Whole Foods just opened a 365 store with a restaurant named Yellow Fever in Long Beach, California, and people are wondering why no one put a stop to it.
Already ready for lunch? #YellowFeverEats has you covered with fresh, customized bowls at our brand-new #LongBeach365 location - now open! https://t.co/GCoHiMwMUW
Some think the name — which has been used to describe white men who have a sexual preference for Asian women — is racist.
#WholeFoods so white, no one on staff thought this was a bad idea... #YellowFeverEats #everydayracism https://t.co/Hr0YpMOiz3
@365byWholeFoods Asian restaurant called "Yellow Fever"? Really? You see nothing wrong with this? 🤦♂️
Ok @wholefoods Time to hire get some more diversity on your staff. Just a wild suggestion so you don't come up with dumbass racist names. Don't understand why "yellow fever" is racist? THAT's exactly the problem https://t.co/qW1MeOqXiO
Others are taking issue with the name because yellow fever is an infectious disease that, according to World Health Organization estimates, kills thousands of people each year.
But also, I can’t separate the name from yellow fever (the disease) or the freaking painful vaccination shot against it. So I will probably pass regardless. 🤷🏼♀️
Yellow Fever...sounds YUMMY! "Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients." #YellowFeverEats https://t.co/QcUbbRTccn
Whole Foods did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.
Kelly Kim, the cofounder and executive chef of Yellow Fever, says the name is meant to celebrate Asian food and culture — not stereotype it.
The restaurant, which opened its first location in Torrance, California, in 2013 and a second location in Venice, California, in 2016, serves dishes from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hawaii.
"Yellow Fever celebrates all things Asian," Kim said in a statement emailed to BuzzFeed News. "We have been a proud Asian, female-owned business since our founding over four and a half years ago in Torrance, California."
Company branding materials provided to BuzzFeed News acknowledge the name's associations but say the restaurant aims to instead "embrace the term and reinterpret it positively for ourselves."
"The old definition will eventually become an obsolete anachronism, and that
should be our collective goal; that is when we will have succeeded," the branding statement said.
