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"Ching Chong Ling Long" means many things: It means you're an airheaded UCLA student ranting about Asian schoolmates in the library. It means "I love you" to one songwriter. It means a clever marketing ploy for a Chinese food delivery service in Westwood. But when it comes to the latter, one politician says it simply means "racist."
Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) expressed his concern about the business in a letter sent to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block this week, reports San Marino Patch. Eng wrote:
“Numerous student groups and faculty members from UCLA have expressed to me their outrage over the name and have deemed it both racist and offensive. Stereotypical phrases such as these perpetuate misunderstandings about Asian Americans and intensify hurtful sentiments toward this community.”
Ching Chong Ling Long (a bitch to fit on business cards and signage, no?) for their part has said from the get go the name is all in good spirit, and say on their website: "We believe that the best way to combat intolerance is through a positive cultural experience mixed in with a healthy serving of humor."
Co-founder Rachel Lee says she was hesitant at first to use the controversial buzz words as the business name, but claims the UCLA students "convinced her otherwise," notes one Chinese news site. (Incidentally, that site has a totally unbiased headline about Eng's letter to Block: "Racist behavior toward Asians arouses concern in L.A.")
So is Ching Chong's chow mein racist? Or is this much ado about mushu?
