Afghan Chicken War!

A common knock against open immigration policies and official multiculturalism is that many immigrant groups bring the the fights and social schisms from their homelands to their adopted countries. While it isn't unheard of, I've always thought the threat was overstated. That, until I heard about the Afghan Chicken Wars that are raging throughout New York City, from a beautifully-handled story by Dan Bilefsky. 

Abdul Haye, "the self-styled Colonel Sanders of New York’s Afghan community", claims that he owns the rights to the "Kennedy Fried Chicken" brand, which has spawned hundreds of knockoff restaurants, none of which pay him royalties or franchise rights. A few points worth noting: First, Kennedy Fried Chicken is itself a dubious take on Kentucky Fried Chicken. Second, it isn't clear that Haye himself owns the rights to the brand, since he appears to have "borrowed" it from the original Kennedy Fried Chicken restaurant, which was opened in Flatbush in 1972 by one Zia Taeb. Mr. Haye didn't open his restaurant until 1994.

But what's great about this story is how typically Afghan the reactions from his competitors are. Afghans are famously combative, independent, and anti-hierarchical. No sooner does someone achieve a position of authority in his community than everyone else tries to pull him down. And so:

“We won’t pay a penny,” huffed Nour Abdullah, the manager of Kennedy Fried Chicken on Junction Boulevard in Corona, Queens, which seems indistinguishable from Mr. Haye’s except for the fried shrimp balls and gyros on the menu. “I can rename the shop Munir Fried Chicken after my son or even New Kennedy Fried Chicken. Then let’s see what he’s going to do.”

Even Mr. Taeb thinks Mr. Haye is out of luck. “He won’t win because I know my people, and Afghans will never pay him,” he said. “I will go after him.”

The story ends with a fantastic kicker, with Mr. Haye slouched resignedly over a plate of lamb chops:  “You know, Afghans don’t even like eating fried chicken.”