Guide Goes On Videotaped Racist, Expletive-Laced Rant To Tourists Aboard Chinatown Bus In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- A tour bus ride through San Francisco took an ugly turn when it got through Chinatown. It was just last year that Chinatown was named one of the best neighborhoods in all of America, but one tour guide made it pretty clear she didn't agree with that.
The guide was filmed during a racist and expletive-laden rant about the neighborhood and its inhabitants, and even garnered applause from tourists.
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The video shows the woman, who says she is originally from Los Angeles talking through a loudspeaker to the tourists saying things like, "f**k Chinatown. F**k your little herb gardens. F**k your little seafood f**king markets and your turtles and your frogs. F**k your f**king ginseng. F**k your little hair salons where no one in there knows how to speak English!"
The guide, who reportedly works for the tour company City Sightseeing San Francisco, was apparently on her last day of the job was filmed by tourists on a double-decker bus rolling through the city's Chinatown neighborhood while she drank from a brown bottle.
"When you come to America you gotta assimilate a little bit, and here in America we don't eat turtles or frogs, OK? But they gotta bring that here to America, OK? There's a limit, OK? You gotta assimilate a little bit Chinatown!" she says. "F**k your laundry hanging out the window, f**k your three or four people inside each one of your little SROs!"
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In the guide's crosshairs: salons, the sidewalks, the food, the language barrier.
"At first we saw it and thought it was a joke," said David Chiu, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. "We're all incredibly saddened and disappointed that in 2014 someone would utter these stereotypical and racist comments."
Some of the tourists aboard the bus either agreed with the racist rant, or just plain couldn't understand what she was saying and thought it was part of the show, because the guide actually received applause from passengers.
"I hope that we learn that they didn't understand what she was saying if they were not native English speakers," said Chiu.
At one point, she offers a stern warning to anyone considering moving to the neighborhood:
"We have a Chinatown in my hometown of Los Angeles that is way cleaner, way better restaurants, not as many people. This is a horrible place to live!" she says. "If you are considering moving to San Francisco, although this is the cheapest neighborhood, do not live here! I have learned my lesson! These people wake you up at 6 in the morning!"
At the end of the video, the woman and the crowd join in to scream "f**k Chinatown, Go Giants," as they traveled through a tunnel.
City Sightseeing San Francisco CEO Christian Watts issued a written apology Thursday.
"Comments made by this former employee on her last day of employment are absolutely not a representation of how much we love and support Chinatown, and every other community in San Francisco," Watts said, adding the company is adding more training processes "to ensure that each tour is up to (their) rigorous standard."
The video was apparently taken by a German tourist and posted to BrokeAssStuart.com.
VIDEO WARNING: The video, which contains graphic language that is not safe for work (NSFW) can be seen here.
