Chink’s Steaks

By John | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | 17 Comments

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I just came across this interesting story in The Washington Post titled, “Asian Groups Fight to Change Eatery’s Name.” There has been a popular restaurant in Philadelphia that opened in 1949, that bears the nickname of the restaurant’s original owner:

“It’s called Chink’s Steaks. The restaurant was opened by Samuel Sherman, who was nicknamed “Chink” as a child because of his supposedly slanted, Asian-looking eyes. “Nobody ever called him Sam,” said [current restaurant owner Joseph] Groh, who started working at the eatery at age 15 and later bought it after Sherman died. “That was his name from the age of 6. The problem is that the term “chink” is every bit as racist and hurtful to Asian Americans as “the n-word” is to African Americans — so much so that some have taken to calling it “the c-word.” “It’s definitely a derogatory term,” said Ginny Gong, national president of the Organization of Chinese Americans, one of several groups pressing for the restaurant to change its name. “…Groh said he likes the name because of its tradition, and does not see the need for a change. But he acknowledges, “I don’t think you could open a place today with that name.”

Well, I can understand why restaurant owner Joseph Groh would want to keep a name for tradition, but if the restaurant had been named Nigger’s Steaks, do you think he would have kept the name? If you look up chink in Wikipedia, you will definitely discover the term has quite the historic racial slur against the Chinese originally (but its use has expanded to include all East Asians). I recall being called ‘chink’ a few times while growing up on the East Coast, and definitely not liking the term at all…

In 2004, a 21-year-old Korean-American Susannah Park, the adopted daughter of white parents, campaigned to get the name of the restaurant changed. Growing up in almost all white West Virginia, she was often called ‘chink.’ Chink may not sound that ‘bad’ and is definitely not as well known as ‘nigger’ or ‘spic‘ , but I hope that mainstream America doesn’t consider the term to be used in polite language. I have to agree with the a quote in the article by Grace Kao, director of Asian American studies at the University of Pennsylvania:

“In this country, race is still largely a black-and-white issue. Asian Americans and Latinos are largely left out of the conversation,” she said. “In public dialogue, you can’t say certain things about African Americans, but it’s still okay to say things about Asian Americans.”

I definitely have to agree with the Asian American part. I think with the growing numbers of Latinos in the United States and the issue of illegal immigration, Latinos are increasingly being drawn into the “race debate.”

The name aside, the Yelp reviews of the restaurant is quite good (despite the name as many have commented), and it sounds like the restaurant makes the best damn cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

So what are your thoughts on the matter? Should Joseph Groh change the name of his restaurant? What should he change it to? When the controversy began, Groh’s mother suggested the name Joe’s. Now how “All American” is that?!

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