Damek.

This definitely strikes me as wrong some how, but I can’t quite justify why it feels that way.

Apparently if you can read the Chinese-language menus in NYC’s Chinatown you can find lower prices on at least some dishes. Now it’s not only being reported as a big scandal, the city’s Human Rights Commission is looking into it.

See, discrimination based on race, ethnicity and national origin is unlawful. As it should be. But is language, in this global age, really an indicator of any of those? Statistically speaking, it probably still is; anyone could go learn Chinese without actually being Chinese or from China, but most don’t, so chances are anyone not speaking Chinese is not Chinese or from China.

And you have to ask yourself, what would be the motivation for this? It’s obviously not purely business; if it were, they would charge Chinese-speakers the higher prices and make more money. It seems more like a “help your own” kind of thing, bringing to mind the less heinous aspects of mobsters. Discounts for family, or people form your village, or in this case, people who share part of your culture.

So it does seem wrong to me. Unfair. But it also sorta seems like maybe it’s OK.

(It is weird that one of the people quoted in the story felt the need to justify their desire to have rice with their Chinese food: “‘Being Hispanic, we both like rice,’ said 46-year-old Lopez.” Um…?)

(and yes, I’m just regurgitating stuff from Yglesias’ blog post & commenters, I’m lazy but thought this was interesting.)