How do you respond to racist comments in your conversations?

[rezaf]

Thanks for the replies. I also think that the type of racist comments that I hear in China despite being very vocal, are 说说而已 and won't result in any actions at least for now (though the ones against the Japanese are quite serious). However this is wrong and from now on I will try to point it out politely. I certainly don't want to be a part of such a conversation.

[stapler]

I just accept it and try to see it in a positive light: at least the Chinese make it public they hate people because of their race/nationality/ethnicity/skin colour. Most people around me here keep it to whispered nigger jokes with their friends at home. I think this later, hidden, racism is more pernicious.

[Lu]

说说而已 and won't result in any actions at least for now

I haven't personally experienced anything unpleasant (I'm white), but heard plenty of stories about black people being unable to rent certain rooms and non-white people having difficulty finding teaching jobs even when they're qualified and such. I think it was in Nanjing that there were riots years ago, of which the immediate cause was a black man dating a Chinese woman. More recently there was some upheaval in Guangzhou, also because racial tensions brought to the fore by I think an incident with a taxi and a black man. I forgot the details. And that's without going into the whole anti-Japanese thing. It's not only 说说而已.

 

And I disagree that open racism is better than private racism. If there is a general consensus that racism is bad and should not be practiced in public, that creates a huge space in which minorities don't have to worry about their race and can just go about their business without being called names. That's a really big win. In addition, many people won't be saying racist things at home, so that many people will rarely or never get the impression that racism is right and normal. Of course, it's even better if people are not racist at home either, but it's a big step forward.

[Basil]

By and large I have experienced lots of positive racism.

 

I have however also been attacked and had my gf called a foreign whore a couple of times, unable to rent hotel rooms, been ripped off on numerous occasions, and bated in to malicious discussions that stem from cultural/personal inferiority/superiority issues. Always quite challenging to verbally fend off a malicious slightly inebriated group of angry young thrusters. What has grated the most is taking off-the-cuff snide comments from high ranking officials. Pretty hard to gauge how best to respond when an appropriate witty one liner does not present itself.

 

But by and large, especially where there is no conflict of personal interests, I have been treated well.

 

All things being equal, I prefer people to be straightforward. Got any racist thoughts, please be open, please share them. After all... forewarned is forearmed.

[Basil]

I also think that although one of the posters above had a regrettable experience, the restaurant owner should be free to decide what kind of clientele he would like visiting his joint.

 

As long as prejudice is not coupled with violence, aggression, intimidation and whatnot, the free market sorts a lot of things things out. 90% of shops refuse the opportunity to make money... that remaining 10% should do pretty well.

[LiMo]

What's positive racism? Is it when people are extra nice because you are a foreign guest? 

[Basil]

Yes, it's where you're treated nicer than you deserve because of your perceived status.

 

Here I suppose if you're white but also applies if you are perceived to be rich/important/a clever boffin or any desirable minority grouping.

 

White and English speaking is a double edged sword. you can borrow the (now rapidly diminishing) cultural aura, giving raised positive curiosity, but there is also not knowing if people only want to make friends so as to practice their english, or the newly improved version I am now encountering, random people asking me to be their new born child's godfather... is it because I'm perceived to be a moral pillar of the community, or is it because they can just see thousands of hours of free english classes spread over many years....

 

But this may be getting far off topic...

[LiMo]

No no, it's fairly interesting. I was reading an article where a woman described how her Chinese friend couldn't understand the Baltimore riots in the US, then when he found out it was black people it all made sense to him because, "that would never happen with white people." 
The comparisons and the hierarchy of races in some peoples minds is perfectly relevant. She made a very good point about peoples inability to distinguish race, nationality, and cultural background; so that recent immigrants from Africa that "cause trouble" in Guangzhou can be directly related to race riots in the US because both groups are black. It's the most tenuous of links but in some peoples minds it explains it all. They're black, they cause trouble, that's what they do.

(There is a link in some ways, both groups are disadvantaged, directly and indirectly, talking histories of slavery and imperialism here, but I'm fairly sure most of these people are talking about innate biological inferiority not history)

[Silent]

 

 

As long as prejudice is not coupled with violence, aggression, intimidation and whatnot, the free market sorts a lot of things things out. 90% of shops refuse the opportunity to make money... that remaining 10% should do pretty well.

 

Keep on dreaming, it's a cultural thing and has to do with status, the free market and money won't fix it. 

[heifeng]

I would say just indirectly by finding something positive or beautiful to say about the person or group to suggest a different perspective without being confrontational*. Besides if there is stereotyping and generalizations then this isn't actually based on something concrete or personal experience, it's an opinion or misconception. Offer some unique information that can win someone over and might be a way to cast doubt on their statement without causing a direct insult to them either. Also by saying something to the opposite very politely and sincerely you can see if they will give you face or challenge you. And if the challenge is on then you have even MORE of a chance to discuss the great points of someone, score!

