posted by Sam Richards
There are scores of ethnic groups in China and the majority group, the Han Chinese, make up over 90 percent of the population and remain relatively entrenched in their power to influence Chinese society. Think European Americans in the United States before the 1960s. The problem is that China has not had it’s 1960s civil rights movement and accompanying “conscientization” and so many of the Han are thinking about the rights of minorities in much the same way as many white southerners were fifty years ago–that is to say, “rights” are not on the table for a public conversation.
So remember the riots that broke out in China this past summer between minority Uighurs (who are Muslim) and majority Han? Not likely…because it’s probably not an issue for you. But do know that these riots were big news in the world’s most populated country. Many hundreds died all because of an overt racism that we rarely see on this side of the Pacific. Both the majority Han and minority Uighurs violently clashed over the issue or rights. Imagine thousands of majority Han (think white people) roaming the streets with knives and meat cleavers looking for Uighurs (think people of color) to kill after Uighurs had killed over 150 Han. The Uighurs attacked, so they said, as a response to racist attacks and policies by the Han. So yeah, big news in China.
Read this is from a James Fallows column in the New Yorker to get a sense of the racism in China. Fallows has had considerable experience living there as a Westerner/foreigner.
Regarding the “no Uighurs” sign [that is often seen in the Xinjiang region], that type of thing is pretty common in China. Many advertisements for foreign English teachers will include something like “Whites only” or a “Looking for Caucasian teachers” sentence somewhere in the text. Additionally, many a native speaker have flown from their country to China only to find upon arrival that regardless of the applicant’s qualifications, the job could only be performed by a white person. At these times the Chinese are usually polite and a little embarrassed (most Chinese are very nice people and mean no harm), but they will remain very firm in their conviction that a person with darker skin than theirs could not possibly make a good teacher.
I have experienced this on a number of occasions. But after living in China for a while I realized that what we would consider racism in the West is simply a deeply ingrained cultural characteristic of mainland Chinese people. White skin (the Chinese like to consider themselves white) and/or being a Han (the dominant ethnic group) means a person is good. Dark skin or not being Han means a person is inferior (and more likely to be a bad guy/a thief/incompetent etc.). It does not equal KKK style hatred. It does not even mean a Han Chinese wouldn’t be friends with a person from India or Africa. It simply means that if a person is non-white or a member of certain Chinese minorities [like Uighurs], they simply are to be considered less smart, less competent and less trustworthy than the average white person or Han.
On a lighter note, the Chinese are not inflexible and when exposed to nice people of color they usually will change their minds quickly, as with Obama. However, the tendency towards ethnic and racial chauvinism is a current running through Chinese culture that is unlikely to change in any meaningful way anytime soon.
These are pretty graphic scenes. I realize that there are many sides to this issue and there is no way that I can begin to present them all here. Nonetheless, these riots are not much different than the riots we have seen here in the United States in terms of their causes and consequences. What I want you to get a window into is the idea that ethnocentrism and prejudice and discrimination occur all over the world. I say this because I often hear people say something to the effect that the U.S. is the “most racist country in the world,” when in fact that know little to nothing about other countries in that world of which they speak.
This post is just a window into another culture and their struggles for civility and understanding.
I think that this is a good and interesting way to draw a parallel between racism in our country and how it compares to racism in other countries to which we do not often relate ourselves. We are often so absorbed in combating our own forms of racism differentiating between our old racism and our new racism simply in the United States that, careless Americans that we are, we ignore the fact that racism much worse than ours is still going on around the world. We are fortunate to have already had the moral capacity to have our civil rights movement. Sure, it was a difficult time in our history, but we made it through and groups of minorities are enjoying more rights now than only approximately fifty years ago. Now it is time that we aid others and realize that they are still stuck in what we consider the past. Countries such as China are “behind the times” and are still judging one’s intelligence and other features based solely on the shade of his skin. This blatant racism is alive and well on the other side of the world and hundreds of people are being killed because of its continued existence. Speaking for my generation, we’ve all heard horror stories concerning the Jim Crow laws, the rule of the Ku Klux Klan, and other oppressive measures taken against African Americans as well as other minorities. Yet we fail to realize that these terrible horrors are still affecting other peoples.
In regards to the signs posted saying “no Uighers,” this is a clear parallel to the segregation the South became famous for after the Civil War and the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that stated separate was allowed as long as it was equal. And the overt prejudice against darker skin is apparent in the thought process by many that if one’s skin is a darker shade, he is also of a more ignorant shade. So now there is a direct correlation between skin shade and IQ? Or between skin shade and the level of trust permitted? That is such crap and maybe it takes someone from outside of their culture to realize that.
The video shows scenes that appear terrible because we hate to think that there are people out there who are still forced to live in that kind of world. We are aware that riots happen for all kinds of reasons, oppression and hate being among the leaders. But to see women and children, bloody in the streets, crying, while men set fires and turn over cars – that presents a stark reality we are not privy to daily. Now that we are lucky enough to have made progress on the racial ideas in our country, we should now try to aid other countries to be as lucky.
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There is only one thing to start with after reading this post by Sam; racism is everywhere. It’s embedded in cultures everywhere, even ones you and I haven’t heard of and it’s constantly ruining lives. It would be virtually impossible to account for all the acts of hate, discrimination, and segregation due to race or ethnicity in the world. It simply happens too much. Some cases are more severe than others, but no act of hate should ever be over looked no matter how big or how small. Hate crimes happen in the United States every day, and I believe it is safe to say that law enforcements are pretty strict with them. But what about the places where the law enforcement is the one committing the crimes? Fortunately for the people in the United States, that’s not the case, but some very unfortunate people around the world face this every day. In the case of the Chinese, they see these acts surfacing every day.
Just from actually seeing, well actually reading, about racism from a different vantage point, it is safe to say that I do not know everything I could about how terrible and out of control racism is in this world. As we know from the old South and North pre-Civil War era, racism can be extremely potent and even divide a country. Seeing the extreme hate in China between the Han and the Uighars is heart wrenching. It’s down right wrong and things like that should never occur. But is there really a way to put an end to the way people believe? Simply put, racism will never end. It can only be contained and slowed. The best way to do this, starts inside of each and every person; just because you feel a certain way about a culture or group of people, does not make it just to voice your harmful and for the most part wrong opinions. It is amazing the emotions that are drawn out after reading just one case of this racism from around the world. Now think about how many other countries there are and how many people in those countries are victims of racist acts. It’s mind blowing, isn’t it?
I knew racism existed, but I never knew the extent of it. My grandfather was a racist and before he passed away had no problem whatsoever in voicing his opinion out right. Luckily for me, I only inherited the good in that man, and currently one of my best friends is African American. I couldn’t imagine him being segregated or hated. I don’t understand how people can find so much hate inside themselves as to put someone down because of their skin color. Believe me, I had no idea the extent of world racism. Thank you Sam for opening my eyes.
