Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Asian Woman Floored After Picture Captures Racist Photobomb Happening Behind Her At Restaurant

Asian woman; her tweet, which reads, "hold up..lets zoom in here."
@yeaenee/Twitter

19-year-old Emory College student Rebekah Lee was dining at a restaurant in Atlanta, but didn't notice what was happening behind her as she had her picture taken.

An Asian college student who had her picture taken at a ramen restaurant in Atlanta was shocked to discover she was the subject of a racist photobomb.

Rebekah Lee is a 19-year-old student at Emory College of Arts & Sciences who was a patron at the Ton-Ton Ramen restaurant at Ponce City Market on Saturday.


When her food arrived, she had her photo taken.

To her dismay, Lee noticed that a woman behind her in the photo appeared to be teaching or encouraging a young girl to pull back her eyes, causing them to narrow in a slant.

The gesture is typically used to mock Asian eyes.

Lee couldn't believe the casualness at which the gesture was essentially being passed down to the next generation inside what should be a safe space for those seeking comfort food from an identifying culture.

Warning: racist gesture.

@yeaenee/Twitter


No, they are not rubbing their temples to relieve a migraine.



@yeaenee/Twitter


No, they are not exchanging telepathic messages at the table.

They are literally pulling the corners of their eyes back.

What would drive an adult to motivate a child to do this at an Asian restaurant?


@yeaenee/Twitter

Lee spoke to NextShark about the incident.

“[I] had my picture taken when the food came out,” said Lee. “I did not notice the people behind me at all."

"I had heard giggling from the two, but I presumed it to be a happy family outing."

She didn't find out until later what was happening behind her.

"After receiving the pictures later that night, I noticed that scene in the background of my picture."

Lee said she tweeted the photo the next day, "not expecting the reception I received.”

Her tweet went viral with over 500K likes and well over 64K retweets.

In the viral tweet, Lee instructed viewers to take a closer look at the other element in the photo.

"Hold up.. lets zoom, in here," she wrote.

In a follow-up tweet, Lee brought up another incident in which she was made fun of for the same physical feature.

Lee continued telling the media outlet:

"Although I can’t confirm that the faces that the parent and child were making were truly meant offensively, I can’t deny the context and situation that they are in."

People were outraged over the scene taking place behind the college student.








A handful of people were confused as to why this might be offensive.








In response to the confusion, these users took the opportunity to enlighten the ignorant crowd.





It can't erase the memory of what happened, but these edited images were the next best thing.

Asians have long been subjected to mockery for their eyes.

Now, there is a new development in the beauty industry where the facial feature has turned into a trend called the "fox eye" that is being accused of cultural appropriation and being racially insensitive.

The makeup trend involves non-AAPI people elongating their eyes to achieve almond-shaped eyes that were popularized by the likes of Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner–neither of whom is Asian.

“Throughout our lives, our eyes have been weaponized against us and now we’re being told that we should be grateful that society is finally embracing them,” says Alyssa Ho–an anti-racism advocate.

“Asians have been bullied, ridiculed, ostracised, mocked and humiliated for our eyes [and now] our eyes have been appropriated to become a trend that many take part in for the aesthetic rather than to show appreciation.”

Another reason why Lee's negative reaction to her photo was warranted can be explained by Cary Chow, who wrote an article on why the slanted-eye gesture needs to stop.

"For many Asian-Americans, the gesture represents the concept of otherness."

He added that "when others reduce your entire identity to a simple facial feature, it can have a lasting psychological effect."

More from Trending

Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Disney/Marvel

Marvel's Dramatic Announcement Of The 'Avengers: Doomsday' Cast Sparks Hilarious Memes

The internet hilariously trolled Marvel with endless memes after the studio revealed the epic cast list for the upcoming MCU film, Avengers: Doomsday.

Doomsday will be the fifth installment in the Avengers film series and the 39th film in the MCU, following 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Elon Musk's Attempt To Shame Heckler At His Wisconsin Rally Backfired Big Time

Billionaire Elon Musk was called out after he tried to shut down a protester during his Wisconsin rally on Sunday by invoking George Soros, only for people to point out that his criticisms were a bit hypocritical considering his own record of funding MAGA causes.

Soros—a billionaire philanthropist who has been the subject of countless conservative and antisemitic conspiracy theories for his support of progressive and liberal political causes—was Musk's first thought amid the ongoing Supreme Court race in Wisconsin despite the fact he is currently paying people to help sway the race.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez's arrest
ICE

White House Slammed After Turning Sobbing Woman's ICE Arrest Into AI-Generated Cartoon

The Trump administration sparked outrage after using the official White House X account to share an A.I.-generated Studio Ghibli-style cartoon to mock the arrest and deportation of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a Dominican migrant who had previously been deported from the United States after being convicted of fentanyl trafficking.

Basora-Gonzalez was arrested in Philadelphia by ICE for allegedly reentering the U.S. illegally. Seen in tears as she was taken into custody, the woman, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, had prior convictions for attempted possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and aiding and abetting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

MTG Dragged For Editing Tweet After Accidentally Including Hilariously Anti-MAGA Error

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was widely mocked after she shared a video on X in which she bragged about her "Gulf of America" bill but didn't realize she'd accidentally dropped the MAGA mask by referring to it by its proper name—the Gulf of Mexico—instead.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The order also reversed an Obama-era decision and changed the name of the Alaskan mountain Denali back to "Mount McKinley."

Keep ReadingShow less
Man looking at mountain view
Tim Bogdanov/Unsplash

Guys Over 30 Share Life Lessons All Young Men Should Learn Early

While older generations pass on their wisdom to younger ones, some things are overlooked.

Younger people wish they were warned about some pieces of information they could've benefitted from but found out too late.

Keep ReadingShow less