Why Don't Chinese Like Black People?

[Pianote]

I am a Black American woman teaching in China. I was talking to my white coworker today and we were talking about how the Chinese don't like black people and it's hard for black people to get a job. She can do the bare minimum on the job and she would be fine whereas a black person must be on P's and Q's at all times. I know in the past, farmers were dark and people associated darkness with being ugly but I'm obviously not a farmer nor have I ever worked in the sun. Also, if that's how a person makes his/her living that's no one's business but their own.  But is there another reason? You've never even seen a black person but you have all this animosity towards them.  Is there anything that can be done to change this way of thinking?

 

 

[Flickserve]

Lack of diversity and plain ignorance.

 

However, they do give a lot of respect if you can master Chinese language. 

[anonymoose]

Probably negative media portrayal, and people tarring everyone with the same brush...

 

2 hours ago, Pianote said:

talking about how the Chinese

 

...but then, this is not unique to the Chinese.

[DavyJonesLocker]

People of every country in the world has some form of prejudice towards one group of people however loosely defined..

personally I think racism is just plain dumb. 

[Shelley]

That is one heck of a question. One could say the same of almost any two different races or peoples. Fear of the unknown in my opinion. Humans don't like things they don't understand.

It is going to take a very long time and lots of interracial interaction and I think that until we are all the same shade of coffee au lait and have no obvious differences there will be no real progress.

There was a song in the sixties to this effect, that the world is great big melting pot, its actual lyrics are well dated and racist, sexist, and any other ist you like but they had a point.

 

BEWARE if you are of a sensitive nature do not click this link to the lyrics.

https://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/blue+mink/melting+pot_20826708.html

 

 

 

[Dawei3]

Having stereotypes about different groups is somewhat "old world" thinking.  Certainly it still exists in the US and Western countries, but much less so than in the past.  It's taken much effort to overcome these stereotypes.  I don't know if this is happening in China.

 

China has positive stereotypes too, i.e., often people will think very highly of Jewish people;  who are thought of as very intelligent and diligent.  Before I learned this, I never imagined that Chinese even thought about Jewish people.  As in your situation, most Chinese have never met a Jewish person, yet they still have this stereotype.  

 

As China opens to the world, we can hope that these stereotypes will decline.  We'll see.  As an American, I'm very aware that my behavior will often be seen as "characteristic of Americans", so I go out of my way to have a positive attitude (as opposed to being a complaining American) and being respective & gracious.  I see myself as a guest when I'm there.  Hopefully, I'm creating a positive stereotype.  From your comment, I expect you are doing the same.    

[谢恩灵]

Most definitely because of the West's (mainly USA) portrayal of black folk in media and that has quickly spread internationally. I have lived in China for a year now and I had a black French friend refused a French teaching job because she "isn't" French (isn't white). To @Dawei3 this most definitely isn't "old world" thinking in fact this way of thinking is very modern and alive, not to start a whole discussion on race but the western colonizers spread this kind of message everywhere in the world. 

[Dawei3]

12 hours ago, 谢恩灵 said:

 this most definitely isn't "old world" thinking

Unfortunately, it is very old world thinking that occurred long before western colonizers.   Almost any history book of ancient times will show this.  The most extreme aspect of this was slavery & human sacrifice.  Most of the ancient civilizations had slaves & many did human sacrifices of "lesser" peoples.  And they did this well well before Western colonization.  Native Americans in North & South American did so before Western colonists arrived.  The same is true in Africa.  In Wikipedia, see "Slavery in China" for a discussion that slavery there dated back to 2000 - 1000 BC. The idea that some humans are superior/inferior to others is very old world thinking that many are still trying to overcome.  Putting the blame in the wrong place won't help solve it. It's an issue for the world.  

[谢恩灵]

@Dawei3 Ahhh yes I see what you're saying now

[vellocet]

White people countries are very clever, invented many amazing things.  Chinese who go to white people countries marvel at the clean air, well-run transportation systems, tidy suburbs where every house has a yard for the kids to play in.  China looks up to them, learns from them, and will surpass them one day and retake their rightful place as the nation at the center of the world.

