Teaching Children To Hate Foreigners

[geek_frappa]

It was so cute. A little boy was walking with his mom and his mom told him in Chinese that he should never act like a stupid Gweilo (that would be me).

that's so touching. a bonding moment between mother and son.

so is it ok to teach you children these things? is this Chinese tradition?

[geoffkhan]

Gweilo = white devil/big nose?

[林彪]

Gweilo = 鬼佬

[39degN]

hehe, i think his mainland cousins are 鬼子 or 洋鬼子, yeah, china has a not long tradtion to assume every foreigner as an enemy or bad guy, i think it mainly caused by the certain history background.

in addition, we have a saying to call somebody(chinese) who speaks foreign language as 假洋鬼子

P.S. dont worry, this condition takes place in china 20 years or longer ago. you are safe this time.

[geoffkhan]

Well I'm a Gweilo then. And proud of it.

EDIT: Is "Gweilo" in Cantonese or something? What's the Mandarin pronounciation?

[Quest]

鬼佬 guilao

but 佬 is not used in mandarin, so 子 is substituted.

佬: grown man (notice the radicals: man old)

子: male

[Quest]

It was so cute. A little boy was walking with his mom and his mom told him in Chinese that he should never act like a stupid Gweilo (that would be me).

that's so touching. a bonding moment between mother and son.

so is it ok to teach you children these things? is this Chinese tradition?

I think the general perception(stereotype) is that the "Gweilos" are too "honest", too straightforward and lazy students, while the Chinese are hardworking but crafty and always use trickery on each other. So Gweilos appear "dumb".

and since race is not a big issue in China, a Chinese mom probably would not think twice before saying things like that.

[Guest iCEeYEs]

nevermind

[39degN]

yeah, you got the point!

[Ian_Lee]

Actually gweilo is a generic term for Cantonese speakers to describe westerners.

Its use dates back to probably hundreds years ago. When the term was first invented, it might connote a derogatory meaning.

But now it hardly carries such meaning at all.

[geek_frappa]

Actually gweilo is a generic term for Cantonese speakers to describe westerners.

Its use dates back to probably hundreds years ago. When the term was first invented' date=' it might connote a derogatory meaning.

But now it hardly carries such meaning at all.[/quote']

i think we are missing the point here.

i am talking about parents limiting their children's opportunities by teaching them about a 'stupid gweilo' ....

btw, i mistyped,

'gwailo' is cantonese.

'guilao' is mandarin.

i hope that eventually parents will stop teaching kids how to hate foreigners, especially if they are born here. the saddest thing is a child born in america who cannot speak english. that is sad.

[Quest]

btw, i mistyped,

'gwailo' is cantonese.

The sound is half way between gwai and gwei. The sound between ai and ei is the hardest vowel to spell/pronounce in Cantonese!

[geek_frappa]

btw' date=' i mistyped,

'gwailo' is cantonese.

[/quote']

The sound is half way between gwai and gwei. The sound between ai and ei is the hardest vowel to spell/pronounce in Cantonese!

yes, especially with different moods, cantonese has so many pronounciations.... gwwwwwwwwwwaiiilo.....

wait a minute!

again, we are "skipping the topic". address the original post, please.

i'm going to start cracking down on uncertainty avoidance. people seem to be unable to leave their comfort zones...

[geraldc]

I'm slightly confused, where were you when this happened? Hong Kong or USA?

Also were you misbehaving when the mother pointed you out as a cautionary example?

What term did they use to describe you as "stupid", are you sure they didn't mean silly? 傻?

Depending on the context I could see it simply as mother telling her child to behave, rather than an attempt to instil racial hatred in her child.

[Guest nuer]

I am guessing you live in Beijing? Yeah, blatant racism can be pretty pervasive in China. Sometimes it takes a lot of self-control not to go nuts. If there is one thing I absolutely cannot stand, it's the stereotypes.

At the same time, Chinese say things about everyone - japanese, koreans, etc. while laowai's are put under one broad category.

If you go to Shanghai and you are a "gwailo" you are treated with wide-eyed reference while in Beijing there is sometimes a degree distrust.

However, there is racism everywhere isn't there? My friend's aunt (of Chinese descent) heard an Australian mom tell her child to stay away from "Chinese people" (this was in Australia).

