A Dallas-based influencer has shared footage of a racist encounter at a local restaurant that has sparked widespread condemnation online. Ngai Ning, known as ningfooty on TikTok, was recording a video of himself eating at an IHOP when a woman behind him was caught making a “slant-eye” gesture directed at his back.
The footage shows the woman peeking around a partition to watch Ning. After making the offensive gesture, she approached his table to challenge him. “Can I ask you a question? Why are you recording?” she asked. When Ning replied that he was filming “for fun,” she claimed there were “problems” with people filming for TikTok and told him he was “not supposed to be filming.”
Despite the woman’s claims, Ning remained calm, eventually interjecting to clarify that he was only filming his own meal. An IHOP employee later apologised to the influencer for the woman’s behaviour as he paid his bill.
‘It felt condescending’
Ning admitted that he did not notice the gesture at the time. He only discovered the racist mockery when he re-watched the footage later. In a follow-up post, he described the experience as a realization of the casual racism many Asian Americans face.
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“I didn’t expect this video to blow up like this,” Ning said. “At first, I’ll be honest, it didn’t really bother me. But after watching the video back, it really hit me. Seeing it happen to me made me realise how not okay it actually is. When she came up to me it felt condescending and passive-aggressive.”
The incident highlights a broader trend of harassment directed at the Asian American community. Statistics from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism showed that anti-Asian hate crimes in major US cities increased by 339% in 2021 compared to the previous year. While many incidents involve physical violence, influencers and activists point out that “casual” racism, like the gesture captured in the video, remains a persistent issue.
Online backlash
The video has amassed millions of views, with commenters on TikTok and Reddit identifying the contradiction in the woman’s actions. Many noted that she questioned Ning’s “manners” while behaving in a way that was objectively offensive.
One user on Reddit noted the irony of the woman warning Ning about “problems” on social media while she herself became the subject of a viral video due to her own actions. “She completely fails to explain the problem,” the user wrote. “Then he finds out she is part of the problem by being racist behind his back.”
The woman in the video has not been publicly identified, and IHOP has not issued a formal statement regarding the incident beyond the staff member’s immediate apology to Ning on the night.
https://www.tiktok.com/@ningfooty/video/7585263183057653005