 

Black people countries have nothing to teach China.  China has always been ahead of them and there is not much to say in their favor.  Chinese who go to black people countries tell other Chinese what they saw there.

 

The "laborers get tans from being in the sun" idea is alive and well. You'll notice manual laborers, farmers, street cleaners and other low-status people are all very tan.  Exposure to the sun is thought to prematurely age the skin, which it does.  Thus the ladies attempt to keep shaded from the sun. In the West it is the opposite, being pale means you spend too much time indoors at an office job while a tan means you're a healthy outdoorsy person.  It's all about which visual indicators display that you're not in any way associated with deplorable low-status people.  

[大块头]

I think a lot of the prejudice is an import from the west. Some of the more prejudiced comments I've heard expressed by Chinese have come from those who were foreign educated. China is a very racially homogeneous country, so prejudiced notions can spread easily because only a small fraction of people have ever interacted with a black person.

 

Combine that with know-it-all expats holding forth and making crass generalizations about "white people countries" and "black people countries", and it's no wonder that prejudice towards black people is such a problem in China.

[vellocet]

Quote

I think a lot of the prejudice is an import from the west.

I disagree.  What I related is my experience from Chinese, including a few who were Africa expats.  With Chinese they either look up to you ("teacher") or look down on you ("nothing to learn from you").  The whole "equality" thing is Western classical liberalism.  

 

Saying it's an import from the West feels good to a certain kind of person, though.  It simultaneously relieves the Chinese for any agency for their feelings while allowing for a session of good old West-bashing.  

[studychinese]

Not everything in China happens because of Western influence. If there is a particular attitude in China towards Africans, it comes organically from China, not the West. I've seen some very strange things said about Western influence in China, even blaming the West for Chinese footbinding. Its rather silly. China is a great country, it has its own ideas independent of the West.

 

That said I would like to defend China (for some reason a very unpopular stance here). A lot of black people are used to a measure of deference in the West because of how racial issues are so sensitive there. So when I see black people complaining of "Chinese racism" it is usually those people born in a Western country, and not those from Africa. If a Chinese person sees a foreigner causing trouble, and notices a pattern, they will say "the people of country X commit many crimes" and the like. To many this is proof of "racism". I disagree.

 

Plenty of black people do very well in China. They do this despite the "racism" of the Chinese populace. 

[大块头]

58 minutes ago, studychinese said:

Plenty of black people do very well in China. They do this despite the "racism" of the Chinese populace. 

 

Whether or not racism in China towards black people is imported or home-grown (I'm willing to concede that it's a mix), putting it in scare quotes and implying it doesn't exist is ridiculous. Plenty of black people do very well in America too. Using the same argument to say racism towards black people doesn't exist here doesn't hold any water.

[陳德聰]

12 hours ago, studychinese said:

That said I would like to defend China (for some reason a very unpopular stance here). A lot of black people are used to a measure of deference in the West because of how racial issues are so sensitive there. So when I see black people complaining of "Chinese racism" it is usually those people born in a Western country, and not those from Africa. If a Chinese person sees a foreigner causing trouble, and notices a pattern, they will say "the people of country X commit many crimes" and the like. To many this is proof of "racism". I disagree.

 

Plenty of black people do very well in China. They do this despite the "racism" of the Chinese populace. 

We all like a good strawman once in a while, I’m sure, but I think anyone with an understanding of what racism is, and who has grown up Chinese, can corroborate that Chinese racism against Black people, African or diaspora, is very real in our families, friends, and greater community.

 

Using scare quotes might be your way of demonstrating emphasis or something, but it definitely just comes off as pure ignorance.

[XiaoXi]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:31 PM, anonymoose said:

...but then, this is not unique to the Chinese.

Yes it's pretty prevalent in all of Asia really. The 多白 thing is common in several Asian countries.

 

On 9/17/2018 at 1:24 AM, Shelley said:

It is going to take a very long time and lots of interracial interaction and I think that until we are all the same shade of coffee au lait and have no obvious differences there will be no real progress.

