Cultural Awarness and Race in China

[ask_weasal]

Hello everyone...

I am new to this thread so I don't really know whats good or bad to say

I am an African American male in Dalian, China. I have been teaching here for a little while.

I want to write this post without generalizing a whole race of people but I'm quite sure in this circumstance it will be difficult.

Since 2004 I have been teaching in China and for the most part (About 80% of the time) it has been a somewhat uncomfortable experience. Mostly due to the color of my skin. Since being here I have been denied work because schools prefer not to hire blacks( Eventhough I have a B.A. in English and a two year degree in travel and tourism and am an author of two books), when university couples see me walking along the same street as them the boyfriend quickly shields the young woman away as if I want to hurt her; people are not so enthusiastic to speak with me compared to my white Co-workers(eventhough I smile). I came here expecting this behavior from middle aged people and old folks but I am so suprised to be getting such negativity mostly from university students.

There was an instance when I attended a lecture and I sat in on a class. All of the seats were filled except a seat that was next to me. A university Chinese student came late to class. The seat next to me was the only seat left. She went and tried to squeeze into a seat that was already occupied by her friend. The teacher asked her to sit next to me. She refused and began to cry and ran out of the class. The teacher followed and asked her why she didn't want to sit next to me. She said that some of my blackness would rub off on her.......

Some students say ....wo cao Hei Ren!

Don't you guys know that this is disrespectful? Staring is ok I don't mind, pointing is ok but some things I just cannot take. I want to know and respect your culture but cultural ignorance is forbading me to do such a thing. I really feel bad for the people of Africa that come here. they go to the clubs and most Chinese women won't dance with them so they opt for the Russian women. Chinese men usually stereotype me.

Where is the love?

Where is all of this dislike and ignorance coming from?

Actually I wouldn't mind all of this if everyone that was foriegner was thought of as the same. it seems that African-Americans and people that are dark are looked down upon.

When I return to America I don't know what to think about my experience here. I am kind of dissappointed that people would act this way.

Last year I got fired because this school wanted to hire a Russian student who said she was from England, and they believed her! She didn't want to talk with me because she knew that I knew her English was really bad.

I see the country economically improving but it has a long way to go socially.

I really care about this situation because 1/5 of the world is in China and I don't really like what I am seeing. It's really hard to enjoy a culture when one feels unequal in a society. For blacks socially China makes America seem like Heaven(eventhough america is the source of these stupid stereotypes).

In conclusion I hope that you guys can take some time to reflect upon the actions that you inflict on other people. All I want is a warm smile when I walk down the street.

Randall

[Harvey]

Whoa, Randall. This is huge.

Could you tell me what other countries you have travelled in or lived in semi-long term? I want to know if you have expereienced this other places as well.

Also, have you been to the bigger cities in China such as Shanghai or Beijing? Do you notice any similarities there?

Are there no Indians or other dark skinned people over there in Dalian?

I'm really surprised because from what I have heard, Dalian is a very metropolitan city... and if Dalian is like this... What's Chengchun going to be like!?

[liuzhou]

While I feel that you are genuine in your feelings, there are a couple of things that need saying.

You address your comments to "you guys" and ask us to change our ways,. Hey, we ain't the people you are annoyed with!

You mention the young man "protecting" his girfriend from you. That has happened to me many times. I'm white.

You mention people not wanting to sit beside you. Happened to me this morning. I'm still white.

Yes, the Chinese are racist and probably more so towards black people. But, as far as I can see (and I've been here a long time) their racism is born of ignorance (as it always is), so hang in there teacher and enlighten them instead of complaining to the wrong people!

[Harvey]

Okay I've had the train thing happen to me often in Japan. So often that I ignore it now and it doesn't even phase me. But I have never had someone run off crying :-)

Does anyone else in this form have Black Americans or other people fo color in their classes while in China? What feedback did you get from them?

[mrtoga]

I have heard similar things concerning black people in other Chinese cities and it is sad. I think you make a good point that the discrimination has developed because the only "exposure" most Chinese people have had to black people is through Hollywood movies. Chinese people have very little information concerning what is happening in the outside world (apart from developments in Iraq and Iran), and as a result these stereotypes have had a big impact.

Its not a problem that will be solved in the near future, and I can only sympathize with you. I hope you manage to change the attitudes of some of the people you meet.

