A lot of emails flow into my inbox each day on so many different topics.
Lately, the tsunami of COVID-19 conspiracies has (thankfully) slowed down to a trickle. They’ve been replaced with people complaining about laneway houses in Burnaby and how the city is “growing too fast.”
Oh, and the lack of “white” food in a Burnaby shopping mall.
Yes, you read that right, someone actually took the time to email their local newspaper to complain about how their local mall has too many “Asian food” options.
The email came as a “letter to the editor” but didn’t include their full name. We don’t publish letters without their name behind it unless there is a safety issue.
The complaint is about how she went to the Amazing Brentwood shopping centre and found there was a lack of “diversity” in the options at the food court.
“I don’t mind the new Brentwood itself,” she wrote. “In fact, the redevelopment and design of the mall is beautiful. What I do take aim with, however, is the lack of diversity of the food court, which I recently checked out for the first time. Unfortunately, I found myself having to make the trek to get my lunch elsewhere, because there was not one restaurant in the food court that catered to my basic white burger-loving plain Jane. Everywhere I turned, it was Asian food. And that’s not an exaggeration. I felt like I was in another country. I understand that Burnaby’s population is heavily Asian. But to not have any versatility as far as food choices go in a mall that’s located in a diverse community is a major oversight.”
Incredible.
Imagine being upset about this.
First of all, if she really wanted “white” food she could have wandered over to the DQ that’s just outside of the food court. Or she could have walked a short distance to the two-storey McDonald’s that’s located in the mall – just not in the food court because the burger giant wanted a larger space. Or you could eat at the pizza place. Or you could wait a few months until the mall opens the White Spot R+D Kitchen at the west side of the food court.
So the mall does offer those options, but it shouldn’t even matter.
Secondly, saying that you felt like you were in “another country” because of some Asian eateries is blatantly racist. Why don’t you just yell “go back to your country” at the customers and be done with it.
Seriously, enough with this garbage. This complaint is a symbol of the continued anti-Asian hate that we've seen in Burnaby and beyond. We are a community of so many cultures and they all belong.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
