LA Restaurant Yellow Fever Ignites National Conversation About Appropriation | Eater LA

"A Los Angeles–area fast-casual bowl concept that has been serving bowls around greater Los Angeles since 2014 opened a new location inside a Whole Foods 365 in Long Beach last week as a partnership between co-founder and chef Kelly Kim and her husband Michael. A tweet from the grocery chain drew national attention and sparked widespread backlash over the restaurant’s name, which many critics called disrespectful because of its racist connotations — including the fetishization of Asian women and the historical association with an infectious tropical disease — prompting coordinated online criticism and debate about the appropriateness of the name. Critics also took issue with linking a scientific disease term to a restaurant and with the idea that the owner’s Korean-American background automatically legitimizes reappropriating the word; the owner has defended the choice as an attempt to reframe the term, and some commentators have voiced support. Major outlets sought comment from Whole Foods but had not received a response at the time of reporting." - Mona Holmes