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This is definitely the first time that I have ever heard of such things going on in China. I really never thought about the idea that a developed country such as China could still be having similar race and discrimination problems to the ones that we saw in our own country just decades ago. I think the way Dr. Richards puts it makes a good point: “So remember the riots that broke out in China this past summer between minority Uighurs (who are Muslim) and majority Han? Not likely…because it’s probably not an issue for you.” This is true, these riots and decimation are things that I have sadly overlooked because they aren’t exactly issues that I have to deal with in my day to day life. I guess when you live in a protective bubble for most of your life, and even here in University Park, you tend to assume that everything is just fine and dandy in the outside world just as you see it in your own town.
Though it seems like discrimination is a major problem in China, it looks to be intense or under control depending on the person. With this discrimination, violence looks to only come into the picture in certain situations and rather take the form of some of the racism that we see from time to time in the United States. People are willing to get to know someone before the write them off as someone that they hate. Though they may be willing to get to know someone and become friends, that won’t change the fact that they will view the person of color as being inferior to them.
We all can say that we have seen racism or discrimination in some form or another, or I least I believe everyone can. It’s repetitive to talk about the issue of racism itself rather than how surprising it is that it is still such an issue in multiple advanced cultures. It’s almost as if it happens so often that it is overlooked at times, just like the fact that I am one who never even heard of the violence that has been going on in China.
In actuality, some of the same discrimination that is in China is seen in our country today, but it is our progress over the years that cause them to be more discreet. When you hear that these things still occur on large scales around the world in developed countries, it is eye opening. Between the lectures, blogs, and readings, there always seems to be more information that I have never stopped to think about. All these things can blow you away at times when you stop to take in the chilling facts.
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This issue of a “Chinese civil war” really struck me. I can admit that I had no idea that this occurred, as Sam indicated, since I do not follow the news that often. It really does remind me of the racism that was very persistent in the American south during the 1960’s. The Uighur s, who serve as a comparison to the blacks of the 1960’s in America, look like they are facing a much different type of racism than those black people did.
In the 1960’s, blacks here were used as slaves. In China, there is no such comparison. China, however, is one of the most ethnocentric countries in the world, boasting the biggest population. It seems that the Han, who represent the white people from the 1960’s in America, do not even value the Uighurs enough to enslave them. Signs all over China and brutal beatings indicate that the Han do not even respect the Uighurs at all. Due to their already ethnocentric attitude, it seems that the Han want to kick out anyone who is not exactly like them, and do not feel threatened at all, which is the major difference from the American civil rights movement. The Uighurs lack a strong presence that the blacks had.
Martin Luther King, Jr. enlightened black America during a time of real hostility for them. He gave them something to be excited about, a way out of their predicament. As he gained recognition and followers, black America started to believe. This belief and momentum eventually overthrew white slaveowners, and although there is still racism in America today, the brutality has certainly been eliminated. The Uighurs lack a big voice like Dr. King, and that is what is keeping them down and will continue to keep them down.
Although the Han have not enslaved the Uighurs, violence is still rampant across China. It is amazing that people like me have not heard about it. A story like this should be known to everyone in the world, and just proves that we have a long way to go as people if one of the world’s most prominent and prestigious countries is displaying itself in a manner like this. The Chinese should truly be ashamed of themselves, and I think this is equally as terrible for the Chinese as it was for us in the 1960’s. The overall theme of my analysis is that the Uighurs need a voice. They need a Martin Luther King, Jr. to give them some hope and direction. The Han will continue to hurt the Uighurs in many ways if this is not accomplished, and it seems like the Uighurs may even be eliminated as whole if a voice of hope will not step up.
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Upon first reading this story of the racial issues in China, I was pretty interested because it seemed extremely new and unfamiliar to me. I honestly did not know anything of these specific racial groups in China and the problems they have. I never even thought that such things occurred in China. This is different because I think as American, at least for me that is, we get so caught up in worrying about the typical white vs. black racism that occurs in own country that we fail to realize its significance in the world. From my experiences in SOC 119 I have begun to think about the serious racial problems that exist in the US that I was kind of unaware of, or I just inadvertently ignored them even though they were right in front of me my whole life. Now after reading this blog article I have begun to think about racism as a worldly human social issue instead of just a thing that America itself has to work out. Not to justify racism between opposite races like white and black, but it really shocks me to see overt racism between people of essentially the same race and background. Reading this article made me think wow, this is so crazy, why would these certain Chinese groups hate these Uighurs so strongly when they make up part of their new culture so much? I came to think that obviously it is because China seems to be still very traditional and anciently oriented country, as far as culture and customary practices are concerned. This makes me feel pretty proud of the United States in how far it has come to stop such injustices of race discrimination and unnecessary hatred to people who are a true part of our country and make us who we are. This is not to say that the fight is over in preventing these things that happen, because I do think that it is quite obvious that they are still very present in our society today, but at least they have subsided to subtle and sort of behind the scenes occurrences, not to say that is much better, instead of the actions resulting in riots, car bombs, etc. that we see in the video taking place in China today. Not only do we need to work hard to stop racism in our own homes, but in doing so we help set the example to other countries that are beginning to become more developed like the US how their citizens and fellow members of their cultures and countries deserved to be treated.
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This blog entry has made it clear that racism is not only an issue in the United States. Racism and discrimination are issues which span the face of the earth, not just the continental U.S. If we want to deal with racism, we must first acknowledge its evasiveness. As Americans, when we think of racial issues, we think of the ones which are present in our own nation. The fact of the matter is, though, that racism exists all over, and to a much greater extent and severity than many of us have ever witnessed or experienced. Unfortunately, we live in a world full of hate and discrimination, and we need to be aware of these issues and attempt to find ways to aid those in need.
The fact that blatant racism like that portrayed in this blog still exists is beyond my understanding. I was honestly shocked to see that video and read the account by Fallows. It’s hard to believe that in the twenty-first century, there still exists certain people who outright believe that they are better than and above others. Just because of the color of their skin, the Huns believe they possess the right to put down the Uighurs. The Huns think that their light skin tone gives them the authority to deny the darker-skinned Uighurs jobs and other social privileges. The fact that this racism has turned into physical terror is unacceptable. Segregating against a people is bad enough, but when that turns into riots and overt violence, something must be done. China needs to experience a movement like that of the Civil Rights in the United States. Someone needs to take a stand for these people so that they can live a free and desegregated life.
I think that one of the greatest points made by Sam Richards in posting this article is that just because we don’t see an issue occurring right under our noses, does not mean that it doesn’t exist. If it were not for reading this blog entry, most of us would not even be aware of the fact that these issues of racism existed in China. One of our greatest problems, as Americans, is our indifference to the problems of other peoples and nations around the world. We are stuck in a bubble where we think that if something isn’t affecting us personally, it is of little or no importance. As a nation that prides itself on being a “world leader,” the citizens of the United States should put more time and effort into being more aware of world issues. Aside from acknowledging that these problems are real, we need to create awareness and try to give aid to those being oppressed.
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I think that thinking about racism in countries aside from the United States is crucial to actually understanding other cultures. Clearly, and with legitimacy, racism and prejudice exists in America toward people of color still today. Yet, the statement mentioned and the belief of many Americans that the United States is “the most racist country in the world” is very ignorant if information about other nations is not known.
