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FWIW, I'm 1/8 Manchurian even though my birth certificate says "Han" and the Qing Dynasty, which ended in 1911, was ruled by Manchurians. China was the only na

by qiqing 11y ago

FWIW, I'm 1/8 Manchurian even though my birth certificate says "Han" and the Qing Dynasty, which ended in 1911, was ruled by Manchurians. China was the only nation that welcomed refugees fleeing from pogroms in one era and fleeing concentration camps in another era, when nations like the U.S. would not let those ships dock. It's just unfortunate that the U.S. tends to be rather selective in what gets taught in schools. Side note: you can tell something about the inclusivity of a culture by how children of mixed race are treated and labelled by the broader society. Historically, if you're part-Han (a term which originated from the Han Dynasty to be an inclusive term that described all the diverse people from the diverse nations that comprised it), then you're Han (part of the mainstream, dominant culture). Historically, in the U.S., children of mixed race get categorized with the less-mainstream less-dominant minority culture, with all the lack of privilege that accompany that. This sort of edge case may seem minor to those who don't live it, but as an edge case myself, I feel that it's indicative of how the dominant culture views me.

mc32 11y ago
It is problematic that in the US people are too absolute in some things. In this case black and white. Even if someone is mostly white, say 3/4, they're considered black by both whites and blacks, for the most part. But interestingly in Brazil and other places where there are more shades of either, still people suffer the same or more injustice due to race compared to the U.S.
barry-cotter 11y ago
> China was the only nation that welcomed refugees fleeing from pogroms in one era and fleeing concentration camps in another era, when nations like the U.S. would not let those ships dock. China didn't have the state capacity to control immigration during the Republic of China and it didn't have the desire during the Qing dynasty. > Side note: you can tell something about the inclusivity of a culture by how children of mixed race are treated and labelled by the broader society. Waiguoren! Laowai! Name keaide hunxue! I'm sorry, the idea that China is less racist than the west is hilarious. It's pretty easy for white people but black people get discriminated against endlessly.
- qiqing 11y ago
  Note that I did not claim China doesn't have racism. But by personally comparing my experience growing up Asian in the U.S. (having lived in non-diverse small Midwest towns for several years) with the experience of Caucasian friends who spent some childhood years in China, I'd really have to say: they got a much, much better experience as far as race is concerned. And every time that I have confronted a Chinese person about prejudice against black people, I also asked them where their preconceptions came from. Without exception, they tell me that they have no first-hand experience, but they get all their information from American movies, whose makers they assume to know more about American culture than they do. But if you actually want to compare relative levels of racism quantitatively (which is hard because there are so many confounding factors), I challenge you to compare the incarceration rate of African Americans in the U.S vs. African Chinese in China.
saiya-jin 11y ago
> China was the only nation that welcomed refugees fleeing from pogroms in one era and fleeing concentration camps in another era, when nations like the U.S. would not let those ships dock. Sources please, otherwise this sounds like an usual BS propaganda. One real example to contradict - in WWII, Switzerland was accepting (not only jewish) refugees when completely surrounded by Nazis/their allies. We are talking about tiny landlocked country just to be clear. When it would became clear that country can no longer feed its citizens and more incoming refugees, they decided to close the borders("das boot ist voll"), and still one canton - Geneva - said fk you, and keep them coming. Even when it was clear its not sustainable.
- qiqing 11y ago
  My mom's childhood friend who was a Holocaust refugee has no reason to lie to me (about not being able to go to any other country they tried to escape to), I think. But here, I pulled up some sources to placate you guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Jewish_Refugees_Museum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Jewish_Refugees_Museu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007091 http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007091

by qiqing 11y ago

mc32 11y ago

It is problematic that in the US people are too absolute in some things. In this case black and white. Even if someone is mostly white, say 3/4, they're considered black by both whites and blacks, for the most part. But interestingly in Brazil and other places where there are more shades of either, still people suffer the same or more injustice due to race compared to the U.S.

barry-cotter 11y ago

> China was the only nation that welcomed refugees fleeing from pogroms in one era and fleeing concentration camps in another era, when nations like the U.S. would not let those ships dock. China didn't have the state capacity to control immigration during the Republic of China and it didn't have the desire during the Qing dynasty. > Side note: you can tell something about the inclusivity of a culture by how children of mixed race are treated and labelled by the broader society. Waiguoren! Laowai! Name keaide hunxue! I'm sorry, the idea that China is less racist than the west is hilarious. It's pretty easy for white people but black people get discriminated against endlessly.

qiqing 11y ago
Note that I did not claim China doesn't have racism. But by personally comparing my experience growing up Asian in the U.S. (having lived in non-diverse small Midwest towns for several years) with the experience of Caucasian friends who spent some childhood years in China, I'd really have to say: they got a much, much better experience as far as race is concerned. And every time that I have confronted a Chinese person about prejudice against black people, I also asked them where their preconceptions came from. Without exception, they tell me that they have no first-hand experience, but they get all their information from American movies, whose makers they assume to know more about American culture than they do. But if you actually want to compare relative levels of racism quantitatively (which is hard because there are so many confounding factors), I challenge you to compare the incarceration rate of African Americans in the U.S vs. African Chinese in China.

saiya-jin 11y ago

> China was the only nation that welcomed refugees fleeing from pogroms in one era and fleeing concentration camps in another era, when nations like the U.S. would not let those ships dock. Sources please, otherwise this sounds like an usual BS propaganda. One real example to contradict - in WWII, Switzerland was accepting (not only jewish) refugees when completely surrounded by Nazis/their allies. We are talking about tiny landlocked country just to be clear. When it would became clear that country can no longer feed its citizens and more incoming refugees, they decided to close the borders("das boot ist voll"), and still one canton - Geneva - said fk you, and keep them coming. Even when it was clear its not sustainable.

qiqing 11y ago
My mom's childhood friend who was a Holocaust refugee has no reason to lie to me (about not being able to go to any other country they tried to escape to), I think. But here, I pulled up some sources to placate you guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Jewish_Refugees_Museum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Jewish_Refugees_Museu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007091 http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007091