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With China being very homogeneous in terms of race, they never worked through those issues. I don't blame them. My grand parents, who lived in the countryside a
by m3nu 8y ago
With China being very homogeneous in terms of race, they never worked through those issues. I don't blame them. My grand parents, who lived in the countryside all their life would react in a similar way.
Small anecdote: I attended an English class at a Chinese business university. The teacher (young girl, never left China in her life) told us that everything "French" means "sex/porn/etc", i.e. "french book", "french movie". Funny, but tragic.
Also remember the racist ad for washing powder (girl washes a black guy and a Chinese jumps out afterwards).
They will probably need some slightly more tragic events and pushback to acknowledge it's a problem. Would be better if they learnt from the west's painful lessons, but my hopes for that are low.
- inferiorhuman 8y ago> With China being very homogeneous in terms of race Uh, no.
- m3nu 8y agoUh, yes. For the country as a whole Han Chinese are 91.6%. The workers who go to Kenya are probably from coastal regions, where the ratio will be even higher. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...
- inferiorhuman 8y agoUh, no. There are fifty five formally recognized by the PRC including ones they're actively trying to exterminate (e.g. Uyghur). Within the Han community there is still a significant amount of diversity including countless dialects of the Mandarin and Cantonese languages. Your comment is a bit like claiming that with all the white people in Europe, it's not a very diverse place. In contrast the Japanese government recognizes about four indigenous races.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y agoYour comment and the parent can be true at the same time. A quick search leads me to this Wikipedia entry that claims exactly that: As of 2010, the combined population of officially recognised minority groups comprised 8.49% of the population of mainland China. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_China
- PakG1 8y agoI think you genuinely think you're right and everyone else wrong. I'm not sure how to explain to you the implications of over 90% if you don't understand already. China could have a million ethnic groups and it wouldn't change the specific situation being discussed when you have one group over 90%.
- m3nu 8y agoCoastal regions are 98% Han Chinese. They love to tell you about those 50 ethnic groups, but most of them live in the "wild west". Places, like Tibet that China annexed at some point. Normal Chinese don't have much contact with those groups. They don't work in the same office or date. https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8ojye4/percentage_of_han_chinese_in_chinas_provinces/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8ojye4/percentage_...
- ithkuil 8y agoI don't understand why you're taking Japan as a contrasting example. Japan has roughly one tenth of China's population. According to your own numbers they have one tenth of native ethnicities. Thus that metric is not striking me as contrasting. Perhaps a better metric would be the ratio of the dominant ethnic group to the whole population which Japan is perhaps is the country that has the highest one.
- cepth 8y agoI don’t think the parent commenter is far off here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_China#Ethnic_groups https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_China#Ethnic.... Granted, Han Chinese in the modern sense is a bit of a constructed identity (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6e312e/is_the_han_identity_a_modern_construction_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6e312e/is_th...), but it’s a construction that has held up in China. With the exception of Guangdong and Hong Kong, you aren’t going to find many TV stations or newspapers that are carrying content in non-Mandarin Chinese. Yes, when I visit older family in the countryside, they may still speak their local dialect, but that is becoming increasingly rare: https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/06/on-saving-chinas-dying-languages/276971/ https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/06/on-saving-.... Unlike in the US where African and French influences produced creole, and American pop culture has strong African and Latin influences, I don’t think minority group culture in China has anywhere near the same pull. Yes, they may trot out ethnic minority performers once a year during the CCTV New Year’s Gala, but you will not find “minority” singers charting on best seller lists, or “minority” actors in leading entertainment roles. A 90%+ majority ethnic group is on par with what we see in Western Europe. Do Europeans see themselves as primarily multi-ethnic states? The self-description of a “melting pot” that is commonly used in the US, Canada, and even Central America don’t seem to be nearly as prevalent in Europe.
- sctb 8y ago> Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jxramos 8y agoI thought you were possibly exaggerating. There really is such an ad. Pretty horrible. I never heard of this news almost 3 years after the fact. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/28/china-racist-detergent-advert-outrage https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/28/china-racist-d...
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- Simon_says 8y agoHorrible is a matter of taste. I thought it was hilarious. > “If we just show laundry like all the other advertisements, ours will not stand out.” He's right. I haven't paid as much attention to a detergent ad since Tide's Superbowl ad.
