Now, that’s funny.
My mom considered the typical chain grocery store (Albertsons, Kroger, Publix, etc.) to be an “ethnic” supermarket.
In fact, she still does.
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I’m guessing she considered those “American” supermarkets.
‘Expat’ grocery stores? 
Ive always considered specifically german, swedish, italian or greek, hungarian, spanish or turkish market s as ethnic though., as relating to a particular ethnicity (not generic american). Its true that upon assimilation and in some localities (ie Cincinnati (lots of germans!) upper midwest (lots of scandinavians) everywhere (italian american) the two categories merge, but ethnicity is not the same thing as race.
No reason to see racism when it isnt there, there is enough of the real thing
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No, but also no reason to use a potentially dicey word when a non-dicey one is readily available.
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My city is one with a fairly large immigrant population, and it’s become increasingly mixed over the last 30+ years. What was once a few local immigrant run stores, is now a thriving community with all sorts of groceries, services, restaurants, etc. And of course, this has sometimes created tension with the local community who view themselves as the “original” inhabitants. While most appreciate and even seek out the diversity now - there are a few places becoming worthy destination restaurants or grocers - the old guard shall we say often rears its ugly head especially in online articles, FB communities and the likes.
When a local supermarket closed down, leaving us with two big American grocers, rather than 3, everyone speculated who would move into the big space. When it was finally revealed to be a 99 Ranch, the onslaught began of people who felt they were “promised” another big grocery store, ‘not an ethnic’ store. The fact that 99 Ranch sells many of the staple produce, dairy products, meats, and then some, was somehow not good enough because these residents don’t shop at ethnic stores and wouldn’t know what to buy there (an almost direct quote I saw online).
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Understand; I just like to support particularly useful words that receive this type of unjustified incoming. In this context, there is not a good substitute - the author implicitly recognizes this by putting “ethnic” in scare quotes.Another example is birders who get offended by the use of the word “common” or “lesser” in the english names of certain birds (meaning most ordinary or most frequently encountered and smaller, respectively), is another example of such a word.
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Wow. What sort of cretin doesn’t want the option of a 99 Ranch?
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The ethnic label is misleading especially since it usually does not cover French, German, Polish, Italian, etc. I have not heard of someone calling a French restaurant ethnic. it is often shorthand for ‘lower class.’
People who insist on having an entire aisle devoted to breakfast cereals.
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ethnic label is misleading especially since it usually does not cover French, German, Polish, Italian
It does in my head, but I don’t pretend to speak for others.
I use French reataurant because French is the descriptor I want to use. I dont usually use “ethnic” when referring to restaurants because I use the term that applies to a particular place.
Its similar with stores…I have an Indian, Latin, Asian, and Middle Eastern shops near me, so I use the word that describes the one Im referring to. “Ethnic” is then a catch all for when Im talking about anything that isnt Publix, Winn Dixie, or Aldi.
An store or restaurant offering mostly products and recipes from England…it is ethnically English. But I’ve never heard anyone use that word to describe such a store or restaurant.
A friend who is Ashkenazi Jewish once referred me to someone from England who was temporarily in the US working as a nanny, whom she said was a great hairdresser. I have very wispy hair that easily tangles that I’m told is a genetically common among my English ancestors. This woman was fantastic cutting my wispy hair in layers to make it look fuller. She said she’d seen lots of such hair in England.
I was so sad when her visa expired and she had to return to England. I told my friend that her referral was my “ethnic” hairdresser and I would really miss her, because she did better cutting my particular hair than anyone ever.
My friend said, “you aren’t ethnic, you are a WASP. No one with English ancestry is ethnic.” I’m not anywhere wealthy enough to be a true WASP as I understand the term, but definitely, I, like everyone else, have an ethnicity.
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I don’t think anyone who visits Myers of Keswick in New York would hesitate to describe it as an English/British grocery store.
To me Ethnic always meant not Western. Just like there’s debate whats considered Western, we can debate what’s ethnic. But generally its food outside of Europe and European influenced countries like US, Australia, Canada. As Int’l is just that its not a good alternative.
So yes, it usually means different and exotic to some. Just like Sri Lankan food would be different and exotic in Italy. I still dont quite get why we need to politically correct this.
Thank you for stating clearly what has been danced around along the way. Ethnic has meant exactly what you described: Exotic — to the Western eye.
Because it defines something as the “Other”.
The question is always one of whose gaze gets to define what is exotic / other — a concept well-discussed and researched around the ideas of orientalism and exoticism, but we don’t need to rehash that here.
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The good news is that fewer people anymore use the term ethnic incorrectly.
I still have never heard of a Georgian restaurant described as ethnic. And Georgia is not in Europe. For that matter, your idea falls apart since most of Latin America takes its culinary cue from Spain or Portugal, both in Europe. So much for influence.
Let’s face it, the difference between ‘ethnic’ restaurants and not is purely race.
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Because Georgian is not very common, or too new to us to be viewed as ethnic. But I would say Georgian, Uzbek, are ethnic cuisines. The question is with Russian
As for Latin America, who decided the Latin American is not part of the Western umbrella. Its debatable at the very least
Thats why I was careful with my words. Its different and exotic to some, but over time, due to its growth it got normalized just like western cuisines… Italian, French. Its not as different as it used to be. But the word stuck around because we still dont have an alternative.
How would one describe food in Jackson Heights?
Except that it implies the “normal” is “western” — that’s exactly the issue with the concept
I usually call it by its specific nationality, or food type, or if trying to lump a bunch together, international.
So I’ll most likely say let’s get kababs or momos or ceviche.
Here are a couple of threads with some of our JH explorations and descriptions:
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