I think that it’s very interesting how the racism in China against Uighurs appears to be just as bad as or worse than the racism toward African Americans up until the 20th century. This is noteworthy because the dominant Han Chinese make up over 90% of the Chinese population, while “dominant” white people in America do not constitute such a large percentage.
Additionally, I think it is unquestionably horrific that after the Uighurs stood up against racism directed at them, although they did so violently, the Han immediately and brutally attacked back on a much larger and deadlier scale than the Uighurs. On the other hand, while these actions are clearly and simply wrong, I believe that the interaction of the riots and this Chinese racism in general displays something very interesting about racism as a general concept. Racism and ethnocentrism are so utterly ingrained into people’s beliefs and values, all over the world, that large-scale actions such as these riots are even taking place. These actions don’t represent simply a population of evil people- rather, these actions represent an evil and twisted idea that has been entrenched into our subconscious thoughts. Racism has become so embedded into our minds that actions such as the vicious riots in China are taking place and participated in by so many.
The similarities between racism between the Han Chinese and the Uighurs today, and African Americans and white Americans symbolize a very common theme of racism all over the world. The similarities, including the riots, the simple denial of rights, and the discrimination in ads for jobs, signify that ethnocentrism and racism are generalizable and have common traits, no matter where they are witnessed.
The James Fallows column in the New Yorker explains how it is part of Chinese society today for Uighurs to simply “be considered less smart, less competent and less trustworthy than the average white person or Han.” This disturbing fact bears a striking resemblance to the way in which African Americans were viewed by white Americans, and still are viewed by some today.
The MSNBC video on this racism in China shows an extremely graphic and violent depiction of the problems in China today. As mentioned in the video, it is very interesting how the Chinese were welcoming to foreign journalists documenting the atrocities in China. Clearly, the government and many Chinese people are not trying to hide what is happening, and clearly do not view these racist actions as any kind of a problem.
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The most interesting part of this story, for me and probably for many others too, is how unaware Americans, as a whole, are of the racism in China. I assumed that some racism and prejudice existed because really, it exists in some amount everywhere. However, I was really in the dark about just how prevalent race issues still are today. It is shocking to learn that many American citizens are uninformed about China’s problem considering how globalized we have become. With endless media outlets, you would not think that blatant and violent racism like this would be so hidden.
It was meaningful to realize how ignorant I am in regards to the race and civil rights status of China. Before reading the article, I assumed that a country such as China would be in the same playing field with the US on issues like civil rights. Because the movement occurred some time ago in America, I subconsciously assumed that most large countries would have also experienced some form of civil rights movement by now. Seeing that it is the 21st century, I thought it was safe to assume that such violent racism in modern countries was in the past. However, my assumption was obviously wrong. My rationale for this assumption has to be pretty false then also. I think for the most part, Americans find it difficult to imagine such intense racism in China because both the Hans and Uighurs are essentially Asian. Racism in the US existed primarily between blacks and whites, slaves and masters. These differences are very apparent and socially evident, while the differences in China are, from a white person’s viewpoint, less evident. The varying skin colors are obvious, but for an average white American, the deeply rooted cultural differences are not so evident. I feel that this contributes to the lack of knowledge that many Americans posses about current racism in China.
The racial tension in China is so deeply imbedded in their culture and society that it would be very difficult for changes to be made. Because the darker skinned Uighurs have been seen as inferior to the Hans for such a long period of time, it would be challenging for them to suddenly accept the Uighurs as equal. This situation is similar to the religious wars in the Middle East. These countries have been fighting for centuries and show little progress in tolerance and acceptance. The hatred and warfare appears as if it will strongly continue on for quite some time. The circumstances in China resemble this example because both sets of beliefs are so deeply rooted in the society’s culture and history. How would a country even begin to change an idea that is so prominent?
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This video has made me realize several things. First, I would say I am a bit ignorant when it comes to China, mainly because I have not been taught very much about China in general or the various groups in China. Clearly there is a huge problem with the Han population and the Uighur population nonetheless. These riots seem chaotic, many people probably died during this/ these incidents, and it is said that in the modern world we live in, events like this still occur. The second thing I realized, and it is sad to admit, but I did not know that there were different types of Chinese groups. I figured that there would be differences in politics and religion like in America, but not a difference in Chinese people themselves. From what I got out of this article, was that the Uighurs are the minority, and are being oppressed by the majority, the Hans. Even though the groups are both Chinese, it still reminds me of the racism in our country and the black/ white conflict during the 1960’s. What is most shocking to me is that there is racism in countries like China where Chinese people hate other Chinese people and riots result out of the tensions between the two groups.
Due to a long historical fued between the groups, it seems very likely that this conflict with continue to persist. Here we have Chinese citizens fighting other Chinese citizens and discrimination between the two groups. This is very sad that there is almost a civil war in the country, from the impression that I got from the video. I am not really sure why there is a longstanding conflict between the two groups, but it seems to me that the Han population feels superior to the Uighur population and this attitude is more than likely to continue. It made me realize that like America, this country is also suffering from racism and discrimination. One group who is the majority believes that they are superior and wants to keep the other group down. To me this is sad, but yet also very informative.
I have taken many sociology classes and law classes that focus on racial disparities in various institutions, and I had a narrow vision that racism was a huge problem only in our country. Upon seeing this video and hearing about the Han/Uighur conflict, I realized that discrimination and conflicts between majority and minority groups is broader than I could have imagined. According to the video, the police “have it under control”, but then 5 seconds later a bunch of people are flipping over a police car. Maybe it is the fact that I do not watch enough news or that this type of news is not as publicized as it should be, but like America, China has a urgent problem that needs to be addressed. Whatever the causes are, there needs to be someone who is level headed and inspirational enough to address the issues and try to diminish them.
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When you stop to think about it, it is really amazing that the United States, the so-called most modern, industrialized nation in the world had segregated schools, water fountains, and other facilities just fifty years ago. Not to say that the civil rights marches totally eradicated this racism, but it’s no longer as visible and blatant as it was in the past. I also feel that there have been significant blows to racism, given that we have a president in Barack Obama who would not have had any chance to win an election in the 1960s and black and brown senators, representatives, and judges across the country. Through personal experience and some studies I’ve heard on television and in class, I realize that white people have some advantages over people of color, but I think calling America “the most racist country in the world” is taking it a little too far.
I don’t like to argue with people because hearing some people argue makes me wonder how these people were ever accepted into Penn State. Sometimes, I feel a debate might be a better indication of intelligence for admittance than SAT scores. The majority of arguments consist of someone saying someone or something sucks or is bad, followed by the other getting defensive and questioning his or her sanity. Just opinions are silly, which is why I think labeling the U.S. as the most racist country is overreacting.
I obviously don’t know anything about the story besides what’s written in the blog post, but from my standpoint, what the Han are doing to the Uighurs would at least put China ahead of us in any racist rankings. If a store here put up a sign that said “Now Hiring Whites,” there would be outrage in the national media, protests out of the store, and the owner would probably be forced out of business. In China, this seems to be common practice and acceptable behavior. It really saddens me that people are discriminated on the basis of physical appearance when this is something that people cannot control. Discrimination is not good, but I would rather have it occur because of people’s opinions and actions – at least, these are voluntary.
