Fassianos

@TheCat As I mentioned we wont engage with a business who's trying to use the equivalent of it's not "nword-er its nword-a" in Greek as an excuse to continue to use a racial slur as their brand name. We've left that to the relevant officials. If you require more information you can use google translate. I attach the exact result it gives. Lastly as Amberob mentioned on a an earlier post I am not the first Greek person to spot this and apparently not the first to reach out to the business either.

It's not https://arapina.co.uk/the-owner/ .

This is not an antiquated term. This is a slur used today in Greece towards the Afro-Greek community members of which live in ED. I personally prefer to defend members of my community from further harm rather than a business knowlignly branding itself for 10 years over a racist term (given that the owner is Greek). We will not meet for a coffee and a slice of cake before any reassurance that the matter at hand will be dealt with care unfortunately. Otherwise what'd be the point, debate over terminology? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B1 I will leave it to that. As mentioned by Penguin68 everyone is free to do with their custom as they please.

Their replies have been a constant repeat of the racist cake story no one below the age of 70 has heard of in Greece, now widely known as chocolate cake or the below, where we're repeatedly invited for a tour of the bakery or provided with alternatives for the slur. No acknowledgement, no thought nor reassurance that the matter will be addressed or even discussed internally. Unfortunately I don't perceive this as a professional enough response when members of the community you do business in inform your of the offence your name causes.

More than that, they’re a franchise. As such they’ve got no control over what they call themselves. I agree it’s appalling, but the argument is with the owners in Greenwich, not the franchisees. As I mentioned we have reached out to the owner who has invited us over for a tour without acknowledging the matter or reassure us that actual care or thought will be given to it. Instead they even tried to showcase alternative versions of that said word as the harmful ones which honestly is bogus attempt to deflect responsibility.

Yep, I think they're a branch.

Thanks all for the suggestions! We will contact the councilors and local MPs asap. If there's any other active forums on FB or Twitter we could inform people about this please do let me know. Honestly it is a very harmful word. Similarly named products in Greece have been renamed ages ago so there's really no reasoning in using this derogatory term in any way even if a racist cake was named after it in the past. There's no way to claim ignorance either.

I understand. We have actually had a brief back and forth with the owner who's deflecting responsibility and is not willing to write down any steps towards a positive change. It's understandable to be in denial when put in this type position but it's equally important to listen and try to respond. Instead we're being gaslit. Anyway, thought it's good for the wider community to be made aware.

I am writing in regards to "Arapina" bakery/café on Lordship lane. The store's name is a racial slur in Greek used in a derogatory manner towards women of black and African descent which has caused much hurt and harm to the Afrogreek community. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B1 I was initially taken aback by the unfortunate name of the store and had assumed it might be some kind of linguistic coincidence but having a look on their website I realized that the owner is Greek (as am I). The justification for the store's name is a blatant cop out https://arapina.co.uk/what-does-arapina-mean/ . Given that the cake was named after the slur ages ago and is now known as plain chocolate cake. I would like to inform the community about the situation. I am sure same as me other Greeks or Afrogreeks living or passing through Dulwich might find this word plastered across a sign quite offensive. I have written to the store but not heard back yet. I understand that this might seem minor to some but given ED's diversity I felt others should be aware of the potential impact of a foreign racial slur on a store front right on Lordship lane might have for some.