I have a relative from India who refuses to eat at Chinese restaurants anywhere, including the US, because she thinks that giving her money to those restaurants means that it will fund the CCP and be used against India in, say, a war. This sounded like a bizarre justification, rather than just declining because you don’t like Chinese food. Would you consider this type of reasoning to be racist?
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I’d say it’s very bizarre, unsure if it’s racist or if it falls into something else. But you’d definitely get a few 🤨 if you were espousing that in public.
Refusing to eat at a Chinese restaurant because looking at fried rice causes you to fly into a rage at the CCP is extremely stupid lol. I wouldn’t call it racist but it’s dumb as hell, and would suggest that such a person try not to think about politics so much.
I wouldn’t say it’s racist. Weird, sure, but some people have to make everything political for some inane reason so it’s not exactly surprising.
That is textbook racist to me. Not all (probably most?) Chinese immigrants in the US support the CCP.
I consider it weird and useless. The CCP isn’t taxing restaurant profits or personal income earned by people working at those restaurants.
All you are doing is not spending money in your local economy and hurting the restaurant owners and employees.
Like worst case scenario they send money back to family in China that gets taxed as income but I suspect that is minuscule.
I wouldn’t consider it racist unless their intent was racist. Proving intent is difficult.
I find it ironic, because I thought most Chinese Americans are descendants of those who came in the early 1800s. There are also those who fled China to get away from the CCP.
It is kind of racist, but it’s more weird than anything else.
China’s *government* being shit is not a reflection on it’s *citizens*, and doubly so not a reflection of *expats*, or people who are at this point just Americans of Chinese descent.
Apparently there are some Chinese goverment shills even among people who have emigrated from China, and if I found out that the proprietor of a Chinese restaurant was on of them, I’d probably take my business elsewhere… but I give people the benefit of the doubt and won’t assume they are just because they’re Chinese.
Not everything is racist. If someone refuses to eat at a restaurant that supports a Russian vodka company, then they clearly do not support promoting the Russian economy due to the current ongoing conflict. I do not like most African foods, does not mean I’m racist
I must admit that I don’t think it’s as racist as the title originally led me to believe. It’s not *completely* irrational, but:
1. Not all Chinese restaurants are owned by Chinese people.
2. Not all Chinese people have any connection to the CCP.
3. There’s no guarantee that any given restaurant, regardless of style, is not owned by a Chinese person and/or a supporter of the CCP.
I think it’s dumb. Money spent at Chinese restaurants in the US goes entrepreneurs who happen to have Chinese heritage.
But, to each their own. I know Jews who won’t buy German cars since the German automakers were all involved in the Nazi regime to varying degrees, even though Naziism is long gone from any position of prominence.
I’d consider it bizarre, irrational, and a bit virtue-signally.
> because she thinks that giving her money to those restaurants means that it will fund the CCP
She’s what we in the business call “wrong”.
There is a clear difference here between buying products manufactured in China, and a local Chinese restaurant that is probably owned/operated by US citizens.
There are environmental, political, and otherwise moral reasons to not purchase products made in China and to choose products manufactured in first world countries that respect human rights and have environmental controls.
Not eating at a local Chinese joint doesn’t fit into any of those for me.
I mean yeah that seems pretty textbook.
The reasoning is a bit novel but the outcome is the same.
That’s real weird and I imagine such people must be loads of fun at parties.
Buying Chinese made products from Amazon or Walmart or Target will do more to benefit the Chinese Government than your serving of Sesame Chicken and Spring Rolls will.
Yes, I think it is kind of racist. Saying that immigrants have dual loyalties or are not loyal to their new country is an old, offensive trope.
Chinese Americans left China because they do not support the CCP. In fact, many Chinese-Americans are actually Taiwanese.
This is *probably* an unfounded concern. But not definitely unfounded. Several Chinese restaurants have been found to be bases for spies in several countries:
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23176894.chinese-spy-probe-police-visit-glasgows-loon-fung-restaurant/
Of course, the vast majority are small businesses run by law-abiding people with Chinese heritage who make delicious food!
Yes, it’s racist. Or at the very least xenophobic and conspiratorial.