 

 

*EX: the guy is XYZ (or a little whatever), but he is so  (insert positive qualities here) considerate it makes everyone so envious of her having such a great husband, must be fate that brought them together....(now exhale in deep thought, so jealous, so jealous)

[renzhe]

What's positive racism? Is it when people are extra nice because you are a foreign guest?

It's when you load people with unrealistically amazing expectations only so you can see them fail. It is positive in the same way that a back-handed compliment is positive.

Like when you insist that all Jewish people are geniuses and all black people athletically gifted, so you can put down every single one you meet who doesn't live up to the "positive" expectation.

[roddy]

It can be easier to come at it from a different angle, rather than a direct challenge. "Where'd you get that idea from? The news? You can't believe that though, are you going to trust CNN and Xinhua? Movies? How's your kung-fu? Really, because in the movies about China I've seen... oh, and maybe you can help me, see at Tian'anmen, there's the picture of Mao, something about long live China on one side, what is it on the other side again...?

 

With the exception of Japan, the attitudes are often quite lightly held and it doesn't take long to see someone admit that perhaps they don't quite have all the facts. But come at it too forcefully and you're right into 'foreigners telling China what to do' territory, which is going to be counter-productive.

[Lu]

The approach is also different if it's you yourself being insulted, or if it's a group you're not a part of. I agree that in the latter case, one needs to be careful not to take the 'foreigners know best' approach.

[Demonic_Duck]

Perhaps I should have been clearer in my use of the word "challenge" earlier. I didn't mean be confrontational. Tact is a valuable skill in any situation.

[roddy]

Don't worry about it, nobody would ever listen to a filthy duck anyway. 

[Enoxus]

As a Chinese I'd say, many Chinese are racists, sadly. But from what I've been experienced for many years in different countries, Chinese racists are "gentle" ones, they don't usually bully others for real, I mean they don't usually harm anyone in a face to face scenario. Many Chinese are even racists to their own race, like many Shanghainess don't like people from any other part of China. Urban people despise suburban, some Taiwanese think people living in Mainland are suffering from everything and make fun of them all the time, etc. I can't explain why we were "born to be" racist, I just feel sick of it. Let them suck whatever they can fetch.

 

I assume every social class has it's own good and bad things. I've heard way too many things about disparaging Chinese people, I just ignore it. It's true that so many Chinese are still living in a poor and undeveloped situation, but since China is so big and there are many high class Chinese as well. Many Americans complain about Chinese cheap, crappy products, I usually ignore what I read or heard. But if someone is being a dick and abusing the entire Chinese people, I'd say: Cheap people always being involved with shits. It's true, isn't it? Why would someone buy something cheap which made for low class people in the first place? Did Chinese force any of them to buy those shitty stuff? Shit always happens to losers in life. While so many Americans keep insulting Chinese people almost for no reason, there were nearly 2 million Chinese tourists visited U.S last year, the average spending of mid-high end travel groups was more than 7,000 USD per person, within 14 days on American territory. Still, many Americans saying that these Chinese are nothing different buy dirty cheap losers in their miserable life. I laughed. 

 

It's true that many Chinese like to gossip about race, it's not about skin colors, it's just about race. Racism or racists are not such a heavy topic to me at all coz when you are living in certain social class, you are facing some problems on its level. Racist comments definitely don't belong to elite social class, unless someone has special interests of it.

[陳德聰]

I think the idea that racism is a thing of the lower class and not something the elite partake in is patently false. Ignorance exists in every social class. Usually you can tell the people you would rather interact with from the ones you wouldn't just by how they engage with the topic of racism. If I bring it up to someone and they prefer to deny it or deflect, I usually take that as a cue to interact with them less. I think when bringing this up with people, it's also important to understand what "歧视" means to Chinese people. It is a much more literal sense of the word "discrimination", so you can get into back and forths where someone will compare you not liking a particular brand of cars to them not liking black folks. Sigh sigh sigh.

[Enoxus]

The definition of racism is race discrimination. And the definition of discrimination is:

• the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.
• treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit.

I intended not to mention how Chinese discriminated their own races nowadays and in history, was not to mislead this topic to a Chinese racism topic.

 

Discrimination includes Sexism, Age Discrimination or whatever discrimination other than racism. Even discrimination is not a common topic to elite social class. Apparently it's the 80/20 rule. If you are living and working with others that main topics are developing oil fields or mining sites I'm sure you will be working with "colorful" people, and you wouldn't be disturbed by racism topic at any time. Driving a Merc Maybach doesn't mean the driver or owner is an elite automatically. Living in a 20,000 square foot house either. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist among elites, I'm saying it's not a common topic like common people would talk about while drinking a cup of tea.