China Law Blog

I know CLB has addressed this issue before, as have myriad fellow observer-responders. Let's face it, racism doesn't hurt so bad when you're moved up a notch in the societal scheme of things. And, as I mentioned in a prior response, quoting Zero Mostel in "The Producers" shouting enviously out the window to an obviously successful chap in the street, "When you've got it, flaunt it." In China, white guys don't have to flaunt it; being blissfully aware of it is joy enough, and the rest flows therefrom. As Jackie Gleason would say, "How sweet it is."

This is nothing new, just a human nature. If there is White Fame, try not to ruin it. It might turn the other way around as things change.

And don't be like this guy in the pictures:
http://news.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=news&MsgID=463064

One of the more odd/disturbing/curious "white" fixations is women asking you to "knock them up" because "half white/half chinese babies are more beautiful". But there is a growing backlash against white men by chinese men, even in places like Suzhou and Hangzhou and it even goes as far as deliberate bumping and spitting in your direction.

the next boxer rebellion approaches...

Dan

You mean, you wouldn't watch Hee Haw just for Gunilla Hutton?

I'm with you: Lost in Translation does a very nice job.

Cheers, Boyce

"racism doesn't hurt so bad when you're moved up a notch in the societal scheme of things"

Is the implication that all foreigners in China have moved up the social ladder and should put up with what they face every day? Or is the implication that successful Chinese in the West should put up with racial slurs? Clarification needed.

"And don't be like this guy in the pictures"

Yeah, these things are posted on the Internet all the time. Connecting foreigners with lascivious behavior is the oldest trick in the book of racial demagogues. Shall foreigners in China care more than foreigners in other countries? And why?

Dan, I think you undersell Hee Haw.

This lack of subtlety extends far beyond just foreigners. The Chinese regularly stereotype entire regions and classes. It's not really racism as seen in America or Europe and more of a quasi-ethic identification (I say quasi since everyone is Han identified, even some non-Han groups).

I agree with the sentiments of the White Fame post. It is racism... but even so, part of me doesn't feel the least bit sorry. I mean, welcome to the world white man. You are in fact in the minority. Seriously, try growing up as the only Asian kid in rural America like I did and let's see which is worse. As a white guy in China, you've got the economic advantage over the general populace and the Chinese speak English way better than Americans speak Chinese. I'm sure it's not fun to be accosted by hello laowai, but I'm pretty sure that "ching chong ching chong", getting attacked by people who think they're fighting Bruce Lee, or mistaken identity: e.g., getting blamed for the Vietnam War, WWII, or in Texas as a illegal Mexican immigrant is less fun. And that doesn't even compare to the type of racism that leads to lynching and cross burnings. Glad you white folks are being enlightened... it's about time.

Angry: Can't understand how you can see such implications in what I wrote. Maybe you are just too angry.
Racism is a peculiar, often loathsome, creature. However, being treated with greater positive attention than we might be treated in our own countries is what I was describing. No more, no less.

I hope people here understand the purpose of my post earlier. I am not against the White Fame or try to discuss the reason of it. I just hope foreigners in China keep a good image of themselves -- at least show some respects for the place they visit.

Angry:

Will you be angry at the man (and/or woman) in the pictures, or angry at the person who posted the pictures?

I've got to agree with Mr. Platek on a lot of what he said. When I moved from Minhang Shanghai to Puxi Shanghai, I started to miss how sweet it was to be famous for my skin color (or at least as famous as I was).

I don't know that I necessarily approved of these feelings, but they were strongly present nonetheless.

And, I kinda like it when someone calls me laowai, it brings out the smart ass in me and I can call them zhongguo ren, just like Gubo, Ding Yun and Palanka taught me.

@American in China: "I agree with the sentiments of the White Fame post. It is racism... but even so, part of me doesn't feel the least bit sorry. I mean, welcome to the world white man."

Couldn't agree with you more. That's why I wrote:

"As a white man in China, I feel more self-consciously privileged than I ever have before in my life, and simultaneously never felt so discriminated against, objectified. In a strange way, it has been a good thing for me - I don't think I would be as aware or sensitive to how race is perceived, around the world, if I had only lived in the U.S.."

Thanks for sticking me back on the blogroll Dan. I'll try to keep up the posting this time around.

I think there is a very vital point to being the "White Guy" in China which many of you also need to consider, viz., that we are often the ONLY people to whom numerous Chinese of all ages can reveal their innermost thoughts. Chinese society is traditionally conservative and not open, and the Cultural Revolution only worsened the paranoia, such that no matter what one said, it could be used against one, either at the time or later. We are often "a breath of fresh air" to many Chinese, because our ideas are typically more liberal and expansive, we are willing to listen, and there is no threat to the speaker of being castigated at best, imprisoned at worst, and often losing his/her employment, for speaking his/her mind.