On the other hand, I can somewhat understand the thinking of the Han. According to news reports and some classes I’ve taken, China is one of the top global powers now and has a good chance to become the biggest in ten to twenty years. The Han are the majority, and in their eyes, they have made China what it is now. Why should they share in their prosperity with these people who weren’t part of the success and have different beliefs than them? I’m by no means condoning what they are doing – I’m merely trying to figure out their thought processes.
There is no question what the Han are doing to the Uighurs in China is blatant racism. This seems like it should have been a bigger story in the United States because of the similarities to our history, along with the fact that China is a major power in the world. It seems inconceivable that the Uighurs will just be pushed around too much longer without either a civil war occurring, UN intervention or the Han making a compromise to give more rights. Whatever happens in China will likely affect us here, and hopefully there will be a peaceful resolution.
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I’ll be the first to say that I don’t believe that equality can be had in a country that has such a significant portion of its population (the Hans are about 90% of the population) with the other 10% being divided by various ethnic groups. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would a population that is for the most part homogenous care about the smaller parts of the population? The smaller groups aren’t needed for work, money or any sort of substance that would make them indispensable. In a country like Mauritania, the slaves are depended on for the economy. In a place like China, what don’t the Hans do? They are completely capable of relying on themselves to fulfill every societal role they choose.
I am for equality but I just don’t see equality happening in China in the foreseeable future. This is the same country in which the Tiananmen Square massacre happened only 20 years ago. For those who don’t know, a mass of people were protesting in China when the Chinese military decided the best way to handle the situation was to open fire on this group of unarmed citizens. In light of this incident, are we truly supposed to think that China will be welcoming the push to equality any time soon? The answer is no. What makes me more pessimistic about China is its authority by violence hold it has on Tibet, home to the Dalai Lama, which as we all know is the holiest of terrorists around. China felt the need to assert its control over Tibet in the 1950s and take it back via force. The same country who rejects Religious freedom and freedom of expression is somehow going to lead the way to equality among its people? It is simply a ludicrous and childish idea. There is a larger chance of the UN growing a backbone and providing support to the abolitionist cause in Thailand.
Finally, equality will never work in China because China is a Communist nation. Communism does not let ideas like equality, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble or many freedoms to foster in its people. It asserts its control over its people by censorship and force. How is one going to protest for equality when they are watched closely on the internet or on the streets? What happens if they are caught on the streets protesting? Will they be fired on like animals in a safari? It is safer for those wanting equality to lay low until the government has changed. There will be no ideas of equality until the most basic freedoms are allowed. Seeing as it is Communist China, I don’t see those freedoms being allowed any time soon. Equality postponed until a later date.
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While racism exists in China, the issue is not as apparent as in other countries where there are people with completely different colors, say black and white. Because most people in China have very similar skin tone, Chinese people have not had the opportunity to interact with different ethnic groups and races in mainland China. While the attitude there is not as extreme as with the case of KKK, people who are divergent from the main culture and ethnicity are generally viewed down upon. Because China did not have any successful civil rights movements, its ability to co-exist with different racial groups have been lagging behind United States. Since the majority of Chinese belong to the Han ethnicity, the cases of minorities have not been a big issue in China. Like Professor Richards has demonstrated in class with the King of the Mountain example, people who are on top create invisible guidelines and rules to help keep people who are not like them away from the top. Whether it is skin color, ethnicity, religion, or origin, the minorities are usually not mentioned and ignored and sometimes attacked. With the lack of free speech in China, the oppressed minority groups in China have never had a chance to speak out. Even if some did, their speeches were most likely banned from the mass media and the leaders were probably rounded up by the police. Since the people in power all come from the Han ethnicity, other minorities such as Uighurs have no political support to cause any attitude change toward them. This case is very similar to oppressing slaves in early periods of U.S. However because the people and leaders were free to express their view on cases of slavery, it quickly became a political and human issue which urged people to create change. If there are people who are sympathetic toward the cruel treatments of minorities, they are often afraid to speak due to government enforcements. The media, which is also controlled by the government, most likely will show the inferiority of people of darker skin rather than the brilliance of people of different race. Since the country is most populated in the world, competition in China is up the roof. It might seem foolish for a Chinese person from the Han ethnicity to be forced to give up a job to someone of a different ethnicity. To help protect people from Han ethnicity’s interest, government will leave loopholes to allow indirect racial discrimination. To summarize it all, Chinese people’s ignorance toward people of different religion and race are mainly results of lack of employment opportunities, government enforcement, and their own ignorance at times. While many may predict a major attitude change in the upcoming decade, it will not take place unless the government policies take a turn toward more tolerance and less restrictions.
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When I think about racism I definitely think about American history and what has happened with blacks and whites. I have never really thought about racism in China and actually never considered it a problem because I guess out of my own ignorance I just figured that all Asian’s were the same (neither black nor white) and that they would all just get along because of this. I never thought about having a different race in Asia and that everyone was just “Asian”. But I guess that every country in the world would have some type of racism since so many different races would live together. Whether it deals with “poor whites” versus “rich whites” or Jews versus Christians everyone finds something to fight about. The fighting between the Hans and the Uighurs in Asia is just another example of racism in the world. One reason that these races hate each other is because of their backgrounds. Like in America some people are from Italy, or Ireland, or Russia, and used to be discriminated against for decades, this is this case of what is happening in Asia. The Hans and the Uighurs are from other countries originally so they continue to fight because of this. I don’t really remember hearing about this on the news over the summer but that is probably because I might of did see it on the television but I am so used to hearing about racism going on in the world that I just switched the channel. Like the article said, Asia has yet to go through a Civil Rights Era in their country so they probably don’t yet understand that it shouldn’t matter what race you are and that everyone needs to be equal to make a country work. It said in the article that there are signs in windows saying “Caucasian’s Only” or “Caucasian’s wanted for Work”. Asian’s consider themselves Caucasians so this just shows the amount of racism in this country. I have never seen a sign like that in this country but have heard about them back in the 60’before the Civil Rights Movement. I just don’t understand why racism occurs anyway in the world and that gets me so upset. It just seems like something that would happen in high school between clicks of people trying to be popular and making fun of others to be cool. It is hard to believe that these “high school games” still happen all over the world and that people need to make fun of others to feel better about themselves. The United States is slowly growing up out of this but Asia still has a lot of growing to do to end racism.
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It is very true that many Americans don’t know much about the cultures or ethnic groups present in various countries, especially if they’ve never left the United States. The question is: why? People shouldn’t make snap judgments about anything, but it’s human nature, it’s how the mind works when being “lazy” or not devoting precious energy to consciously contemplate the truth or meaning behind every statement it has access too. In fact, it’s completely natural to stereotype…. Everything. It’s how our highly thinking brains have evolved, it’s the easy way out.
