously people who date interr*acially but still have some quite unpleasant views.
‘I think maybe it’s something people don’t always realise they’re doing wrong.’
He says some people treat their interr*acial relationships like a get out of jail free card and feel like they can’t be a*ccused of r*acism because of it.
Nicky’s sister Annabel added: ‘Often it centres on the same historic stereotypes of feeling unsafe or feeling that the space is “ghetto”.
His date doubled down on her r*acism (Picture: @SoSowemimo/Twitter)
‘It’s not an uncommon issue that people are happy to date a black individual but want them to abandon any cultural ties at the front door.
‘It may not seem particularly sinister until you delve into bigger issues, start raising a family and then the overt r*acism is evident.’
Nicky seems to have dodged a bullet.
Not only was his date pretty open about her r*acist views, she doubled down on her bigotry after being blocked on WhatsApp and Tinder.
She told him: ‘I think it’s very rude just to block someone when travelling 1.5 hour. But it’s okay. I wish u all the best.
‘Probably one of the reasons to stay away from Nigerians. You’re just on a different level.’
Thankfully, Nicky has started speaking to someone else on Tinder who he hopes things are going well with.
Nicky was yards away from the bar when he got the message (Picture: @SoSowemimo/Twitter)