why the term is culturally insensitive
the original offensive term for an ethical wall got its name from the great wall of china erected in ancient times to protect china from its enemies the started being used in the us shortly after the stock market crash of 1929 when congress began debating the need to put regulatory barriers between brokers and investment bankers in more recent times the term has been more widely denounced as culturally insensitive in 1988 justice low a judge in peat marwick mitchell co vs the superior court wrote extensively about the offensiveness of the phrase and its negative connotation towards chinese culture and business practices 3for that matter the judge noted the metaphor isn t even appropriate the phrase is meant to define a two way seal to prevent communication between parties while the actual great wall of china is a one way barrier to keep invaders out justice low offered the term ethics wall as an alternative 