That doesn't make sense since that doesn't explain why the problem is more extreme only in China/Asia.

 

A huge problem is diversity in China. Basically, every single person in China....is Chinese. Out of developed countries with reasonable population size I think China may be the country with the lowest diversity in the world. Foreigners are treated differently even if they're white, so when you add on the fascination with white skin in China, you can only imagine a person both dark skinned AND foreign is not gonna be that well received.

 

Also the Chinese seem to hate any kind of difference. If it's not North hating South, the South hating Dongbei, hating Koreans, Japanese, or even the neighbouring city, hating Indians, blacks etc. It's just so commonplace in China. Being black is just another type of people to dislike for the Chinese. Even in school when I was learning Chinese, the teacher said that in this world, white people are the best, Asians second and black people the lowest class. These were literally the words of a teacher in China so you can only imagine what people's private thoughts might be.

[XiaoXi]

On 9/21/2018 at 1:17 AM, vellocet said:

The "laborers get tans from being in the sun" idea is alive and well. You'll notice manual laborers, farmers, street cleaners and other low-status people are all very tan.  Exposure to the sun is thought to prematurely age the skin, which it does.  Thus the ladies attempt to keep shaded from the sun. In the West it is the opposite, being pale means you spend too much time indoors at an office job while a tan means you're a healthy outdoorsy person.  It's all about which visual indicators display that you're not in any way associated with deplorable low-status people.  

Well it's at least in part due to ignorance then since education will teach you that a black person will not become white even if he stays indoors constantly.

[studychinese]

5 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

pure ignorance

 

It's never pure ignorance to understand the point of view of others. Westerners, whether they are white or not, often present a homogenized and hegemonic worldview that does not allow for alternative points of view, because all of the alternative points of view happen to touch on Western taboos like racism, homophobia, sexism, and the rest of the social constructs. This is the worldview presented by every state organ and every private institution in the West. 

 

The hegemonic worldview never allows for the possibility that the other may be right. 

[大块头]

15 hours ago, studychinese said:

It's never pure ignorance to understand the point of view of others. Westerners, whether they are white or not, often present a homogenized and hegemonic worldview that does not allow for alternative points of view, because all of the alternative points of view happen to touch on Western taboos like racism, homophobia, sexism, and the rest of the social constructs. This is the worldview presented by every state organ and every private institution in the West. 

 

The hegemonic worldview never allows for the possibility that the other may be right. 

 

Let's review:

You expressed your opinion that racism towards black people doesn't exist in China. This view is incorrect given volumes of personal anecdotes and is thus ignorant of the actual situation that black people face in China and elsewhere. Your opinion was called ignorant on the public forum where you chose to share it, and you retorted with the above.

 

You are not entitled to having your opinions taken seriously, especially if they are objectively ignorant. Please feel free to take your ball and go home to whatever subreddit or /pol/ thread you cribbed this pseudo-intellectual nonsense from. I'm sure those who cling to this crap to justify their mediocrity will be willing to hear your tales of "oppression".

[XiaoXi]

22 hours ago, studychinese said:

It's never pure ignorance to understand the point of view of others. Westerners, whether they are white or not, often present a homogenized and hegemonic worldview that does not allow for alternative points of view, because all of the alternative points of view happen to touch on Western taboos like racism, homophobia, sexism, and the rest of the social constructs. This is the worldview presented by every state organ and every private institution in the West. 

 

The hegemonic worldview never allows for the possibility that the other may be right. 

Not sure what you're trying to say here - hating and belittling people just because of the colour of their skin is a point of view??

 

On 9/23/2018 at 8:57 PM, studychinese said:

So when I see black people complaining of "Chinese racism" it is usually those people born in a Western country, and not those from Africa.

 

That's because you never see any black people from Africa full stop. Even if you did they more than likely would not speak their view in English. There are actually many Chinese people living in Africa and they are constantly posting photos and videos of them on Chinese forums trying to take the mickey out of them because they are poor and live in poor conditions.