Letter to the Editor: Restaurant Guide offends with backhanded compliment
I decided to contact The Echo because of a rather offensive comment in the graduation edition. I was reading the Restaurant Guide and when I reached the review for Dalat, a Vietnamese restaurant downtown, one line jumped out at me:
“Unlike many Asian restaurants, Dalat is clean and smells appetizing.”
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This is a rather backhanded compliment for a restaurant I frequent, but I was more offended by the baseless jab at Asian restaurants in general. It’s a small statement, but stereotypes are built of such accumulated verbal slights. Considering the celebrated diversity of Eastern Michigan University’s campus, I was surprised at the ethnocentric message of that particular sentence; it suggests Asian restaurants are more likely than others to be dirty and foul-smelling. I would appreciate a printed apology.
Thank you for your time.
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by cmadler
I agree, and I must add that the “restaurant guide” reviews were generally poorly written, and appeared not to have passed through any editorial or review process.
Flag for moderationby Yunxiang
Haven’t you noticed the Echo appears to be being kept in print by about 3 EMU writers these days (aside from wire stories)?
They don’t have time to edit! They just send whatever dribble gets submitted right to print!
Flag for moderationby Greg Brown
This was just the most offensive part. The article also referred to Asian food being saturated with MSG and to Dalat being unpopular because it is Vietnamese. It’s an insidious delivery of complements to Dalat by way of exclusion from the writers’ stereotypes.
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