A local downtown London restaurant is being called out from the community after being attacked online with negative reviews due to controversial messages on their sign.
After taking wind from reviews and comments about the sign posted online, the London Ale House changed their sign.
Credit: Instagram @eplozz
“I feel like when it comes to the sign, people can argue ‘Free speech’ and political opinions, but if people look at that sign, [and] they don’t think it’s an issue, we can’t force them to say ‘Oh, this is horrible’, ‘this is illegal’ and whatnot. Because technically speaking, it’s not illegal.” said Amy Zhang, an International student at Western University.
Zhang shared she believes that Chinese people are used as a scapegoat for how uncontrollable the pandemic has become. “People have a right to freedom of expression, and people have a right to have anger or displeasure with certain governments and certain regimes, but at the end of the day, it’s undoubtedly impacting people with a Chinese background. With all of this violence and xenophobia, things we’re seeing online, it’s not the time to be so political. It’s a time to love people and try to be a warm, welcoming community for everyone”.
A Change.org petition for the sign removal is addressed for the Mayor of London, Ed Holder. However, Londoners suggest there is nothing Holder can do legally about the pub’s sign.
“Sure, we can bring this to the Mayor’s attention, I’m not sure there are any legal repercussions that can be done about this besides public shame and public humiliation. I think the best thing we can do is A, spread awareness and B, don’t give them your business.” Shares Janice Exel, another Western student.
Exel believes the pub’s platform will spread more hate in the community when asked if the signs will attract additional like-minded individuals. “His platform is ‘I own a business with a sign’, the problem is some folks will see that and go ‘Oh, this is okay’, ‘Well if he’s doing it I’m going to have my own platform’. And that’s the problem when you start to spread hate. Other people will agree with that hate, and use this as an excuse to propagate their own on other platforms in different ways. That’s going to be a snowball reaction. That’s where contacting the Mayor is probably a good idea, and I can only imagine how many other bigots they are enabling while they read that”.
The London Ale House owner Alex Petro has not responded to a request for comment.
The Change.org petition is close to 7,000 signatures.
Comments