To the poster who mentions people avoid sitting next to him as well etc., I really don't agree that the extent of discrimination is similar. Yes I get the occasional person be hesitant about sitting next to me on the bus etc. but these instances are far outnumbered by people coming up and starting conversations / being actively friendly towards me. In contrast EVERY TIME a Chinese person has started talking about "heiren" in my presence it has been very negative. In these situations I politely point out that Chinese people are often discriminated against in the west, by people with the same levels of ignorance that they are displaying.

[roddy]

Dalian is a very metropolitan city... and if Dalian is like this... What's Chengchun going to be like!?

Frankly, it's not going to be any better. Metropolitan just means big. Cosmopolitan, in the way say New York or London are, it a completely different kettle of fish.

As for the 'you guys' aspect, I think Randall's assuming the members here are all / mostly Chinese - while I don't keep stats, the largest single grouping is probably foreign students of Chinese in China or abroad, with significant but lesser numbers of Chinese people, overseas Chinese, etc. Easy mistake to make.

A lot of these things white people deal with too, but certainly not to the same degree. If you're black, then you are still much more of a novelty and so you are going to get stared at / pointed at more. There are negative stereotypes about black people which are borne of ignorance, and virtually zero chance of experience overwriting that ignorance. Here, I've heard comments that would result in loss of a job in the UK from the mouths of otherwise sensible, thoughtful people. In all honesty I don't think it's going to change any time soon - that would take large numbers of black people wandering around breaking down stereotypes, or some kind of massive public information campaign. Neither are imminent.

[rose~]

Wow, if I were you I wouldn't have been able to cope with the incident you described about the girl refusing to sit next to you.

Prejudice against darker skin also seems to be directed towards Chinese people as well as foreigners. Once on a sunny day, I said to my friend not to bother with her sun parasol just for one day...no big deal...and she told me she couldn't, because she had once been turned down for a receptionist's job for having too much of a tan!

I'm sorry I can't offer you advice, but I would say that it's interesting to read your perspective and your writing style is also interesting. Perhaps you could write an article for one of the English-language newspapers, write it in Chinese or have it translated to Chinese, and it would help raise awareness.

If you have chance, could you try out Shanghai? I wrote it elsewhere, but I get almost zero stares here as a foreigner, much less than in Beijing. I'm not black, but perhaps the situation would better for you here?

[gougou]

that would take large numbers of black people wandering around breaking down stereotypes

Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. In a recent issue of that's beijing, there was an interesting letter from a black reader. She titled it "Black, but not proud" and voiced her anger about stereotypes that are being deepened, instead of broken down, by the large numbers of Africans selling drugs in and around Sanlitun.

[Harvey]

Wow. This is hardcore stuff.

I better study Chinese extra hard so I can at least tell people what I think!

For real.

[rose~]

Harvey, have you ever been to China?

People here are often crushingly direct, At home we have been brought up to avoid mentioning any physical differences.

But here, no matter Chinese or foreign, if you have a big nose or a pimple on your chin, nice eyes, scruffy clothes, nice clothes, long legs, dark skin, pale skin, freckles, big clodhopping feet, eyebrows that need plucking (women), you need to shave (men), you are mixed-race or NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, people WILL point it out and talk about it.

The nice thing is, when you get a compliment you feel more confident that people mean it.

[roddy]

Yeah, that's a somewhat unfortunate situation. I think that letter was in City Weekend, although there might have been similar letters in both mags. For anyone who's interested, there was this discussion on thatsbj's forum.

I'm not really sure you can draw any kind of useful parallel (hell, I can't even spell a parallel) between an aesthetic preference for pale skin amongst Chinese women and the kind of situation Randall is describing.

I better study Chinese extra hard so I can at least tell people what I think!

Bring some extra time with you too, because there's an awful lot of Chinese people here . . .

[mrtoga]

I wonder if prejudice towards darker skinned Chinese people is a more socio-economic based phenomenon - it gives the impression of coming from 农村, spending time in the fields getting sunbeaten which implies coming from a poor family or not having a good education.

Sorry if that gets us away from the main issue here......

Seems to be a fairly broad agreement that the thread-starter's points are fairly justified. A lot of Chinese people have a thing about 素质　（那个人素质不好），　it seems black people are automatically placed into this category. This term appears to refer to the upbringing / class of a particular person, and is an unchangeable trait. I find it surprising that this attitude is so prevalent in a country which apparently abolished the class system several decades ago.

[Harvey]

I have only been to Beijing for 1 week on vacation.

I'm black, and funny thing, 3 times during that one week. I was stopped by other tourists in the touristy areas such as Temple of heaven, and Forbidden City, and asked to have my picture taken with these total strangers.

