A young Vancouver woman says she hopes video of a racist tirade against her will shed light on racism in the city and make people reconsider the impact of their words.

Anika Vassell was parked near the intersection of Ontario Street and West Broadway Thursday when a woman came up to her car and tapped on the window.

The Simon Fraser University masters student alleges the woman started asking her questions about her ethnicity.

Vassell, whose parents are Jamaican and South African, said this isn't the first time she's faced racist remarks, so she decided to pull out her phone and start recording the exchange.

"I was angry at first and I was about to roll up the window and drive away, but then as the window was going up, she was still talking and that's when I realized that I could easily record her," she said.

Vassell said she doesn’t know the woman and didn’t interact with her prior to the incident. CTV News, however, has chosen not to reveal the woman's identity due to lack of evidence.

In the 27-second clip, she is heard telling Vassell "to go back to your home country."

"When I see you, I see that you are black and I see that you're not white, so you are not like the rest of us," the woman says, calling Vassell "arrogant" and "a danger."

At the end of the video, Vassell can be heard telling the woman to "have a nice day" as she rolls up her car window.

Vassell then shared the footage on Facebook Friday morning.

The video has since been shared more than 7,800 times and has received hundreds of comments.

"Yesterday I was the victim of a prejudiced racial attack right here in Vancouver," she wrote in the post.

"It makes me sad that at the start of a new year when many people are most optimistic about what is in store for them, there are just as many who feel obligated and entitled to tell others that they don’t belong."

Later that day, Vassell told CTV News she's upset by the attack, but not surprised.

"It did make me feel sad because it really just meant that I was targeted because of the colour of my skin and there was really nothing else about it," she said.

"It shows that these kinds of small comments happen to other people of colour, other visible minorities and that it is still an issue—that racism does happen."

Vassell said she decided to share the video in hopes that others can learn from her experience.

"There is no one look or one person that belongs to Canada or Vancouver," she said, adding that she hopes people can be "a little bit more aware of their words."

That message also applies to the woman in the video, she said.

"I would probably try to get across to her that her words have impact, that no one is less than someone else because of their skin colour and that it's not fair to target people for that," she said.

Vassell said she has contacted Vancouver police and that investigators are aware of the alleged incident.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Alex Turner