Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Culture
CultureEntertainmentLifestyle

Asian Woman Has Issue with White-Owned Hip Hop-Themed Eatery Called ‘Me So Hungry’

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

A white couple’s new restaurant, named “Me So Hungry,” is causing an online debate. (Me So Hungry Facebook)

A white couple’s opening of a hip hop-themed breakfast eatery in Iowa has sparked backlash from an Asian woman because of its name.

Me So Hungry in West Des Moines is owned by Sarah Cattoor and Ryan Greening, a couple whose longtime dream of opening such a restaurant has finally come true, according to The Des Moines Register.

“It’s going to be a really fun place and all the [1990s] music will be family friendly,” Cattoor told the paper Wednesday, July 12, of the shop, which opens in August and will include items like Dutch baby pancakes, chicken and waffles and stuffed plantain fritters.

The name of the establishment is a play on the song, “Me So Horny,” by 2 Live Crew, which references a Vietnamese prostitute’s line in “Full Metal Jacket,” and an Asian woman named Fatima Diokno was unamused.

There also were Black people who took issue with the restaurant, apparently for “soul food appropriation.”

However, most Black commenters didn’t feel it was a fight for the community to take on.

“We have been fans of hip-hop music along with other genres for all of our lives and look forward to opening Me So Hungry,” Cattoor and Greening told The Huffington Post Monday.

“We welcome all varying views, and, in fact, you will likely find our views run very counter to many of the [racist] views we are being claimed to have. We encourage people to join us for breakfast and open up a productive dialogue about any issue.”

 

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top