+OverSword Posted April 9, 2021 #1 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Can a font really be racist? Quote Here's a thought experiment: Close your eyes and imagine the font you'd use to depict the word "Chinese." There's a good chance you pictured letters made from the swingy, wedge-shaped strokes you've seen on restaurant signs, menus, take-away boxes and kung-fu movie posters. These "chop suey fonts," as American historian Paul Shaw calls them, have been a typographical shortcut for "Asianness" for decades. Quote It's hard not to cringe at the Chinese stereotypes bundled up with each font package -- especially when seen through the lens of today's heightened vigilance toward discrimination and systemic racism. Critics believe that using chop suey typefaces is downright racist, particularly when deployed by non-Asian creators. White politicians, meanwhile, have been using chop suey fonts to stoke xenophobia for over a century. In her book, "This is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot," Cooper Union professor Alicia Cheng draws attention to the "chopsticks font," as she calls it, used by San Francisco politician Dr. C. C. O'Donnell on a 1876 ballot, as he vowed to deport all Chinese immigrants if he was elected into office. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted April 9, 2021 #2 Share Posted April 9, 2021 9 minutes ago, OverSword said: Can a font really be racist? Link The correct answer is, and should be, no. The context and usage could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted April 9, 2021 #3 Share Posted April 9, 2021 The answer is NO. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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