Photo taken at Asian restaurant in Georgia captures child being taught racist gesture

Michelle De Pacina
·2 min read
3.5k

A photo of a college student dining at an Asian restaurant in Georgia has gone viral on social media due to a racist photobomb captured in the background.

Rebekah Lee, a 19-year-old student at Emory College of Arts & Sciences, was dining at the restaurant Ton-Ton Ramen at Ponce City Market in Atlanta on Saturday when she had her photo taken shortly after her food arrived.

A woman was also captured in the background of the photo seemingly teaching a young girl how to pull her eyes back in a squint, appearing to mock Asian eyes.

“[I] had my picture taken when the food came out,” Lee told NextShark. “I did not notice the people behind me at all. I had heard giggling from the two, but I presumed it to be a happy family outing. After receiving the pictures later that night, I noticed that scene in the background of my picture. I tweeted the picture the next day, not expecting the reception I received.”

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“Hold up.. let’s zoom in here,” Lee wrote in her Twitter post on Sunday.

“Is this the time to say someone told me like two months ago that I should ‘embrace my Asian eyes’ and ‘love my squint,’” she added.

“Although I can’t confirm that the faces that the parent and child were making were truly meant offensively, I can’t deny the context and situation that they are in,” Lee told NextShark.

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The tweet has since garnered more than 500,000 likes and over 65,000 retweets, with many users angered by the racist gesture.

“Imagine enjoying our food and still manage to hate the people,” one user wrote.

“Being racist towards Asians….at an Asian restaurant. Like the audacity and lack of self awareness is unmatched with them,” another user commented.

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“Let me say it LOUDER, RACISM IS TAUGHT,” another user said.

 

Featured Image via @yeaenee