[kentsuarez]

This topic brings to mind something that happened to me just yesterday on the streets of Taipei, when an ethnically Chinese man stopped and said to me "you get outta here". Stunned, I turned and asked in Chinese what he meant. He told me I belonged back in America or Europe, not here in Taiwan. Clearly, he did not welcome foreigners. Perhaps he was a bit unbalanced?

This is the first time any such xenophobia has manifested itself in my ten years here. Normally people here are very friendly and welcoming. Most of the racism which exists here, as far as I can tell, is directed against so-called "mainlanders", i.e., Taiwan citizens whose families came to Taiwan in the most recent two generations, and who think of themselves as Chinese, not Taiwanese. No one here EVER calls foreigners by the old pejorative yang2gui3, for example.

[feebie]

They call westerners guizi???

my Chinese friend told me they only call the Japanese this

maybe he was protecting me from the truth

Oh yes there is racism everywhere

unfortunately there is racism in Australia

Sydney is usually pretty good, perhaps Melbourne

but smaller places --- scary

funny that Australia has this squeaky clean image

Australia used to have the "White Australia Policy"

and people were inspected for colour on entry

and not that long ago in Australia

there were separate toilets, pools etc for blacks and whites

Australia has a racist history

and unfortunately some pple are still racist

my sister who is very intelligent, switched on, political

has a 5 year old daughter

the other day in a shopping centre

she was eating lunch with her daughter

and her own daughter saw the Chinese people

sitting next to them and said

"this shopping centre should only be for Australians, shouldn't it mum"

which my sister told her off

our family has friends of many different cultural/racial backgrounds

and I have been buying her multicultural books since birth

anyway she has picked up a small town mentality

luckily my sister and I are educating her

[adrianlondon]

Australia has this squeaky clean image

It does? Each time I've been it seems like I've stayed in the UK but travelled back in time. Australians are known for being right-wing.

[atitarev]

Generally, Australian are not racists, despite the recent history - White Australia policy, stolen generation, One Nation Party (Pauline Hanson), etc. It was done by the government and the population doesn't support it.

unfortunately there is racism in Australia

Sydney is usually pretty good, perhaps Melbourne

Hmm, they say the reverse in Melbourne, in Melbourne, the immigrants are more or less spread over the town, no place with a concentration of more than 70% of just one ethnic group, IMHO and we didn't have riots like in Cronulla Beach.

i hope that eventually parents will stop teaching kids how to hate foreigners, especially if they are born here. the saddest thing is a child born in america who cannot speak english. that is sad.

I agree with your first statement but not the 2nd. I mean, kids should learn the language where they live but not necessarily from birthday.

You should have told that woman what you think about it, IMHO.

[muyongshi]

i hope that eventually parents will stop teaching kids how to hate foreigners, especially if they are born here. the saddest thing is a child born in america who cannot speak english. that is sad.

I agree with your first statement but not the 2nd. I mean, kids should learn the language where they live but not necessarily from birthday.

You should have told that woman what you think about it, IMHO.

First off I agree 100% that you should speak the language of the place you were born and honestly if you plan on living in a place long term, I think you also at least need to make an effort to learn the language as well.

But atitarev I think you misunderstood the point. He/She never said that they should learn it from day one, they only state that those born in the US who don't speak English is sad. They did not mention anything about how to attain to that or how parents should educate their children. Honestly, it's not sad....it's WRONG!

And I hold this standard for anyone who lives long term/migrates/gets citizenship in a new country. Including some of these people that have lived in China for 5+ years and only know how to swear at people.... There are too many foreigners that I've met in China (note: usually foreign teachers) who have been here for more than 5 years and have not made effort to learn and frankly just don't give a rip. I'm as upset by them as I am by the people who think my tax dollars should go to paying for translation services for them (especially in a government setting) when they have no interest in attempting to learn the language. I know many people that when they migrated they spent a lot of time and effort on learning English and I applaud them even if it is hard for them to communicate.

Unfortunately in today's politically correct world even statements like this can be viewed as racist. I think foreigners (no matter where) can always be a benefit to economy, development and world (meaning culture and language) development/education. I would hope to see this attitude be a bit more prevalent. Period...whether it be China or the US.