A couple was shocked to receive an anti-Asian slur on their hotel folio after checking out out of a Marriott property in Pennsylvania. But their disinterest in holding the culprit accountable demonstrates a softer bigotry that also merits our scorn.
So Much Bigotry In the Marriott“Ching And Chong” Controversy
I first read about this incident last week and put it to the side, waiting to see if Marriott actually issued a statement on the explosive allegations. In short:
- On June 13, 2022 a couple spent the night at a Courtyard Marriott in York, Pennsylvania
- 37-year-old Jamie Chung, who has an Asian and Jewish heritage, stayed with his 35-year-old girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer
- Upon checking out, a clerk pronounced his last name with a “strange emphasis” as if she was mocking an Asian accent
- When Chung opened his folio, it was addressed to his name with “‘Ching and Chong LC” under it
- He reported the incident to Marriott corporate
- Marriott said it was a mistake (a typo) and also claimed this was a franchise hotel and not under Marriott’s control
- Points were offered as a gesture of goodwill
- Chung turned down the points, instead asking the hotel chain take his issue more seriously
It seems we have a pretty clear case of racism, right? Or at least of bigotry. An agent who made fun of the couple. A folio that followed with an old racist trope on it.
We should all condemn such a needlessly idiotic display of ignorance.
But the story does not end here.
The couple is placing (nearly) all the blame on Marriott, which is not unfair, but also perhaps a bit of a stretch:
“Marriott is a big, powerful company that employs and provides services to a lot of people. What they do and say matters. They need to do better. This is about company culture, training, accountability, basic human decency, and the hypocrisy of Marriott’s inadequate response to racism within their organization, especially given their stated company values.”
Perhaps Marriott should be thankful there are not more bad apples in a company with thousands of properties and over 120,000 employees…
But Chung doesn’t want the employee who created the racist invoice to be punished:
“There is so much nuance and complexity to this story, including historical context, that we worry will be overlooked. It is not lost on us that this racial slur was delivered by a fellow POC. The last thing we want is for this to exacerbate tension between minority communities, who have been pitted against one another in this country. Racism affects everyone, and we stand against it.”
Sorry, but I find this an unfortunate display of bigotry itself.
Do you really think that employee was so stupid that she did not know what she was doing? Do you really think that because she was a person of color she should not be held accountable like others would be for the same transgression?
This equivocation is bigotry; the soft bigotry of low expectations.
I expect all people to treat me the way they wish to be treated. I will not tolerate racism from anyone, regardless of their skin color.
I find it outrageous that a couple would complain about being the target of racism and then essentially excuse the racist, blaming it on the system. It’s time for more personal accountability.
CONCLUSION
A couple received a folio from their Marriott stay with a racist anti-Asian slur on it. While they wish to hold Marriott accountable, they do not appear willing to hold the actual employee accountable because she was a person of color. This merits criticism, though different, on both sides. People should be held accountable for their actions, regardless of skin color.
image: Marriott
I have been called much worse by Asians during my travels. They should suck it up and move on.
Oh really? care to share what they called you boy?
I mean, I’ve been called worse by Chinese folks when visiting there for a business trip. They wouldn’t let me in this one restaurant because they thought I wasn’t “clean enough” because I’m black. On the other hand, folks in Korea and Japan were super nice.
The point is, there are bigots in this world and they’re always undereducated.
Well bigotry is very common. For all this posing and creating drama and holier than thou attitude that cancel culture throws around, i bet they are just as bigoted in private amongst their friends.
In this case the clerk slipped up and got caught. Maybe she forgot to change the names before finalizing it.
Oh Boo Hoo. Such trauma.
So the million dollar question: was Jamie supposed to be Ching or Chong??
… and here’s a middle aged white dude who’s going to tell all the POC what they’re doing wrong.
Awesome.
Middle aged?
…and here’s someone who dismisses an opinion not based on its merits/flaws but rather based on the race and age of the person holding the opinion.
Also awesome.
lol “poc” only people who suffer from a perpetual victim complex use that phrase.
Normal Asian people don’t call themselves or think of themselves as “people of color”.
Says the white suoremacist who’s entire world view is based on while people being the victims. Lolol. The fact that you’re a child abuser makes it worse
Keep projecting, your envy is showing.
So, let’s cut to the chase: was the Marriott clerk in question…..black? Because if it was a white person, that’s all we’d be hearing about – yet the story I’ve read here and elsewhere is strangely silent on this point. Because the narrative is “”only white people can be racist” and the narrative must never be contradicted.
A hard majority of hate crimes and crimes against asians in the US are by black men. Its why the stop asian hate campaign died so quickly. Too many inconvenient facts.
As a former employee we can see everyone employee name who opened that folio! We can see every change made and it tells us what was changed. They person should be fired immediately, people at restaurants get fired for making fun of people names on receipts.
The real racist is Chung for not wanting to blame the only person responsible for this, apparently because of their race. Not sure how much more he wants out of Marriott. Does he want more sensitivity training? Otherwise it’s hard to stop every employee from ever saying or doing something stupid.
Get over it.
despicable. Forget Points. Marriott should give them a week in a Marriott property for free. apologize sincerely, institute rules for their franchisees that stops this; and get them an apology from the clerk involved.
Employees sometimes set up other employees, by intentionally entering wrong information. It’s easy for Marriott’s franchisee to fire whoever was on the desk at checkout. A bit harder to pull the edit log for that folio and see where the comments came from. Even harder to then go to the video and make sure the person logged on was actually the one typing.
The guy is upset about the Asian slur. His girlfriend is Black enough to expect the Black clerk to get fired even if the responsibility was not mainly his. So as a couple they want the slur acknowledged and withdrawn, but they don’t want the morning clerk automatically blamed.
The situation you’re referring to in the IT industry is referred to as “the air gap” or namely attaching the person accused to the keyboard via evidence. Nonetheless, the complainant witnessed someone making a slur but wants to let them off because they’re not white and use the incident to demand an organizational change (and presumably special privileges for his race.)
Note that Asians are the highest income earners per capita ($1 for 88 cents that whites earn) meaning they are the most privileged in society.
And they used to call this the hospitality business. Guess that ship has sailed. Hostility business anymore. Career change is probably in order.
Noticed how Marriott immediately washed it hands of the situation. Yet, Marriott really accepts the royalty fee from the franchisee. If the situation had been different and desk clerk had done something extraordinary for the couple, Marriott would have been front and center when the photographs were taken.