Asian Groups Fight to Change Eatery's Name

But when Groh wanted to open a second Chink's Steaks in South Philadelphia, Asian American groups protested to the Philadelphia River Port Authority, which owns the site. The lease was denied.

Tsiwen Law, general counsel of the Greater Philadelphia OCA, said opponents of the name organized quickly to block the new restaurant, and will do so again. "We actually stopped it from expanding," he said. "Going outside of his neighborhood will be difficult, because we will respond," he added, referring to Groh.

Law said people who use the word or who trivialize Asian American concerns "don't understand the origins of the word and its use as a racial slur." He said the slur became common in the United States in the late 1800s, after the railroads were built and a movement was started to expel Chinese workers from the nation.

"The word reflects that period of time, from Chinese exclusion to ultimately deportation," Law said. The term became "a very common aspect of anti-Asian violence."

And the word -- possibly a crude derivation of "Ching guo," or a subject of the Qing Dynasty -- has been used to demean other Asian Americans.

Kay Kyungsun Yu, president of the Asian American Bar Association of the Delaware Valley, grew up in Seattle and recalls driving across the country with her parents when she was in middle school. They stopped at a small-town diner, where they were harassed by a group of teenagers using the word.

"I think that was the first time I ever heard the word," she said. "It was immediately apparent to me what it meant. We're Korean, not Chinese. We got back in the car and left."

Yu and others said that the groups learned from the failed experience, and that they recognize that part of their efforts must be to heighten sensitivity and educate non-Asians about the term and why Asian Americans find it offensive.

They are in some ways battling entrenched stereotypes. Among them is the perception that Asian Americans are, for the most part, affluent, educated and well assimilated, and should therefore have no complaints -- the "model minority."

"We have not done a good job at sensitizing the general population," Yu said. Many Americans, she said, "generally don't associate Asians as a minority facing discrimination."

Grace Kao, director of Asian American studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said part of the problem is the way race is still defined and discussed in the United States. "In this country, race is still largely a black-and-white issue. Asian Americans and Latinos are largely left out of the conversation," she said. "In public dialogue, you can't say certain things about African Americans, but it's still okay to say things about Asian Americans."

Yu said the Asian American community is willing to pay for all the costs associated with changing the restaurant's name and for a publicity campaign around it as well.

Taking a break between the lunch crush and the dinner crowd, Groh was reflective. He knows the name is a problem. But he has a long history with the popular business, which put his daughter through college.

Groh said he likes the name because of its tradition, and does not see the need for a change. But he acknowledges, "I don't think you could open a place today with that name."