An Australian Aboriginal girl who was the victim of racial slurs at a Melbourne shopping centre, has won the hearts of people across the world.
Like most little girls, 3-year-old Samara loves Elsa from "Frozen." So when her mother, Rachel Muir, took her to a Disney-themed event at the Watergardens Town Centre in Melbourne last month, she decided to dress up as her favourite Disney queen.
But while waiting in line to play in a snow pit, a woman with her two daughters turned to Samara and said that she couldn’t understand why she would dress as Elsa, "because Queen Elsa isn’t black."
"I asked the woman what she meant by the comment," Muir explained to The Courier, "and then one of the woman’s young daughters screwed up her face, she pointed at Samara and said 'you’re black and black is ugly.'"
Heartbroken the by strangers' callous remarks, Samara buried her face in her hands and cried. In the following days she became withdrawn. When Samara refused to attend her Aboriginal dance class, a concerned Muir asked her daughter what was wrong.
"She pointed at the skin on her arm and asked why she was black," Muir told The Courier, "I told her 'because God gave you that skin colour, because you’re a proud blackfella like mum.'"
Muir shared her and her daughter’s experience over Facebook, which has since been shared more than 1,700 times and was picked up by the The Courier.
After the story broke, Samara and Muir were flooded with heartwarming letters and social media messages from people around the world. She's been invited to take part in the Disney on Ice "Dare to Dream" show, and Indigenous rapper Adam Briggs has asked little Samara to star in his next music video.
She even received a special message from Queen Elsa herself, all the way from Disney World in Orlando, Florida, reminding Samara to always be herself.
"I can't express how much it has meant to us," Muir told The Courier. "I just thought it would be a story people would click past and forget. To know that she has touched so many people … that they see her how I see her is just incredible."
Samara was also crowned the Queen Elsa of Australia in a Facebook competition after the judges learned her story. Muir told The Courier that all the love and support has brought a smile to back Samara's beautiful face again.
"She is back to her proud, beautiful Aboriginal self."
All hail Queen Samara!
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