Yeah we have to take general education credits in college and elementary, middle, and high schools try to teach you a variety so you’re “well rounded,” but is that the reality at all? The unfortunate answer is probably not. Are we even exposed to different cultures other than those in America through the media that is presented in this country? That answer is not really. Everything we read, hear, view, or take in with some other sense is twisted by someone or something. History classes are taught through techniques and books portraying Americans as the good guys, when in reality that’s not the case and no one is perfect. People are never willing to take the blame for themselves and are almost always going to first try to pin it on someone else.
From the outside looking in these fights and attacks may look silly and be misunderstood, but how could they not be? The person viewing them is not in the current heat of the situation, nor do they know all possible sides of the story they would need to make an informed decision. As Americans we may think we understand this “racism” or different judgment of African Americans in our society, but do we really? We stereotype them, they stereotype us, and the rest of the world stereotypes our relationship. With all this stereotyping going on, yes there are exceptions, but can any one person [besides sociologists like Sam or Laurie who devote their ENTIRE lives to trying to understand this, and will comprehend more than the majority of the population, but can never fully and completely understand] say that they truly understand that the “other side” is going through? No. But, is it our fault? Also no. the most we can do is try to see the world through another person’s eyes, but even that can be the most difficult of tasks.
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Seeing this YouTube video and reading this blog reiterates that ethnic conflicts don’t only happen in the United States, but all over the world. It also allows me to realize that the United States has its own race relation problems, but compared to other nations our problems are somewhat smaller or settled. In China for example it comes to the point in which confrontation between groups happen. Many die because of these confrontations. This doesn’t only happen in China it happens all over the world. A perfect example of this is Africa. Due to so many different groups, constantly, there is conflict and confrontation between groups. The saddest thing is that the reason why people are being killed daily is because of differences in beliefs and values.
Going back to the article, it seems that China (the government) has a major role on how its citizens think. There are advertisements targeted to certain types of people. For example there is a preference for teachers who are “whites”. What really amazes me is the fact that in certain places only “whites” where admitted. I don’t really know how much the government does to correct this, but to me it seems that they are not doing much to educate the society about individual differences. I know China is a communist country and that the government has control over the media. Usually things like riots don’t get broadcasted for other parts of the world to see. This makes me wonder how is it that this got broadcasted. Something doesn’t seem right. On a different note, in one of the blogs there was a comment made that “America is the most racist country in the world.” However if you look at the bigger picture America doesn’t seem any more or less racist than other nations. I think that racism happens at many levels. America has had a different racism then other countries but the beauty of it is that America has transition from past generation. Compared to other nations I think that America has been able to realize the damage of racism and there are those out there who are actually trying to change notions or actions from back then. If you compare the United States to other nations you can notice that throughout time things have change. Today you don’t see confrontations between groups to the point in which riots or fights are taking place out on the streets. True back then there were times in which the African Americans and the “whites” didn’t get along and constantly there were fights, but through time these types of confrontations are not being seeing as much. Overall, I think that even the nation with the biggest racial conflict, in time this problem can be settled. Obviously this will not happen overnight but over a long process.
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This article about the Uighurs and the Han Chinese definitely opened my eyes to see racism and discrimination outside of the United States. It’s easy to not focus on issues such as race in foreign parts of the world, as I willingly admit to have done. This is your classic racism situation discriminating against someone for something they cannot change and have no effect on. Why the Han Chinese people engage in this hatred is a difficult question to answer, as is why there was so much white and black hostility for many years. Perhaps ethnocentrism and prejudice have something to deal with these similar situations. I don’t know if it’s human nature to believe your race is superior or just something that people are brainwashed into thinking. Or does the king of the mountain need a scapegoat to blame problems on and keep suppressing them. Like in our lectures these Han Chinese are indeed the top of the mountain as the majority dominant race in China. Somehow they climbed to the mountain top, for whatever reason it may be. Weather they are smarter or just was in the right place at the right time, no one knows. But we do know they are somewhat following in the footsteps of the white race in America during the strong racism against the black and colored minorities throughout our history. It is easy for us to see how horrible these acts are against the Uighur minority, as we have been educated on our inconvenient past with white and black hate acts. Although I can somewhat see that the Han Chinese don’t see how terrible and morally wrong there attacks are. Just like the Americans didn’t recognize black people as equals and humans.
Recognizing that this situation is very similar to the pre civil rights era in America is shocking to see that this violent racism still exists on a large scale. The Chinese much like us with Black and White people need to see the bigger picture. Although it is very difficult almost impossible to see this when you are in the middle of this battle of racism. One day these people will indeed see what white American saw many years ago. Although not all have but the majority has seen the bigger picture on race relations and learning to accept everyone no matter on their race. Viewing someone as less of a person or not even a person at all is morally wrong and must be avenged. We must help educate the Han and Uighur Chinese on making peace between races and not discriminating against someone for any reason. And certainly to end the violence both groups have shown towards each other. I wonder if we will ever have peace across the world. I certainly hope so but this is reality and sadly it isn’t really what it seems. One step into world peace could be by legalizing marijuana. That was people can find reasons to love someone and not bring about racism ever again.
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Racism From a Different Vantage Point
I think that the situation that was happening in China this summer is very disturbing. Firstly, I felt very uninformed and out of the loop because I always try to keep up on current events and I had never heard anything of these civil riots. I must admit that when I read the newspaper I usually focus more on the national and not worldwide news, but nonetheless I feel dumb for nothing knowing of a story of this magnitude. That being said, I cannot say that I am really surprised by what happened. Civil unrest is happening in some form everyday at a given point across the globe, these events are just not necessarily published. There are massive genocides going on in countries in Africa such as Darfur; the American media just neglects to focus on them because these conflicts are not directly affecting us. There is a constant argument amongst Americans if we should intervene in places like Darfur, and if our spheres of influence stretch that far. Obviously we have not affected as of yet, and I think good arguments could be made either way.
I think it is completely ridiculous to say that America is the most racist country in the world. In fact, I think America is the least racist and most accepting country in the world. I don’t think anyone would argue that America is the most diverse place to live, and has the highest chance for an immigrant to gain an equal opportunity. Mexicans are not sneaking across the border to be discriminated for no reason; they feel that living in America will give them the best standard of living for their families. I think Americans are the most educated people in the world as far as racism goes, and we have the least bias. We have already undergone a massive civil rights revolution throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and that has made us aware of racial discrimination and injustice. As mentioned in Sam’s blog, places such as China have not undergone these revolutions yet, and they have to combat racism daily with no precedent from the past to look for guidance. I am not trying to say that racism does not exist in the United States, because it certainly does, but I think that we are the most understanding people in the world because we are ahead of the curve for racism.
I am under the belief that racism is inevitable. I don’t think society will ever reach a point where every different, indigenous group of people will be completely accepting of each other. We are striving towards goal of relativity; relatively, there will be no racism in America. It is impossible to say that not one American will not have a negative feeling towards another person from a different background. It is human nature to be competitive and try to attain the “top of the mountain” lifestyle, and along the way someone is bound to have disparaging feelings towards another group striving towards the top.
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When I think of racism, I automatically think about black versus white and only in the United States. If anything, I would not expect racism to be as big in other countries. I would assume that all the other countries would be jealous and somewhat racist of America. I always thought that all other countries were united with each other and did not express any hatred against each other. The only two areas that I thought were extremely racist and hated other people were the Sunnis and Shiites. In this article it discusses how the Han Chinese makes up over ninety percent of the population of China and they still try to spread and influence their power to other members in China. I find this hard to believe because I personally thought everyone got along in China. I used to have a neighbor who was Chinese and he always told me that there were multiple ethnic groups of Chinese and they do not really get along. I always thought he was lying, but when I see this article it makes me have second thoughts. Since China has not had a civil rights movement yet, I feel like there is more freedom and all types of ethnic groups are fighting for a spot so their ‘group’ is in power. In this case this makes it seem like China is not a ‘certified’ country because they have not resolved their civil rights issues. Plenty of years have passed in order for a country to still be disputing civil rights.
In this case it explains why citizens of China have been experiencing many riots. I am surprised that they do not talk about it as much on the news in the United States because this is a serious matter. Maybe it has been in the news a few times, but I watch the news often and cannot recall hearing about riots in China. In the article it discusses the riot over the summer with the Uighurs against Han and hundreds are died. I understand that everyone wants power, but violence is never the answer. I do not see how killing people will make any group gain power. This made me realize that racism does occur out of the United States and I am not culturally aware of what goes on in different countries. To me when I think of cultures in other countries, everyone looks the same and gets along and there are no problems. I just always thought that the problems were with Americans. Now I know that there are ‘minorities’ in countries and they also discover problems such as racism like minorities do in America. I like how in the article the dispute between the people in China was described in a relatable situation with blacks being the minorities who were attacked by white people due to racism. I can relate to this article and understand how people feel in other countries because I am a black female. I have personally been a part of racist encounters and I am more sympathetic of how other people (minorities) are treated in other countries. I wish there was something that could be done about the feud in China, but it would take a mass amount of people to take a positive move to influence the Hans to calm down, but I feel like telling the Hans to stop is relative to telling an alcoholic to stop drinking because majority of the time, it will not work.
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To those who thought that the United States is the most racist country in the world, isn’t thinking right, or just doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. I agree that these people probably know nothing about other countries or just refuse to acknowledge other countries problems. I’ve always looked at it as that all countries have many problems in which are similar to all other countries and have only a few problems that are unique to their country.
Believing that the United States has the biggest issue of racism is simply wrong. I think that these people are seeing the United Stated as the country of the free and the country where anyone’s dreams can come true, problem-less free. This reputation that the United States has of being able to live the American Dream may cause many people to think there are few to none problems and conflicts. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works and to those people, when they realize that there are these conflicts, they stand out more so than they would in other countries, such as China.
The state of China now, seems pretty rough, between the fast growing population and the civil rights problem between the Hans and the Uighurs. We can relate this problem to the one we had in American between “whites” and “blacks” but I think between the enormous country of China and the 21st century that it might be a little crazier, or just different, than what the United States went through in the 1960’s. The tension I think may have been stronger for our civil rights movement but I wouldn’t be surprised if this civil rights movement in China began to grow even more in the next few years because of its absurdly large population.
Similar actions have been going on in the Southwest region of China, Tibet. The Tibetans, who are mostly Buddhists, view themselves as their own country. The Han Chinese on the other hand, view themselves as greater and better than the Tibetans. There has been a feud between these two groups for a bunch of years now and the conflict between them is essentially the same as the Han-Uighur conflict.
While it is true that most Americans don’t follow the majority of the conflicts that go on in other countries, it is not right to say that the United States is the most racist or the most anything. Before you can label another country, you must be aware and have witnessed what goes on around the world. In taking my African Studies class, that has taught me to not go ahead and label other countries when I do not know what actually goes on there. One must understand the reasons for why things go on and learn from it.
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I wish I knew more about this issue because until today, I had no idea that it even existed. When I read the line that said ” remember the riots.. probably not because its not an issue for you,” I felt disappointed with myself because I feel like I should know this and don’t read/watch the news enough. As for what I just learned by reading the blog, it amazes me how similar racial issues are found in other countries. When I think of someone being racist, I picture a white person discriminating a black person, and vice versa. I never pictured racism in other countries including China because when I look at people living in China, it appears as if everyone ranges from light skinned to dark skinned, where the two extremes are the same (just a tan). I never knew that there is discrimination between those fair skinned and darker skinned but more the fact that there are many cultures within China. I guess it’s pretty ignorant on my part to think that, but it’s probably because I have no Asian friends so I don’t really know much about their culture. One of my best friends in Bengali, and she has told me multiple times that those of a darker color are discriminated against because of how things were many years ago. Back in the day, those who worked outside, were considered the poorer class and from that they received a tan/darker color. The richer class had better jobs working inside, where they didn’t have a tan. This is where the stereotypes originated which might explain the issue in China.
As for China right now, it’s crazy how the man who addressed the issue said that the violence in China was not racism. I can understand why he would say this because its a problem that originated in the same country where there aren’t any borders. On the other hand, this is definitely a racial problem because these acts of violence are occurring between people that live in the same country without either of them understanding each others problems. There are two options in what can happen next. The problem can either get worse, leading into a war or the people of China can begin to accept each other for who they are and not their color. Hopefully, the fact that more people are becoming aware of the situation, people can become less ethnocentric by beginning to realize that they should just get along with each other. Obviously the racism goes back many years ago, so changing many ways of thinking may be hard, but definitely possible. Seeing racism slowly wind down in America makes us believe that it can happen around the world.
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When it comes to the racism in China, I would like to denounce it as simple-minded thinking and barbaric but at the same time I realize that the same sort of thing happened in my own country not so long ago. It also goes on to say in the blog that when presented with people of color who are kind, normal people, the Chinese will make exceptions, as I’m sure people back in the day in the United States used to do when presented with a good African American person that they met. It seems to me that China is in for a long struggle with their minorities in the same way the United States had a long struggle and continues to struggle with its minorities. I cannot be certain of this though since I am not any type of expert on Chinese culture.
It almost seems ironic to me that people in a communist country like China where everything is supposed to be shared and equal, that they would have racism. I understand that for thousands of years people have been making themselves superior to others based only of the color of skin. I would just suspect that a communist culture would put aside these differences considering the way their society is supposed to run.
The other thing that strikes me about this article is that I am positive that if you presented me with a Chinese person of the Han race and another of the Uighers, I would have no way to determine which is which, yet in China it is a huge difference. They said in the video that this situation was similar to the one in Tibet, which gets a lot of coverage, but I am also somewhat uninformed about. When watching something like the Olympics, it seemed that China was very unified and uniform, but this story along with the unrest in Tibet shows that this façade is not real.
People talk about how China is the next great world power and that it will overtake America in the not so distant future. This may be true due to the sheer numbers that the country possesses as well as the vast resources and commodities it has at its disposal, but stories like these show that Chinese dominance may be a little further off than we originally thought. The United States was never really established as the number one power in the world until after its racial tension had settled down a little due to the efforts of countless figures in both racial groups. Perhaps China needs to first overcome the racial tensions within its borders before it can assume the role of a world power.
