The problem with the term “ethnic food”
Growing up in small town Alabama, whose Captain D’s was consistently acknowledged as the best Captain D’s in America, “ethnic food” never struck me as a potentially problematic term.
Though I can’t remember the last time I used the term, I really appreciated this conversation between David Cho and Larry Liu.
David Cho: Call it for what it is, the Ethnic isle equals all colors of brown food. Brown people's food.
Larry Liu: Yeah, that's what it is. Yeah, it's the brown people’s section of the grocery store. That's what it is, because it logically does not make sense whether it be ethnic food and non-ethnic foods so yeah, it drives me. I don't... Do you even go to that section anymore?
David Cho: Do I smell ethnic? Do I dress ethnic?
Larry Liu: It's the worst fucking word.
David Cho: If you search this like pull on this thread, and the semantics of it all, right. If we're comfortable with the word ethnic, then we should be comfortable saying, you smell ethnic.
Larry Liu: Yeah. You look ethnic today.
David Cho: You sound... Where are you from? You sound ethnic.
Larry Liu: Hey Dave, are you ethnic? What does that even mean?