There are stereotypes about almost every nationality and race, some of which are blatantly racist while others could just be seen as harmless fun. And one of the most well-known is the old saying that white people can’t handle spicy food.

It may not actually be true for many people, but one unidentified Korean restaurant in Toronto appears to be perpetuating that stereotype in one viral image being shared online.

The eatery’s menu has a spiciness ranking, where the least spicy rating of food is labeled “white.”

The picture by user peternok, which has been upvoted more than 7,700 times on Reddit, has sparked a debate online about whether or not the sign is racist — and if it’s acceptable to collectively stereotype white people.

Many people who say they are white found the menu “funny,” while others said it is just fueling an unfair and untrue generalization.

Several people put forward a very reasonable explanation for why the least spicy rating is labeled as “white” at the restaurant. They say the label describes the color of a typical Korean broth.

Korean broths are typically flavored with “red” spice — so if a customer asks for no spice at all, the color of the soup will be white.

Several people claiming to be Korean speakers also said there are two different words for the color white and “white people.” The Korean word for the color white is what is written on the menu, they said.

But it didn’t stop the fierce debate about whether or not the menu is racist on the Reddit thread. Some argued that the stereotype was true for a lot of people — one man said that his girlfriend once found a dish of his too spicy even though he had only seasoned it with salt and pepper.

But others argued that they were “sick” of jokes about race, with one user arguing that joking about white people lumped Caucasians into one “amorphous, unified, global entity.”

Several people said that other Asian restaurants have served them non-spicy dishes even when they asked for it to be hot because they were white.

人们对所有民族和种族都抱有固有印象，有些是赤裸裸的种族主义，有些则被视为无伤大雅的玩笑。这些偏见中很出名的一句

是：白人不能吃辣。

对于很多人来说，可能这并不是事实，但从网络上疯传的一张照片来看，多伦多一家名字不详的韩餐厅的照片似乎要固化这种偏见。

该餐厅的菜单有辣度排名，其中最不辣的食物标示为“白色”。

照片是网友peternok拍摄的，红迪网上的点赞已经超过7700。照片在网上引发了激烈讨论，人们争论菜单是否存在种族主义以及这种对所有白人抱有的偏见是否可以接受。

许多自称白人的网友表示，他们觉得这份菜单很“搞笑”，但也有人认为这是为不公平不真实的以偏概全推波助澜。

一些人对这间餐厅将最不辣的食物标为“白色”提出了一个非常合理的解释。他们认为这样的标注和韩国传统汤羹的颜色有关。

韩国汤羹一般都加入了红色的辛料，如果客人要求完全不加辛料，那么汤就是白色的。

一些自称韩国人的网友也表示，“白色”

和“白人”是两个单词。菜单上写的单词在韩语中是白色的意思。

但是这并没有终止红迪网上关于菜单是否存在种族主义的激烈争论。

有人说对于许多人来说这种成见就是事实 — 一男子称自己的女友曾经说他吃的菜太辣了，尽管他只加了盐和胡椒调味。

但也有人说他们讨厌有关种族的玩笑，一位用户称，对白人开的玩笑将所有白种人归为一个“无形的、一元的、全球化的存在”。

有人称，因为他们是白人，所以即便自己要求吃辣，有些亚洲餐厅还是会提供不辣的菜肴。(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【成见】chéngjiàn stereotype a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group

    【固化】gùhuà perpetuate make perpetual or cause to last indefinitely