A professor in San Diego has concluded that Yelp reviews of ethnic restaurants are contributing to gentrification and displacement. The reviews “contribute to the transformation of urban foodscapes — the physical, symbolic, cultural, lived, and imagined food environments — that have been built by people of color….” And because the reviewers are “primarily young, white, college-educated, affluent, and tech-savvy consumers,” they are contributing to gentrification of “urban foodscapes.”
Her conclusion is the result of analyzing the language of more than 2,400 Yelp reviews of restaurants in three ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Diego. The professor uses quotes of words or phrases from reviews as her evidence, and then takes offense to the use of words like “delicious” and “authentic.” These adjectives usually connote a positive characteristic. But it appears that the professor finds them to be a negative when written by young whites.
And when a reviewer states that he wants to “support immigrants” or “boost ethnic entrepreneurship,” the professor proclaims that the reviewers are expressing “moral superiority for eating “other people’s food.” One must wonder if the professor thinks it better to shun immigrants and ethnic restaurants.
The professor goes on to write that “reviewers turn their attention to consumers and their experiences… while rarely acknowledging the presence of immigrants working behind the kitchen doors and living in surrounding areas.” Apparently, a restaurant review shouldn’t actually talk about the restaurant or its food, but rather, the ethnicity of employees and those living nearby.