UARR joins the call to ban the racist game “Dirty Chinese Restaurant”
For Immediate Release
Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) and Colour of Poverty-Colour of Change (COP-COC)
CALL TO BAN RACIST GAME “DIRTY CHINESE RESTAURANT”
October 2, 2017 / Toronto – The Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO), together with Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC), strongly condemns the mobile game “Dirty Chinese Restaurant” for its racist stereotypes. We urge Apple and Google to refuse to carry the game on their mobile platforms, and call on the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and the Ontario Human Rights Commission to sanction the game developer so that no one profits from perpetuating racism.
Chinese restaurants play an important part of the migration history of Chinese in Canada. First generation immigrants experienced considerable hardship, discrimination and racial prejudice when they ran these businesses to support themselves and their families, and to survive in a new country where there were few other economic opportunities that were open to them. The game mocks these real experiences of exclusion and abuse by portraying them in various spiteful scenarios. It includes plots such as dodging immigration officials, in an utterly disrespectful portrayal of the painful history of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Head Tax. It is hurtful to many members of the community who still face overt racism and microaggression on an everyday basis because of historic and ongoing systemic exclusion. Chinese in Canada continue to experience many forms of discrimination and racism in employment, education and in many aspects of their daily lives. The game developer claims that ‘being politically correct is boring’, but in fact is using bigotry to make a profit from the very real pain and suffering of Chinese Canadians.
CCNCTO and COP-COC urge the game developer, Big-O-Tree Games to incorporate an anti-racist policy in its business practice, as many private sector coporations have done, to bring positive influence to the public through video games and rather than perpetuating racism that will hurt not only the Chinese Canadian community but also other racialized and immigrant communities.
The Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) is an organization of Chinese Canadians in the City of Toronto that promotes equity, social justice, inclusive civic participation, and respect for diversity.
COP-COC is a province-wide initiative made up of individuals, groups and organizations working to build community-based capacity to address the growing racialization of poverty – for both First Peoples and peoples of colour – and the resulting increased levels of social exclusion and marginalization of racialized communities across Ontario.
Signed by:
Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter
Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change
Canadian Arab Federation
Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Council of Agencies Serving South Asians
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
Urban Alliance on Race Relations
For more information, please contact:
Alvis Choi
Interim Executive Director
Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter
Tel: 416.596.0833 (ext. 1)
Amy Casipullai
Senior Coordinator Policy & Communications, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Tel: 416-524- 4950 (cell)
