When I saw this ad posted on a wall in Achrafieh, Beirut I seriously stopped dead in my tracks. Sure, blink and you'll miss it - but the racism inside the ad is mind-boggling. "Required Philippine Waitresses for a Japanese & Chinese restaurant" - very benign, right? I mean Philippine women "look" Asian, and that would be oh-so-cool in a Japanese and Chinese restaurant (they fit with the decor you know). And of course, being "from the region" they would be "supposedly" familiar with the food. Naturally, the Thais, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis are also Asians but they do not fit the part in terms of aesthetics, besides, the Philippine cuisine is quite different from Japanese or Chinese, "but soy sauce is sauce" (the people who put the ad must have rationalized!).
So anyhow, if you can't get Japanese or Chinese employees either because they are unavailable or cost more or for whatever logistic region, go for the lookalikes (in this case Philippine women) and do what Hollywoods does, "cast" an American actor in the role of a German officer, the accent will do and will be enough to be believable; because you know, "all Asians look alike and no one will be able to tell the difference, plus, they blend with the background."
If this is not racism then please tell me what is!
No comments:
Post a Comment