From: yjhbhc@dante.lbl.gov (Joe Huang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Racism against WHITE in China??? (was Re: Caucasians don't understand
Date: 17 Aug 1992 07:48:00 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
Reply-To: yjhbhc@dante.lbl.gov (Joe Huang)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.106

In article <92229.214547ZQH@psuvm.psu.edu> ZQH@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>In <1992Aug16.025209.24056@cs.UAlberta.CA>
>mark@cs.UAlberta.CA (Mark Green) writes:
>>There is a major difference between racism in North America and China.
>>In North America the racism is more subtle, while in China its blatant.
>>In some parts of China, a white person walking on the streets alone
>>can count on some type of physical attack on a regular basis.  Several
>>             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ???
>>times in a dining hall I've not been served while all the chinese sitting
>>                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ???
>>around have been served.  As far as the waiters were concerned I didn't
>>belong in China so I wasn't going to be fed.  With this type of racism
>>
>
>Racism against WHITE people in China???  Could you please elaborate
>the situations you encountered?
>
>As an English-speaking WHITE person, you should have been swarmed
>by hordes of VERY friendly & eager-to-please college students who
>try to practice English with you.  Other ordinary people should
>have paid much more respect and attention to you than to other
>Chinese --- the 5th or 6th class citizens.
>
>(FYI, foreigners from rich western countries --- 1st-class citizens
>      foreigners from other countries --- 2nd-class citizens
>      Chinese with foreign citizenships --- 3rd-class citizens
>      Chinese from HongKong & Taiwan --- 4th-class citizens
>      ethnic minorities in China --- 5th-class citizens
>      Han Chinese --- 6th-class citizens (lowest)
> according to the practices & written/unwritten policies of Chinese
> Communist Government).
>

I am also a little aghast at your description that whites are 
treated _worse_ in China because of their race, particularly the
part about being physically threatened. I would agree full-heartedly 
that there is blatant discrimination in China based on one's 
background, but on most occasions that discrimination works in 
favor of the "foreign guests" from the U.S., Canada, and Western 
Europe. 

I note that you are from Alberta.  You weren't by any chance a
"foreign expert" sent to Heilongjiang Province through the sister
province agreement between the two provinces, were you, eh? :-) 
I met quite a few Albertans when I worked in Harbin for four months,
which was how I heard of this exchange program (give my regards to
Joanne Pritchard at Forest Lawn High School in Calgary !)

But I digress...Mr. ZHQ's table is a cynical but sadly all-too-often
accurate assessment of how people are treated in the PRC. As a "closet
foreigner", I alternated between going "native" and "tourist", 
and I gotta tell you, if you think you had it tough because you're
white, you should see life through common Chinese eyes (sadly 
something you'll find hard to do because, like the Uncertainity 
Principle, your presence alone will alter the situation).

Aside from being gouged on the prices, which I admit IS extremely 
aggravating, foreigners have access to goods and services denied
the local folk.  If you were working in China, you were probably 
housed in an apartment for "foreign experts" with heat and hot water
that is palatial compared to typical Chinese accomodations, and paid
wages beyond the dreams of most Chinese. Moreover, your host institution
probably provided you with a car and driver at your request on the
assumption that North Americans can't survive by walking or public 
transportation. Hotel and restaurant service is apt to be surly, 
but at least you could walk into any of them without a guard getting
in your way.  Go to a train station and people will steer you to a 
special window for foreigners where tickets are always available 
(pricey, of course), whereas the locals have to line up for hours if
not days to get theirs. As for plane tickets, you can forget
them if you don't have special connections OR are a foreigner.

Bringing this post back to the Albertan angle (:-)), I used to
go to the coffee shop in the International Hotel in Harbin with my 
Canadian friend with no problems. However, when I go alone, the 
following conversation occurs with doormen who seem to not remember 
faces:
   "Hey, who are you looking for?" (doorman speaking)
   "Nobody, I just want to get a cup of coffee."  (me)
   "Where are you from?" 
   "I live around the corner" (me being coy just for fun) 
   "This hotel is for foreign guests only."
   "I've been here with my Canadian friends and..."
   "That's differnet, you can't come here by yourself. It's off-limits 
    to locals, understand?" (gruffly, with patented rolling-of-the-eyes)
   "Actually I'm an Overseas Chinese working as a foreign guest here.."
   "You're from overseas?  Why didn't you say so ?" 
   "Sorry for the confusion. Thanks" (me trying not to be an ugly AA).

I admit that in the above I was pleased with my "performance". I've 
also had some pretty rough times making phone calls and buying tickets 
where I lost my cool and resorted to pulling out my passport to avoid 
being stranded. These stories should not surprise anybody from China, 
but when I described them to my Canadian friend, she thought I was
pulling her leg. She had a hard time believing that a society could
tolerate such blatant discrimination against their own kind.

Assuming that you were not exagerrating about your unpleasant 
experiences, I could only think of two possible explanations : 
(1) some Chinese are fed up with the priviledge given to foreigners 
and rebelling by going to the other extreme, or
(2) things may have changed so much since 1986 that I'm completely 
out of touch. The former is quite possible - I've heard disgruntled
cab drivers muttering about "no dogs or Chinese allowed" on more
than one occasion  - but the latter would really surprise me.

I do not mean to condone or excuse any racism in either direction.
However, I do have the impression that whites are frequently unaware 
of or take for granted their priviledges when in China. If what I've
written is all old hat to you, then I apologize for wasting your time.

Joe Huang