hardboiled

dirty laundry: white owners of asian restaurant get aired out

The name of a restaurant says a lot about a business. It could represent the food the restaurant will serve, the history of the owners, and the culture that wraps around the business. Ethnic restaurants in the United States have become increasingly popular, Asian restaurants in particular. Because of the success of Chinese restaurants, we have seen people who aren't Chinese take an interest in the ethnic restaurant industry by investing and creating their own businesses. In the past two years, two restaurants, however, have gone beyond creating their own companies. By using racist terms and stereotypes, two white businessmen who had hoped to sell their foods and services, successed in angering the Asian community instead.

This past March, an Asian fusion restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, went overboard with its name and its advertisements. Businessman John Elkhay purchased the property on which the last Chinese laundry in Providence stood and, in keeping with tradition, called his restaurant, "Chinese Laundry." He chose the name "in memory" of Chinese laundry laborers but failed to acknowledge the racist employment practices that forced hard working Chinese families into entering the laundry business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A name like "Chinese Laundry" has a very complex, racialized history behind it. Using that name for its exotic appeal can already be a complicated matter but Elkhay made things even worse with his advertising.

In trying to become a successful businessman, Elkhay bought a print advertisement for his upcoming restaurant in Province Monthly Magazine, three months prior to opening. After the advertisement was released, the Asian American community, especially Asian American women, was enraged.

For their advertisement, the restaurant ran a large black and white picture of a naked woman's torso with "Chinese Laundry" written on her side. Covering her breast were the words, "See what you are missing," and the top of the ad read, "Good things come to those who wait." Overall, this picture depicted the woman as an object of sexual consumption, dehumanizing her because of her lack of face, hands, or legs. The only think that is emphasized in the photo are the parts on her body that are sexualized: her breasts, navel, crotch, and thighs. The ad relies on Oriental fetishization, casting the woman as the seductive alien Oriental China Doll. Too long have Asian women been looked at by the general public only as the kickass Dragon Lady or the seductive China Doll, stereotypes that become fake labels Asian women have been fighting to peel off every time a man with an Asian fetish walks by. Elkhay's advertisement does not in any way help Asian women, but rather promotes their continued dehumanization in order to make money.

After receiving hundreds of emails over his offensive ad, Elkhay decided to pull the advertisement and replaced it with a new, but very similar, replacement ad. He also apologized for unintentionally running the ad in his press statement on the "Chinese Laundry" website. Jenn Fang, a blogger at reappropriate.com and one of the main proponents to pull the ad, says, "The fact that he pulled the ad is inconsequential and merely hints at an apology because his subsequent marketing tactics continued to perpetuate centuries-old stereotypes of Asian-American and Pacific Islander women as objects of submission, foreignness and sexual exoticism. He is exploiting Chinese culture, in general, and popularizing oppressive and offensive images."

As for his new ad, nothing has really changed. It is a silhouette of the original ad, still containing the naked torso of a woman and "Chinese Laundry" written on her waist. The emphasis is now on her more womanly curves and the very acute outline of her nipples. It saddens me that a man who supposedly apologized for his unintentional wrongful act would once again pull a similar one. If Elkhay is not objectifying Asian women, he is objectifying women in general. May I also add that during the red carpet opening of his restaurant, Elkhay hired barely clothed models to serve sushi and even hired fake paparazzi to take pictures while he came out of his limo. He is selling sex through his foods and services, using the exoticism of Asian cuisine and women as his sole selling point.

Elkhay is not the only one to offend Asian Americans in pursuit of a quick buck. The other restaurant that went too far in using racist terms to sell its goods and services was "Eggrolls, Etc." in Tuscan Arizona. Just last year, Eggrolls, Etc. received complaints for using racist slogans in its advertisements and menu. Owner Mike Reynolds used the word "Chinamen" in his restaurant fliers, stating that delivery orders were brought by "old Chinamen" in rickshaws. In his menu, he included a parody of the stereotypical Chinese inability to pronounce words containing the letters "r" and "l." For example, the menu lists "flied lice" instead of "fried rice."

In an interview with the Arizona Daily Star, Reynolds said, "I never intended to hurt or damage anyone [but I apologize] for the misunderstanding created by the jokes," but people like Reynolds do not understand the history behind the "Chinamen": the hardworking Chinese immigrants who had to work long shifts in the unsafe environments to build railroads, and the derogatory meaning the term carries. People like Reynolds do not understand nor have experienced the difficulty of learning English as a second language for Chinese and all other immigrants. People like Reynolds choose to mock them instead.

The Tuscan Asian American community, particularly the Chinese American community, denounced Eggrolls, Etc's advertisements as racist. They wrote letters and contacted advertisement agencies and were able to convince Reynolds to pull the ad. Reynolds has never made a formal apology, but the Tuscan Asian American community was successful in forcing him to change his poor choice in advertising.

What has occurred with these Chinese restaurants is rather frightening. The mockery and racist slogans that are used as techniques in the Chinese restaurant industry tells me that the people like Reynolds and Elkhay still sees Asians as Chinamen and China Dolls and it sickens me. I am appreciative of the fact that there are people like Jenn, the blogger from reappropiate.com, and the Tuscan Asian American community who are willing to fight that oppression and the stereotypes. We won't take this.