很多民族在人們腦海里都存在一些固定形象，有些是赤裸裸的種族主義，有些則被視為無傷大雅的玩笑。比如，中國人都會功夫，法國人都浪漫，英國人都紳士，德國人都嚴謹。但是對于很多人來說，可能這并非事實。因為性別、種族、文化等方面的差異，我們在潛移默化中就形成了某些偏見而不自知。近日，一家韓國餐廳的菜單就因此惹上了麻煩。該餐廳的菜單有辣度排名，其中最不辣的食物標示為“白色食物”。許多網友表示，這是對白人抱有的偏見。不過也有網友認為，這是文化差異造成的，與種族無關。

There are stereotypes about almost every nationality and race, some of which are blatantly racist while others could just be seen as harmless fun.
人們對所有民族和種族都存在固有印象，有些是赤裸裸的種族主義，有些則被視為無傷大雅的玩笑。

And one of the most well-known is the old saying that white people can't handle spicy food.
這些偏見中最出名的一句俗語是：白人不能吃辣。

It may not actually be true for many people, but one unidentified Korean restaurant in Toronto appears to be perpetuating that stereotype in one viral image being shared online.
對于很多人來說，可能這并不是事實，但從網絡上瘋傳的一張照片來看，多倫多一家名字不詳的韓餐廳的照片似乎要將這種偏見延續下去。

The eatery's menu has a spiciness ranking, where the least spicy rating of food is labelled 'white'.
該餐廳的菜單有辣度排名，其中最不辣的食物標示為“白色食物”。

The picture by user peternok, which has been upvoted more than 7,700 times on Reddit, has sparked a debate online about whether or not the sign is racist - and if it's acceptable to collectively stereotype white people.
照片是網友peternok拍攝的，紅迪網上的點贊已經超過7700。該照片在網上引發了激烈討論，人們爭論菜單是否存在種族主義以及這種對所有白人抱有的偏見是否可以接受。

Many people who say they are white found the menu 'funny,' while others said it is just fuelling an unfair and untrue generalisation.
許多自稱白人的網友表示，他們覺得這份菜單很“搞笑”，但也有人認為這將為不公平不真實的以偏概全推波助瀾。

我是白人，而不認為這很無禮，我覺得這事兒很逗。

But is all as it appears?
但事情就是如此嗎？

Several people put forward a very reasonable explanation for why the least spicy rating is labelled as 'white' at the restaurant. They say the label is to do with the colour of a typical Korean broth.
一些人對這間餐廳將最不辣的食物標為“白色食物”提出了一個非常合理的解釋。他們認為這樣的標注和韓國傳統湯羹的顏色有關。

Korean broths are typically flavoured with 'red' spice - so if a customer asks for no spice at all, the colour of the soup will be white.
韓國湯羹一般都加入了紅色的辛料，如果客人要求完全不加辛料，那么湯的顏色就是白色的。

Several people claiming to be Korean speakers also said there are two different words for the colour white and 'white people'. The Korean word for the colour white is what is written on the menu, they said.
一些自稱韓國人的網友也表示，白色和“白人”是兩個單詞。菜單上寫的單詞在韓語中是白色的意思。

韓文中的正確翻譯是白色，而不是白種人，這是兩個不同的詞。在韓國文化中，白色與純凈有關，在這里的意思就是“沒有任何或者只有一點辛料”。

But it didn't stop the fierce debate about whether or not the menu is racist on the Reddit thread.
但是這并沒有終止紅迪網上關于菜單是否存在種族主義的激烈爭論。

Some argued that the stereotype was true for a lot of people - one man said that his girlfriend once found a dish of his too spicy even though he had only seasoned it with salt and pepper.
有人認為對于許多人來說這種偏見就是事實——一名男子稱自己的女友曾經說他吃的菜太辣了，盡管他只加了鹽和胡椒來調味。

我經常聽到我的白人朋友抱怨道他們點的菜是“適合白人的辣度”而不是“真的辣”，我一吃辣椒素舌頭就像著火了一樣，所以我對這個偏見完全沒意見。

But others argued that they were 'sick' of jokes about race, with one user arguing that joking about white people lumped Caucasians into one 'amorphous, unified, global entity'.
但也有人認為他們“討厭”有關種族的玩笑，一位用戶稱，對白人開的玩笑將高加索人歸為一個“散漫的、一元的、全球化的群體”。

Several people said that other Asian restaurants have served them non-spicy dishes even when they asked for it to be hot because they were white.
有人稱，因為他們是白人，所以即便自己要求吃辣，有些亞洲餐廳還是會提供不辣的菜肴。

But others, who said they had white skin, did not find the menu offensive.
但也有自稱白人的人表示他們沒有覺得這份菜單無禮。

One user, linatrinch, who said she was white, argued that white people need to 'collectively chill' about so-called 'racist' jokes.
自稱是白種人的網友linatrinch認為，白人需要對所謂的“種族主義”玩笑“集體冷靜一下”。

'It's obviously a stereotype just like any other but nothing to get mad about,' she said.
她說，“這明顯是一個偏見，和其他的沒有區別，但是這沒什么可生氣的。”

英文來源：每日郵報
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning