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Posts: 2536

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Q: Why are most Chinese people complete racists?

Especially the older generations.  Is it education?  The media?  The government? (which I might add controls the media and education).  I have been pissed off to the point of no return with some locals, and the gf is no exception.  How do you deal with it?

12 years 12 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
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Posts: 127

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to some point, its everything!! just ignore it! you cannot help... it will be nearly 3 years than am facing it, i face it everytime that am on the street!
they believe black people are spirits, especially those from African countries... what the hell?  ignore it when you face it, if you cannot ignore it, just don't become agressive, or you'll be in trouble... the only way you can face it is to lie, Chinese easily believe in lies.. so just avoid any racist comments, talks, etc....

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
Posts: 649

Shifu

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Fear and self-loathing. Some people are afraid of anything unfamiliar or things they don't understand, such as other cultures and they express this fear as hatred. Other people feel that they are bad and worthless people themselves and project this hatred onto other groups of people.

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Nice answers guys! I appreciate both lines of thought there.

My take is that they cannot get over the hump that we are all foreigners to them and are for whatever reason, not totally welcome here. The word "foreigner" carries a negative connotation if you ask me. I'm rarely referred to as anything else, as if we are all in the same group. Therefore the Chinese have created exactly what they don't want...a group of people that are not like them. By setting us apart immediately, they have created this other group of people. That being... anyone who does not look Chinese. So I guess they think that since we look different, what with our facial hair, blue eyes and varied skin colors, then certainly, we must be different in the ways we think and consequently act.

Therefore class....to conclude....
Different = Bad, Wrong, Not Acceptable................. can this be right?

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
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I am a foreigner, too, and I have found the racism to be rather unique in its own way.  It cuts both ways I must say.  I have worked with teachers who attitudes are very 19th Century colonialist right-off-the-plantation and who take an attitude to the Chinese that is totally not 21st Century (or any other century).

Yes, for sure, being called "laowai" all the time is not exactly the nicest and most memorable experience in the world but it cuts both ways.   I am quite amazed how much leave is given to the "laowai" as we sometimes transgress ourselves right across Chinese life.  We just had two (white) laowai in our school that worked their contracts but they did so with so much disdain for all things Chinese and with so many comments along the way that I am just amazed that they even came to  China -- and that's not the first time I have seen such things, either.

So, yes, indeed perhaps the locals are "racist" but yes, indeed also some of the foreigner guests in China are just totally outrageous and totally insensitive.

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
Posts: 196

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The Chinese are the master race it is in their history and their name the Middle Kingdom, that guive them the right to look down on everything else and everyone else in the world.
But the fact is they have no idea that they are being racist it is so natural to them that they don't even understand that it is wrong.

They even hate people from other cities, so it is not just a hate for foreigner it is a hate for anything or any body that is outside their own personal box.

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12 years 12 weeks ago

Come on thumbs down everything I say. rnrnPlease I like it thumbs down some more.

 
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I'm sure a lot of it comes from little experience with foreigners. Many Chinese have never met a foreigner, and that can go two ways. One, they can be curious and friendly. The other is that they already have a bad view of foreigners. Where would that come from? Anything they have ever heard about foreigners, from friends to the media. After all, if you've never met a foreigner before, how would you know what a real one is like? Add in a few foreigners that stand out and do bad things, and voila, that bad view is transferred to every foreigner.

If you don't know much about other cultures, and you think all foreigners look the same (and their languages all sound the same, which is plausible), then they think we're all the same. Don't people who have never really learned anything about Asia think that all of their cultures and languages and people seem like they're the same? It's like that, but in reverse. If all they ever hear about foreigners is bad, it can be changed, but only through experience. No experience, no change.

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
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They can be as racist and as discriminatory as they like...I just don't get the touching and smelling that happen so often. I'm not in a village either. I understand no boundardies here, but if a Chinese person did this to another Chinese person, wouldn't it be strange also?

kchur:

Yes, it would be extremely strange. They don't respect those boundaries with foreigners because they consider us less than normal humans.

12 years 12 weeks ago
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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
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You have to keep in mind... China has only been open to the outside world for 30 years, and in many areas, foreigners are rare. The older generation... just like in many cultures, but more so in China, are "set in their ways." And they are still passing down their views. It's going to take several generations for any noticable change. 

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12 years 12 weeks ago
 
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I'm currently reading the new book "On China" by Henry Kissenger (Penguin Press, 2011) and in the first few chapters, he provides a brief historical outline of the country. In general, the Chinese have always had this approach to anything outside of their country. When the recieved foreign dignitaries, they always considered them vassels, bringing tribute to China. Anything beyond their boarders was considered outsider of civilization. And then, when they finally had real contact with Europeans, the impression left was that they (the Europeans) were here simply to divide and conquer, so the Chinese quickly developed the attitude that anything foriegn was bad for them and their society.

In other words, this concept is so deeply rooted that it is a natural as eating, because it is something that has been present for thousands of generations.

I do see it loosening up in the younger generations as they accept, and in many areas, adopt fashions and culture from around the world, but even this is assimulated with "Chinese characteristics." As the older generations die out, it may change, but then again, it may not as those who are young take their place.

Remember, ignorance can be taught, stupidity is forever.

thedude:

That makes a lot of sense. I have never really blamed them for being this way, and I truly think they don't know any better, and don't even realize it, but it is still hard to handle some times.

12 years 12 weeks ago
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Mr_spoon:

There's that, but also the fact that many foreigners come to China and behave like complete dicks, ruining the local's vision of western countries. Sometimes the only way to convince them that you aren't a depraved colonizer is to speak fluent Chinese, but still..

12 years 12 weeks ago
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giadrosich:

I agree, Mr. Spoon, but I think that is an inherent danger of generalizing. Sure, we all do it, and that is one of the benefits of traveling, is that it tends to destroy, or at the least minimalize ones tendency to reduce people to a caricature, as in "all westerners are complete dicks," or "all Chinese are rude," etc. This concept is reversed through education and, in many instances, personal contact.

Before I came to China, even after reading quite a bit in preparation for the move, I thought that it was one monolithic culture and everyone thought the same. I admit now this was very simplistic thinking, but it is no different from those who live here when they think every other country is the same. Take the UK, America, Canada, or Australia, for instance. Very diverse cultures within the regions of all these countries.

One bad apple does spoil the whole bunch, in the eyes of many. An open mind will realize they have just met a "bad apple." A closed mind will make generalizations and say, "Oh, he was a jerk, so all westerners must be jerks," or "Gosh, that Chinese guy just urinated on the city street, so all Chinese guys will urinate on a city street." Ultimately, the correction to the problem is in personal attitude. I don't speak fluent Chinese, but no one would ever construe me for a depraved colonize. I have, however, been suspected of being a western government spy. Go figure...

12 years 12 weeks ago
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