I can't believe that this is happening here in Vietnam. I expect it back in the States as this point because it appears as though a large portion of the USA population has lost their damn minds in the past 5 years. Identity politics and getting triggered and what not, that is not really a thing over here but there are members of the expat community that feel as though the entire world should be the shitshow that is USA right now and bring that garbage over here as well.
The latest casualty is a really nice and cheap pub that I go to that used to be called "Uncle Tom's"
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Uncle Tom's will always be Uncle Tom's to me and to everyone else that doesn't have a politically correct stick up our butt at all times. However, they were pressured by the same PC police that forced the name change of Escobar into changing their name to simply "Tom's".
Uncle Tom's is a pretty typical dive bar and there are lots of them just like this all over Danang and also the rest of Vietnam. It isn't particularly clean or dirty but the drinks are cheap, the staff are friendly and the food is friggin excellent.
The above perfectly seasoned grilled oysters cost 70k VND or about $2.50 .... what a value! I tend to drink either beer or gin and was delighted to accidentally discover that this place's "standard" or "well" gin is Bombay. Most cheap bars would have something like Gordon's or even lower quality.
The interior is nothing special but the bathrooms are clean and the service is fast. Most people choose to sit outside anyway.
Now on to the name change and why it annoys me. For one thing, this place was never trying to mimic the Harriet Beecher Stowe novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and even if it was you do realize that this famous novel was an anti-slavery novel right? The entire negativity surrounding the term "Uncle Tom" was created in recent times and has almost nothing to do with the book anyway. The people who use that term have no fucking clue what they are talking about and probably have never read the book but rather just took the word of someone else who is equally idiotic and assumed it was something bad.
Now on to why this particular "Uncle Tom" business being forced to rename is even MORE absurd. As it turns out, the owner of the place is named "Tom". Obviously that isn't his real name because he is Vietnamese but throughout the years it has become his adopted name. He is known in the communities that he lives in (including this one) as being very generous, especially towards children of lessor means than his own family. He is known throughout the community for buying gifts for underprivileged children and routinely helping families be able to buy school uniforms, food, and other things such as that.
As is common in many different Asian cultures, he has become known as "uncle" to these people even though he is not related to them by blood. It is a term of great honor to have this bestowed upon you. In the Vietnamese community, this man is known as "Uncle Tom" and therefore his business was named this.
I would imagine that the woke mob that threatened to make bogus online reviews of the place and drive it into oblivion with 1 star reviews didn't even bother to learn the story of the man behind this, nor are any of them actually familiar with the novel that the words "Uncle Tom" became famous for. They just wanted to create problems for someone who is actually a pillar of generosity in the community.
I hope I can find out who these people are and give them a stern talking to or perhaps a 1-star ass-whooping because it is crap like this that is ruining a lot of the fun in life and making people's lives more difficult for very stupid and uninformed reasons.
Imagine how much good this "woke mob" could do if they used the time that it took to harass a business into changing its name and instead actually did something good for the community?.... you know, kinda like what "Uncle Tom" does.
I haven't been back to the States in around 14 years according to my nephews age haha. I'd say they lost their minds much more than 5 years ago. Well you have to question the owners of the Cafe to cave in to some let's assume "PC" Americans telling them to change the name because of the name is offensive to Americans whom haven't even read the book or probably even know the book exists. Thankfully the rest of the world doesn't care about what Americans think anymore.
The good news is that everyone that was a customer there still does and always will call the place Uncle Tom's even though the sign was changed. I do not know who the people were that initiated the threat to boycott / write bad reviews for the place but I would bet they are Americans. I say this as an American myself but yeah, they have lost they damn minds over there.
Thanks @chrisinphuket for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 45
ENGAGEtokens.we definitely don't have that crap here. Although I will say that some Thai businesses take it a bit too far. There is the famous HFC (Hitler Fried Chicken) that has been in Bangkok for years. People go there and the place is kind of an Insta success story even though it does get lots of bad press.
The Uncle Tom thing is pretty silly though if the people involved bothered to even try to understand why it was named that - which I am presuming they didn't.
I had to look up the Hitler Fried Chicken thing because I thought there was no way that was true. Turns out it is! What a crazy thing to attempt but then again, according to my friends who live in Thailand, the country isn't all wrapped up in being all PC like other parts of the world... .which I think is a VERY good thing.
Thanks @jack.russelle for being engaged in the ASEAN Hive Community. !ENGAGE 40
ENGAGEtokens.Another one bites the dust....
Nice .gif. I'll be stealing that right now :)