人不可貌相，我们必须从华人餐馆“吐血”中吸取教训

 

具有20多年历史的多伦多华埠著名餐馆康城酒家上周被安省人权仲裁庭罚款1万元，原因是该餐馆违反了保证安省人士购买服务和产品时享受一律平等待遇的人权法规。该餐馆目前由一名移民二代所经营，2017年《多伦多星报》曾为该餐馆进行特写报道，介绍了Colin Li为重振父业对餐馆进行改革创新的艰辛历程。

A  popular restaurant establishment in Toronto Chinatown with two decades of history is slapped with a $10,000 compensation order by Ontario human right tribunal last week for violating human-rights code -- which guarantees equal treatment when accessing goods and services. Colin Li, the current manager of the restaurant made it to a Toronto Star profile in 2017 that chronicled the second-generation immigrant’s effort to revitalize his parents’ business and to continue their legacy. 

但仲裁庭这一要求康城向一名黑人顾客赔偿1万元的判决见诸于报端后，餐馆形象大打折扣。这件事发生于餐馆现任经理接手前的2014年。据媒体报道，黑人顾客艾姆维克为庆祝朋友生日与其他几名黑人一同前往该餐馆就餐。就在他们点餐后但尚未上菜之前，餐馆要求他们立即付钱。而当时在座其他食客却无一他人遭此苛刻待遇。

However, the tribunal’s order, which requested the restaurant to pay $10,000 to a black patron -- has put the restaurant in negative spotlight. The event took place in 2014 when the restaurant was under a different management. According to media reports, Emile Whickham went to Hong Shing with a group of black people to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Right after the order was made, they were asked to pay in advance of being served their meals. No other customers at the restaurants faced the similar request at the time. 

康城酒家辩称他们要求那些不认识的顾客先付钱是为防止吃“霸王餐“现象，且Colin Li称要对仲裁庭的决定进行上诉。但艾姆维克的律师表示称该事件表明，其客户本人的黑色皮肤就被餐馆认为是其行为不法的先兆，成为”即将犯罪的有利证据“，而艾姆维克也被认为是做小偷的料子。

Hong Shing restaurant claimed that they only asked customers that they didn't recognize to prepay for their meal in order to prevent dine and dashing, and Li says it is appealing the tribunal’s decision. But Wickham’s lawyer believes that his client’s mere presence as a black man in a restaurant was "presumed to be sufficient evidence" of his likeliness to commit a crime. He was treated like a "potential thief in waiting." 

目前，餐馆业的确面临着日益严重的吃饱饭就溜现象的挑战，而黑人则往往被看成这种偷盗行为的首选肇事者。据2017年人权委员会的一项调查种族歧视的研究显示，黑人受歧视的程度在在零售/私营小企业行业中最高，有47%的黑人受访者表示他们在这一领域有过遭歧视的经历。

Dine and dashing is a growing phenomenon that restaurant businesses are facing, and blacks are often singled out as potential culprits for the crime. According to a racial profiling survey by human rights commission in 2017, the retail/private business sector was the one in which black respondents reported encountering the highest level of discrimination – with 47 per cent of black respondents saying they’ve experienced racial profiling in this setting.

今年二月份，美国独立城一家著名苹果峰餐厅因指控黑人吃“霸王餐”事件而闹得满城风雨。两名黑人妇女因被控当晚在餐馆吃“霸王餐“于次日被警方追捕。后调查发现这两名黑人妇女被诬陷。当显示这一过程的视频呈现于脸书之后，该事件立即引起全球轰动。

In Feb. a viral video posted to Facebook showed the restaurant profiling two black women and calling the police on them, accusing them of having done a “dine and dash” in their restaurant the night before. An investigation has found that the black women were wrongfully accused.

一名受害者在脸书的张贴被转高达7万6000次。该网帖写道：“有哪个被诬陷为小偷的人士能不气愤难耐？这是一个典型种族歧视的例子。这种歧视我们是绝不能忍受的。就因为我们是黑人，就被当成罪犯吗?! 就应遭到如此诬陷吗？！“

“Who wouldn’t get upset over being accused of being a thief? This is a clear example of RACIAL PROFILING that should not be stood for. Just because we are black does not mean we are all criminals and I will not be treated as such.” One of the black women posted on Facebook, which has been shared more than 76,000 times.

但在华人和某些其他社区对黑人的歧视现象的确屡见不鲜，表现方式可为显性和隐性，直接或间接。艾姆维克的律师称：“在某些族裔人士眼里，有的种族就是高贵于其他种族，而黑人被视为最低贱的种族。“他的这番话在媒体中广为流传。

Discriminations against black people are a common practice in the Chinese and other communities -- presenting in both in covert and overt forms. “It is known that some races are more valued than others, who treat blacks as least worthy. “ Wickham’s lawyer is widely quoted in the media as saying. 

在华人社交媒体微信更是为歧视黑人提供了最佳温床。随着中国经济的繁荣，大量黑人涌入中国城市寻求生计，而以最恶意的诋毁语言表现对黑人仇视，厌恶不已的张贴则呈现于各种微信群组和论坛,而发帖者大多来自中国大陆。

The discrimination has been more evidenced in social media Wechat. As the booming Chinese economy has drawn a flood of black people into many Chinese cities, posts expressing their repulsive feelings toward black people using the most derogatory terms and phrases have dominated the online feed – mostly sourced from mainland China. 

但在信奉族裔平等和尊重人权的多伦多，黑人可不是你能随便歧视的对象。换句话说，他们可不是好“捏的“。他们在维护自身权利和利益方面绝不姑息，比咱们这些同样会在国外遭到种族歧视的华裔们坚定，果敢，顽强得多。一旦黑人认为自身遭到歧视，他们会勇敢地站出来，绝不会向种族歧视低头，认输，忍气吞声或自认倒霉。这也就是为什么像馬丁•路德•金这类让人敬仰的人权领袖会出现于黑人社区，而不是华人社区。

But blacks are not easy targets for discriminatory practices – especially in the multicultural city of Toronto that values racial equality and human rights. They are more vigorous defenders of their rights than Chinese -- who would often find themselves at the receiving end of racial discrimination as well. When blacks believe they’ve become the victims of discrimination, they would never keep silence or back down in their fight against racism. That is why civil rights leaders such Dr. Martin Luther King has come from the black community rather than other races.

为了维护其公众形象，独立城苹果峰餐厅将涉嫌黑人歧视事件的三名雇员解雇，并将该餐厅暂时关闭，进行整顿。至于康城酒家，我相信也会从中吸取一份“吐血“的教训。 

In an effort to maintain public image affected by the incident, the Applebees restaurant in Mo. has fired three employees involved and temporarily shut down the restaurant.  As for Hong Shing, I am sure it has learned a hard lesson.