I was walking with my girlfriend, who is Japanese, and people would come up to us, speaking in Chinese which I cannot understand at all.... wave their friend over, pass them the camera. And stand beside me and smile for the camera. After the picture is taken they run off!

The first time this happened it totally blew my mind!

I figured it must have been people from out in the country side of China on vacation to Beijing, and being surprised seeing foreigners. Probably right I imagine...

Craaaaaazy.

Next year is going to be wild.

[mrtoga]

Well Harvey, your Japanese girlfriend can't exactly expect a warm welcome either if you come to Dongbei. I think that people will mostly be friendly and civil to you, and they may add the odd blatently racist comment without realizing they are being offensive. The general attitude towards black people seems to be not one of hatred but a vague sense that they are rather stupid and may have a violent, barbaric streak.

On the other hand your girlfriend will be confronted with examples of all Japan's war crimes in China. I have never known hatred of a nation to take on such a personal dimension.

You will have a warm welcome from me and all the other foreign students! You will of course also meet some very cool Chinese people - just don't talk too much about what a great place Japan is (sh)

[Harvey]

The general attitude towards black people seems to be not one of hatred but a vague sense that they are rather stupid and may have a violent, barbaric streak.

Excellent! ... ummm.... I think.

just don't talk too much about what a great place Japan is

This is very interesting. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. On one hand, I'm excited that there are many Japanese exchange students in dongbei, because I figure I could hang out with them and instead of using English as a crutch my first half year or so, I could use my Japanese as a crutch and feel a little bit better about myself.

On the other hand... would hanging out with Japanese people get me a bad reputation with the Chinese, and thus make it harder to make Chinese friends?

Getting way off topic here but... still curious.

Also, I'm glad to hear that this ignorance fed racism against blacks isn't the angry type. I would hate to get caught up in some sort of violent situation.

- Harvey

[gougou]

would hanging out with Japanese people get me a bad reputation with the Chinese, and thus make it harder to make Chinese friends?

If it did, would you avoid Japanese?

[wushijiao]

I have heard similar things concerning black people in other Chinese cities and it is sad. I think you make a good point that the discrimination has developed because the only "exposure" most Chinese people have had to black people is through Hollywood movies. Chinese people have very little information concerning what is happening in the outside world (apart from developments in Iraq and Iran), and as a result these stereotypes have had a big impact.

I think there’s something to this.

Also, without really knowing too much about it, I would guess that cities like Shanghai might be better, or at least a bit easier, for black people. I have a black friend who has lived here in Shanghai for two years and she likes it quite a bit.

Although I agree that most prejudiced behavior stems from ignorance, I’m not sure it’s completely fair to let individual Chinese people completely off the hook for impolite/racist behavior. Yes, Hollywood does often portray black people in a negative light. But there are also many roles in which black people are portrayed positively, such as the movies of Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson….etc. Usually the roles those actors take require intelligence and charisma. Also, Kofi Annan has been the Secretary General of the UN for the last few decade or so. Powell and Rice, both black, were both visible, and respectable, members of the American government. Regardless of how you feel about Bush’s foreign policy ( ), there is no doubt that Powell and Rice both carry a dignified, intelligent demeanor. In other words, there are at least some positive black role models in the Chinese media.

I remember reading a Kaiser Kuo editorial in “that’s Beijing” back in 2004. He said that in games of the 2004 World Cup the Chinese announcers would say things like, “blacks have superior strength, whites have more experience, Asians have to use their brains”, and other such stuff. At least in my lifetime, I can’t really imagine an announcer saying something like that in America, and probably most people wouldn’t even promulgate such racist views in private. Similarly, no white American that I know in China would ever spout out racist stereotypes. In fact, we white people, and Chinese-Americans, do our best to correct such misinformation when we hear it, I hope.

The point is, to what degree are some of these negative stereotypes and attitudes passed around, without ever originating in the US or Europe? I don’t know. But I’m starting to really doubt that Hollywood is the sole source of all the misinformation. It would be interesting to do a survey of stereotypes in the Chinese media.

[Harvey]

would hanging out with Japanese people get me a bad reputation with the Chinese, and thus make it harder to make Chinese friends?

If it did, would you avoid Japanese?

Good question.

Chances are... even if I could hang out with those Chinese... Probably wouldn't have much interesting conversation now would I.

Is there a healthy "hippie" sort of backpacking love the world type of social group in Chinese cities these days? Maybe I could get in with that crowd.

I wonder if the original poster will ever return...

[Shadowdh]

I wonder if some paint things racist when they arent intended to be...???

[Harvey]

It all depends on your perspective I guess...