Check out the Curb Your Enthusiasm ep Palestinian Chicken.
> Would you consider this type of reasoning to be racist?
Yes. Your relative is a racist.
1. Running a restaurant in the US is an investment in an American community.
2. The vast majority of families that leave China do so as a result of contention with the CCP. Your relative is assuming allegiance due to someone’s race.
3. Your relative is assuming immigration status. I have friends whose families run (or have run) Chinese restaurants. They’re all US Citizens.
4. Your relative is assuming Nationality. There’s a lot of Chinese restaurants that are run by Hong Kongers & Taiwanese. At least around here.
At the end of the day, your relative is assuming the worst of someone because of their ethnic or cultural background. This is racism.
It’s their loss though, Chinese food is fucking amazing. And there’s a ton of varieties and dishes, I’m sure there’s something your relative would find enjoyable.
I worked with a Chinese woman that said you should never eat at Chinese restaurants. It had nothing to do with the CCP and everything to do with cleanliness. I still get Chinese though.
That type of nationalist stuff is ignorant.
People toss “racist” around too casually, forgetting that there is a lot of stupidity that isn’t racist. It could be based on intent, but just the act of not buying from someone is not racism. Not every ignorant or prejudiced act is racism.
To this act, do I support China? No. Is the guy who owns my local Chinese place directly funding China? No. He’s an immigrant trying to build a future in our country. He’s employing people, paying taxes and sharing his heritage.
Boycotting because he is Chinese by birth accomplishes nothing. Buying from him achieves far more. He tells his friends and families about the business he has built in America. Buying from him creates a familiarity between us that can be used to break down other barriers.
America is India’s largest trading partner by far. $80B a year. Nearly 4X the next partner, and about 3% of GDP. I don’t support their actions on Russia. Should America stop trade with India because we don’t agree?
I’d ask your relatives that. I don’t think we should. I think we should continue to build trade and connections as it strengthens our relationship overall.
Indians’ aversion to china goes far beyond the CCP, lol, and it’s reciprocated. Those two countries do not get along.
Refusing to dine at an ethnic restaurants, with Americans working there, because of politics is possibly the most idiotic thing ever!
People are smart enough to understand the difference between a people, and the politics of a government that in this case might not even be their own, especially at a restaurant!?
Nothing wrong with choosing to not patronize establishments based on their country or culture. It’s your choice to shop and eat where you want. If you walk into a Chinese restaurant and make a scene shouting racially-charged expletives, that’s a different situation.
Racist? Nah. Stupid? Absolutely.
The Chinese people living in America are **living in America**. They came here in search of a life that America can provide to its people, and to share with the other Americans the culture and cuisines.
The Chinese restaurants are just trying to make food and get by, the idea that some money might end up funding a war down the road is seriously convoluted.
Hell, you probably funded the war more directly by buying an iPhone than you would eating Kung Pao chicken
she thinks ccp taxes chinese restaurants from USA?
ITT: people mistaking xenophobia for racism.
Fear/dislike of people !== “those people are less”
The Russian restaurant near me probably had the most pro-Ukrainian signage of any restaurant during the start of the war when I went last. If anything I’d guess the country’s issues would be more near and dear to the restaurant’s heart, but not always in alignment with the government of said cuisine’s country.
Your relative equates Chinese people with it’s government, not the food that’s served. I would say it’s racist. Ask the relative what they think of that to get the answer. I eat Chinese food in restaurants in the good old USA made my naturalized and generational citizens all the time.
I would say its silly because most people who immigrate here from countries like China, Iran, or Russia tend to hate those governments.
I think it’s unfair to hate a group of people for the actions of whichever government.
I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, it’s reasonable to assume the people owning the resto have little to nothing to do with their former government. But on the other hand, I absolutely would not think about taking my Ukrainian-born girlfriend to a Russian resto right now.
I used to work at a tech company that had a lot of Indians and Pakistanis working for them. I was curious about any problems that might have caused. It turned out their biggest argument was who had the more corrupt Government.
They had big parties with each other when there was a soccer or cricket game between their countries. There was no animosity between them.