There is therefore a very positive aspect to our presence in China, on a social and psychological plane for Chnese people. For me, it is very rewarding to be a sounding board for people who would otherwise keep their important thoughts to themselves out of fear.

I think folks here are a little too quick to attribute preferential treatment for Caucasians from wealthy countries to racism. Next time, tell them you're from Albania, and then see how they respond. Even more so than people in other countries, the Chinese custom is to bow before high-prestige folks and step on low-prestige people. Anyone from a wealthy Western country is high-prestige. Note that the Uighurs of East Turkistan are Caucasian, and no one bothers to treat them with deference. The average Chinese also has no clue that Taiwanese, South Koreans, Hong Kongers and Japanese make a lot more money than he does - the automatic Chinese assumption is that China is the presumptive leader of the yellow peoples whether in economic or cultural terms.

I was raised a bi-racial kid in a happily multiracial port town quite ignorant to such things. Our problems were mainly class, not race. It's for reasons somewhat like those described above that I left the Mainland. Apparently I looked Russian and few (including many Russians, thanks!) would hear otherwise; I was constantly accosted for being thought a prostitute (as "all Russian girls are prostitutes"). My apparently Uyghur-looking husband had an even rougher experience (though it made us many friends with the local Uyghur populations who were all lovely and kind people). Good times. Hong Kong is much more agreeable, even with all of their class-related issues.

I would disagree that the average Chinese in some areas doesn't believe that other Asians make more/less than he does. In those areas with factories from other Asian nations, there is definitely a sense of bitterness about the rich Japanese/Korean/Hong Kong businessmen in their town. At least they are not as cultured as the Chinese.

John: I'm angry at the person who posted the pictures. What's the point? You do the same thing in Europe, mutatis mutandis, and people think of Völkischer Beobachter.

American in China: China does have its fair share of lynching of foreigners. Luckily the those days are gone. The fact that some Western countries have done a great deal of damage is no excuse, only an explanation.

Besides, it is not good for anyone to be exposed to any racism. There are people out there who are ready to blame just about any "white" person out there for the opium wars or the atrocities Eight nation alliance in 1900, even if that person does not come from any of the countries that were involved. Yet it would never cross the mind of anyone to blame a Frenchman or Briton of Chinese origin of the same acts. So it's about race, not nationality or what you have actually done. The moment you blame all white people for what some white people have done, you have crossed a line.

Platek: "...we are often the ONLY people to whom numerous Chinese of all ages can reveal their innermost thoughts."

Sorry, but that says more about your self-perception as a foreigner than about Chinese in general. Just because you are a privileged foreigner in China, you cannot assume that everyone shares that experience.

Angry: Not every foreigner is privileged. I was dead broke when I lived in Taiwan in 1975-77, but listened to people, and still do. You're missing the point. Our privilege and advantage is that we are different and not a threat to someone from a homogeneous, tradition-bound society.

Angry: I never said that lynching didn't occur in China, but only used it as an example of more violent racism than what we've been talking about.

Todd: I think you're a wee bit over generalizing a bit for the entire Chinese population don't you think? I think it's a pretty arrogant to think that the Chinese will reveal their deepest secrets to you because you're white. I'm sure there are instances, but I've seen plenty of examples of the exact opposite too, where Chinese will under no circumstances tell the white person what they are thinking.

I don't think that Taiwan can be compared with China in the 80s or 90s. Until very recently it was official PRC policy to keep Chinese and foreigners strictly segregated, and every foreigner in the street paid the price for the ignorance and prejudice that followed. We still do.

And where did you get that Chinese society is "homogeneous and tradition-bound"?

American in China: All the behaviors you said you have encountered in rural America almost any visible foreigner has encountered in BEIJING or cities of the same size. Shall I tell you the story about the shouting crowd that encircled me when I was trying to help a friend from getting cheated? Or what about the pub brawl that erupted because I was dating a local girl at the time? Experiences like these have taught me to shut up and leave. You can't win.

What makes adds insult to injury is the fact that there are no means of redress, and there are a lot of people who go to great pains explaining away these kinds of behaviors. I am not saying that China is worse than the average Western country or that Chinese people are racist in general, there are enough decent people there. They just don't seem to be around when you really need them.

American in China, and Angry: Points well taken. Maybe I've just been the white guy to whom they open up. In 1980, I spent a month with my wife's family all around China, making notes of what the family and their neighbors suffered during the Cultural Revolution, and have augmented the notes over the years since then, to be expanded to a wider study on recollections by numerous older persons, before they are no longer alive to give such interviews. White or not, unusual or not, whatever, I'm gratified they open up to me and reveal what they want, to let me feel their pain, and make a record.