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In Response to Sam’s Blog, “Racism from a Different Vantage Point”, it is remarkable how extreme people can become due to social factors. These riots that occurred really point out how racism still persists on even today. Being a white American in our society today, it is peculiar to see that these kinds of racisms still exist in today’s world. It is easy to forget how different cultures view issues differently. When I think of the United State’s racial stance, I think of how we have come along way and are well diverse heading into a more social excepting society, at least when compared to other nations. Seeing these hard issues in China, is new to me since the society I live is not nearly that hostile when it comes to race issues.
The comment on how the United States is the most racist nation in the world, was a shock to me. I do not feel that way at all. I think our nation has been steadily maturing into a more socially expectable nation ever since our horrific history with slavery and African American prejudice. I would say that our nation is one of the least racist nations due to our extremely diverse urban areas. I feel there are not as many cities as diverse as New York City. We have been a melting pot for about over a hundred years now.
The reasons why I feel the China (as well as some other countries) have these social race issues is due to their vast majority of one race and lack of diversity. Especially coming from a culture as honorable and passionate about their own culture, I can see how it might be difficult to get along with a different culture. A reason why tensions in China between the Han Chinese and the Uighurs can escalade into what has been is the Han Chinese might feel threatened by the new muslin culture. Unfortunately these terrible problems have to progress into the turmoil that is has rather then trying to just get along with each other.
Blinded and unprovoked hatred should never influence the decisions of a people and cause them to take action. The riots that are happening in China seem to be only over racism, which seems so primitive. Why is it the as smart of a species humans are, why do we act so stupid and allow ourselves to make war with each other only for the reason of different skin color. I would think after seeing the massive amounts of human suffering and destruction being done in China that both sides would come together to end this due to such pointless things. This just goes to show how stubborn people can be. Why is it the we rather fight with one another and cause pain, rather than just all live in peace and happiness? A perfect world of peace really does not seem to be the hard obtain if only we could control ourselves and value what is really most important.
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To start off, I find this very interesting, but sad because I never knew that any of the hatred acts occur in China. Not to say that I thought that China was hatred free, but didn’t think that it was this serious that it would lead to violence. All the time you here about the United States being very hatred towards the people of the minorities living in the country. But no one ever tries to see if this happens in other countries it is always only the United States. So this will be an eye opener to everyone that hatred occurs all over the world and not just one specific place. I know that others probably feel the same way I felt when you hear about things going on like this to occur in the least expected country, China. Never overlook a country of hatred acts just because it is not known world wide. The hatred that is in China has been going on for many years, so this is not anything new to the country. Even though it is not that clear as to why the minority group the Uighurs in China is facing this hatred, there is still no reason as to why it is happening because everybody could give all the defense in the world as to what the Uighurs did in the past, but that doesn’t justify classifying all of them as each other. Just because you are part of a different ethnic group does not mean everybody is alike and you can judge all by what is heard through the public. The violence that has been going on with the Han and the Uighurs is just too much. I know the United States has their issues, but I don’t think it was this brutal. Killing people in the streets and torturing seems a little too drastic and it just shows how heartless the people in China are to be able to do this to their own people. Another thing that grabbed my attention is how the people in China compared the Uighurs to the colored people and the Han to the white people. When the people in China see the Uighurs or people of colore they think of them as not being as smart, less honest, and less competent than the Han and the white people. This confuses me because you would never think that China has a problem with colored people or would ever put a label on them and automatically assume something without actually getting to know the individual. This plainly demonstrates ignorance and is uncalled for. So if they were to meet someone of color and see that they are opposite of what was labeled on them, they would be nice to them and accept them????? Again plain ignorance. What is the point of classifying a group of people as something and disliking them before you know them and end up changing your mindset about them once you see that they are nothing like what you expected them to be. At the end of the day I hope this issues gets resolved and some Chinese people open up to be better people.
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The power of hate never ceases to amaze me. What does seem to amaze me, however, is the things people try to justify hate with. I don’t understand and I think I never will understand how being a different shade of color than another person is reason enough to declare superiority over a shade not a race because I don’t believe in race, of people. How can one justify that they are better because they are lighter. How does being fair skinned allow one to proclaim that they are better? When did the phrase to be” light is right” apply to almost all humans on this earth? I truly fail to understand where all this hate is coming from. I wish I knew where it was coming, where it was starting and what was allowing it to develop. I mean I know we are all born with the intent to hate but this form of hate which allows so called majorities of people to discriminate and the minority down. Now what is also surprising to me is that this type of hate has managed to travel the various places on this earth. It has manifested itself into various ethnic groups that once considered all its people to be in the same class, well at least to my knowledge. It baffles me that the Chinese are struggling with racial issues, when they are all Chinese, just because one is a darker shade then you, tanner then you. What madness is that, it makes no sense at all. I was unaware of the issues that China is now struggling with, or have been. I was surprised that India had different racial statuses, and that some Indians were called white, and others black. I was baffled by that. And now China is struggling with the same thing. Question marks come up. I was saddened by western or European ideas, and how they are now integrated into foreign countries Ideas. I am angered at the fact that hate can be justified by color tones. When will people realize that we are all humans; we all have hearts, eyes, ears, and noses. Where we differ is culturally and being different within our heritages is beautiful, because we can all celebrate them together. Skin pigmentation is just skin pigmentation. Being darker or lighter doesn’t mean you will be smarter than the other person. However it can come with its perks, just because others will allow those that are lighter to get ahead. When will everyone be able to start at the same time? When will we help our brother and our sister, not because they look like us, but because we realize they are human like we are? I can’t say that China needs to realize this, when my own country hasn’t totally adhered to this mission. But I can say just as much as we are moving along in the process to do so, we should help others see the light as well.
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Before reading that post I have never once thought about other country’s having issues with racism. I guess that could kind of be considered my own ethnocentrism or something shining through. When I think of racism in the United States I do not even think about discrimination towards other races besides black or African American people. This is actually really embarrassing and I do not even want to post this because of my ignorance. For example, in my lab on Wednesday we talked about different stereotypes we have for different races. When it came to Asian I immediately thought about oriental people. An Indian person being included in the Asian category never even crossed my mind until one of the other girls reminded everyone.
On the subject of the racism in China, I don’t know why but I always just thought a Chinese person was simply a Chinese person. I didn’t even think that there were different cultures (types?) of Chinese people. I remember having this feeling another time when I was told that there was a type of genocide occurring in Iraq towards the Kurds. I can’t even blame this ignorance on my concern for affairs in the United States because like I said before it is difficult for me to associate racism with any race other than black or African American people.
Although I am ashamed to admit my ignorance, I am also happy to say that I am gaining a little bit of awareness through this blogging stuff. I’m really bothered by how much I actually do not know about racism and ethnocentrism. I feel like I barely know anything. The question that is most prominent in my mind is WHY? Why do I know nothing about the problems of racism in the United States let alone the world? Who can possibly be blamed for that? Is it my fault? Is it my parent’s fault? Is it the education system’s fault? I don’t know, but I feel like someone should have at least mentioned these things to me before age 19. This is really big and important stuff and it seems like I grew up with no one talking about it.