- someperson 8y agoRacism in China is a big problem, but the laundry advert alone isn't certainty not a big issue and is pretty over blown: being overly political correct around lighthearted comedy. The skin pigment 'melanin' is what causes a black person's skin to be black, and is also the same as in a non-black person's tanned skin. It's a added pigment that the absence of causes light skin. Removal of melanin can happen (through non-laundry!) causes such as developing vitiligo, or being born with albinism (a genetic condition which exists in all ethnicities not just black people). Removal of melanin literally turns a darker skinned/haired person white (but obviously not changing other features). The American TV show Everybody Hates Chris, based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood experiences made almost THE EXACT SAME JOKE more than once [1] [2], making fun of the very strict African-American mother trope of threatening a misbehaving child with 'slapping the black out of you'. The laundry commercial may have some problematic connections with the ideas of 'clean' and 'attractive'. America has a long history of minority TV shows aimed at mass audiences tackling stereotypes, Everybody Loves Raymond for Italian-Americans, Fresh Off the Boat for Asian-Americans, and a huge number of African-American cast shows including The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Belair etc. Comedy shows with characters with minority experiences are a good way to improve understanding. It will be unfortunate if lighthearted comedy dies because excessive political correctness. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk
- Kliment 8y agoAbout "French book" etc, I don't think this is particularly different in other languages - we have phrases like "french kiss" or "dutch oven" or "it's all greek to me" in English that have nothing to do with the country involved and everything to do with some historical stereotype or linguistic accident.
- gpm 8y agoThere is a vast difference between randomly labeling some things with a nationality, and labeling everything about a nationality the same way. If I say 'French car' I don't mean 'sexy car', if I say 'that French dude with brown hair' it doesn't have any connotations about sex or something.
- iguy 8y agoTrue. But I think "French" in particular was used this way for lots of things in English, maybe 100 years ago. "French letter", advertising "French lessons", etc. I guess it faded as the place became less exotic.
- zrobotics 8y agoConsidering how common french fries and french toast are, it's a fairly unhelpful generalization to teach to students. Aside from a french kiss, there aren't many common phrases in US vernacular that still make the association french=sexy.
- paganel 8y agoFor what it’s worth even non-homogenous countries like the US haven’t solved their racial-related issues either. For a while I had thought that Brazil was as close to color-blind as a economically-developed country can be but after reading and learning more about their internal politics and especially after their latest presidential elections it seems that I was wrong.
- DyslexicAtheist 8y agoit's always strange to see communities which have the least amount of foreigners being the most xenophobic (East Germany, US Midwest/flyover, Australian Western Territory, large parts of Eastern Europe etc ...). Not saying xenophobia doesn't exist in the other territories, but it seems exposure and mixing can help a lot. EDIT: it seems the places where xenophobia doesn't exist are mere pockets in a vast ocean of bigotry.
- yostrovs 8y agoFunny how you lump the Midwest "flyover" here, the one that elects minorities to Congress, that has giant populations of immigrants from Somalia, middle East, etc, and that doesn't live gated in or secured by a doorman. Maybe your xenophobia for the people of the Midwest arises because you fly over them?
- WalterSear 8y agoI have spent time flyover country, and, I'm sad to say that IME, the parent's is characterization is much closer than yours.
- yostrovs 8y agoWould be nice to hear your explanation. I've lived in Midwest and both coasts. Haven't noticed a diversity difference. There are fewer Mexicans is the only difference I noticed. Otherwise lots of cultural diversity. Certainly more than in, say, Portland, Oregon, where everyone is white or Asian.
- rqs 8y ago> The teacher (young girl, never left China in her life) told us that everything "French" means "sex/porn/etc", i.e. "french book", "french movie". Funny, but tragic. I think this is a typical example of stereotype rather than racism. But actually, I think that kind of stereotype is the exact major driving force behind racism in China. From my own experience, I don't think we in China have received enough education about races or even our own ethnic groups. That eventually lead to ignorant and insensitive. I once was in a dinner with my parents and their colleges. One of the college is identified as Hui, they don't eat pork (While us Han try everything edible). Somebody on the table got curious and ask why, before the Hui can answer, someone else intercepts and said "Because pig is their god" (when in the reality, they believe pig is filthy). Thankfully, Hui was very nice and explained it to us, and that someone was very embarrassed. So, I think the solution of the racism problem in China is to encourage more interaction between different people.
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- colanderman 8y agoMinor spelling note, "colleague" is an acquaintance or co-worker. "College" is an institution of learning.
- rqs 8y agoThank you for point that out. I should have checked the spelling before posting.
- mikeash 8y agoMy favorite example is Darlie toothpaste. It used to be called Darkie toothpaste, based on the idea that black peoples have exceptionally white teeth. The Chinese name is still “black person toothpaste.”
- throwaway0923 8y agoKind of reminds me of Aunt Jemima Syrup.
- mikeash 8y agoSounds like they have similar origins. Darlie/Darkie is just a bit more overt.
- throwaway0923 8y agoThat’s why it surprised me that over 50% of the ads in China often feature non-Chinese/non-Asian models. Not only that, but if you go to the theaters, more than half the movies are non-Chinese. Can you imagine turning on the TV in the US and seeing ad after ad featuring Asian models? Or going to the theater and seeing that over half the movies are Asian movies with—gasp—subtitles! With how homogeneous China is, I’m surprised they are willing to consume such a diverse set of media, even Bollywood films can do well there!
- thebooktocome 8y agoChina is not homogenous. There are 50 something recognised minorities. It's just that until recently the Han have been too busy attempting to subjugate them.