July 22-28, 2004

city beat

Naming Rights

A West Philly barbershop drops "Chink's" from its moniker.

by Helen i-lin Hwang

One down, one to go.

Susannah Park, an activist who led the charge asking Chink's Steak Shop to change its name earlier this year, now reports that another business with what many consider an insensitive moniker will do just that. Employees said that Chink's Barber Shop, at 5864 Osage Ave., was named for a neighborhood man was shot to death some 14 years ago. (The owners recently declined to discuss the details of the man's death or his identity, saying it was still a very painful memory for the owner's family.) But, as of late last month, the business was officially renamed Wayne's Barber Shop.

"I wouldn't want anyone calling people "nigger' or "chink,'" explains Sandra Viola Nelson, the owner's daughter. "I try not to insult anybody. I'm just trying to be positive about it so both groups feel comfortable."

Park says,

"Maybe it's because they're people of color, they understand the issue better." The Nelsons are black.

Paperwork for the change was filed with the Department of State on June 21 so, spokesman Brian McDonald says, it's Wayne's in their eyes. But that's not necessarily the case in West Philly because Nelson has had trouble finding a sign maker to change the name. She said several she called didn't want to be associated with the controversy.

The issue got some citywide play in February when Park and People for the Elimination of Racially Insensitive Language (PERIL) took up the fight against the Northeast Philly steak shop. Shop owner Joseph Groh remains in ongoing negotiations with the city's Human Relations Commission and Park, according to Lane Fisher, Groh's attorney. The next meeting has not been scheduled.

Meanwhile, local filmmaker Joseph Kim is featuring the shop in a documentary about the controversy and in a hip-hop video. On Sunday, Park accompanied Kim as he taped Korean-American rapper DYP tha Goldynchild in front of Chink's Steaks. The shoot was disrupted by passersby and a neighbor repeatedly complaining about the controversy. The passersby, who declined to give their names, gestured profanely after one complained about Korean stores that had signs in Korean.

The city also took notice. Two police officers from the civil affairs unit and an observer from the Human Relations Commission monitored the scene.

In Boston this month, a 16-year-old Vietnamese-American teen was beaten to death in a brawl that reportedly stemmed from a white teenage girl using the term chink.

"Being this is the 21st century," notes Janice Burke, a steak-shop neighbor who says she likes Groh, "he ought to change his name."