It’s like the big pink elephant that sits in the living room. Everyone sees it and knows it’s there, but no one talks about it. I’m feeling a lot of frustration. I feel like I live in this white bubble of ignorance. I always thought that I was a fairly educated person who was accepting of others. Now I’m not so sure. I think I have a lot of this subconscious racism what was talked about in class. I always associated people like me (those who know nothing about racism) with wealthy, white men. However, I am a lower middle class white girl who thought she had a good amount of life experience so far and should know about these things. Apparently I was wrong.
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I think this is a very good example of a time when one culture can learn from the past of another culture to transform their own in a more positive light. If these Chinese Han were to examine closely the immense social struggles that African Americans faced upon being segregated in the United States, then they would perhaps see what a disgusting facet of the human condition they are harboring in themselves. The “separate but equal” conditions that black were faced with in the United States did nothing but breed hate. If, perhaps the Han were to see this, then they could be able to understand the lack of justice in their situation.
I don’t understand how one person could place themselves on a pedestal above another simply due to skin color. Ever. There are so many aspects of a person’s being that go into their total self, and even when I begin to see those traits in a person, I don’t judge them. So who are we to judge one another based on skin color, let alone personality traits?
I think it was a compelling argument that Sam presented in class on Thursday when he asked us in one form or another, if we are so Christian and willing to accept God as our father and savior, then aren’t we all brothers and sisters, and if so, then why, when going to choose a donor for our child do we pick sperm or egg from a person who is the same race and ethnicity as we are? Isn’t all sperm and all eggs God’s sperm and eggs? That really broke it down for everyone to the very basics. While I don’t plan on using invetro fertilization to have a child, I guess that I would choose the most suitable sperm or egg. Meaning, I would screen the donors for diseases, intelligence, and basic traits- which brings in a whole new argument of designer babies.
Ultimately, every single human being walking the earth, regardless of their level of intelligence, skin color, ethnicity, income, shoe size, hair color, Mother or Father, job, car, drinking capacity, ANYTHING is completely equal. If people could open their eyes and see this basic truth, then the world would be filled with much less hate, and race riots as being seen in China right now. It is only when we as people of the Earth see this that race relations will be able to turn into HUMAN relations.
If this truth is not realized, then no progress great or small with lead to the ultimate goal of equality for all. Interestingly enough, the Chinese are not alone in this ignorance, and will probably not be the last group of people to place themselves above another.
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Honestly I had no idea about the racism going on in China. I guess I never really took the time to even consider it. I think that this is true for al American, they are closeminded in a way and it is like we are in our own bubble. We never take the time to think about any other countries outside of the U.S. and nor do many Americans care. I think this is a big issue but I think before we start concentrating on helping other countries in terms of racism and slavery. There is so much racism and slavery in our country that we are even oblivious to. I had no idea about the slavery and racism issues in other countries until I started to read the book Disposable people. It is so sad to read about all the slavery and racism issues that are still going on today. I had an idea there still had to be a little bit because everywhere you go there is always a small bit of racism and I am sure slavery as well. So I guess I should have known that some sort of issues going on like this in China and in other countries. I just had no idea what so ever that it was this terrible. People are completely oblivious to what goes on anywhere outside of where they live and what they are surrounded by. It is so upsetting, like when I started to read “Disposable People” and learned about the prostitution and killings and beatings, I feel so guilty that I did not even know about it. It is terrible to read about the Hans and the Uigers in China. It is terrible how they are racist just because they are of a darker skin color, and even worse is how many killings are going on. It makes me wonder why they can befriend people of other races from other countries, but they cant befriend there own citizens. It is so confusing to me, but I guess it is because anywhere you go there will be racism. The only kind of racism I am exposed to is against black people because that is all I have seen while growing up. I guess it all comes down to being closeminded. Just like the post a few weeks ago about Obama being racist. It is just so different to white people because we never really take the chance to think about the perspective from other races along with in other countries. I think that racism and slavery is a big issue everywhere and the governments and citizens need to take a stand take a stand in there own country because if not this issue will continue forever.
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This blog entry actually shows what I have always wanted to explain to my friends who are American. Most of people who aren’t Asians probably think that all types of Asians get along and they have same type of cultures. However, this is not what most of Americans think. Every Asian country has different culture. I myself as an Asian feel very exotic whenever I visit other Asian countries. And of course it is a huge issue within countries as well. I was born and raised in Korea until I turned sixteen. And I am not hundred percent sure because I read some articles on the Internet. However, while I was going to school over in Korea, there was something really interesting line on a history textbook that Koreans are proud of themselves for being pure-race which sounds extremely racist to me. It’s kind of funny because its not only the case of Korea but similar to other Asian countries. And I am pretty sure it is similar to many other countries that people of different cultures aren’t very welcome as a new family member.
I see the Chinese racial incident in this way. Let’s say China is a big house where Han people live. And one of the sons/daughters brought a Uighurs girl/boy friend. And the whole family isn’t happy with it. I put the situation in this way because I have gone through the same thing when I had a girl friend of different race and I showed her to my family.
I mean I really do think this incident and the Chinese government being not so worried about rights of Uighurs are very bad and should be fixed any time soon, but at the same time I could see where its coming from. To add on the topic of racism, the majority of people, Americans, victimize dark skinned people on racism, but it really isn’t the case every time. Racism occurs between different ethnic groups of people or within the same ethnic group of people.
I, myself as a person of minority group, think racism is very interesting. Most of people think it is a hundred percent hatred but the way I think is this. Somebody has to be really interested in somebody else to pick on his or her qualities. I mean it may sound very stupid but that’s the way I see it.
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While I was reading the blog on racism in China I was surprised that this was the first I have ever heard about this topic. I have heard news of racism throughout the world but this is the first I have heard about these problems in China. I wouldn’t say I did not know about different ethnicities in China because there are multiple ethnicities in every country, but I wasn’t aware about the differences amongst the Chinese. I do not know why, but there is a lot of truth to the statement that we do not hear a lot about the racism that goes on in other countries, meanwhile we hear about racism all the time in the U.S. I think that the point made at the end of the blog that racism occurs everywhere was a very good one. Other countries point their fingers at the United States and claim that we are such racists, when racism is in fact a problem everywhere, not just here. It was interesting to see how the racism in China today was compared to racism in America in the 1960′s. Just like America in the 1960′s, China is emerging in to a very powerful country. Just like in America, the Chinese government has not done much yet to curb racism and has probably helped it. There were not very many details that were given in the blog about why the events of last summer started, so I looked it up. What I read was that the Chinese government has helped to negatively spotlight the Uighurs by claiming that they are terrorists. Many people believe that this has been made up by the government in a plot to supress the Uighurs. The Uighurs have not had much freedom in order to practice their religion and be involved in politics. The tension that existed between the Uighurs and the Hans broke after it was believed that two Uighur men were killed by Hans. Because of this the riots of 2009 ensued. It seemed from what I read that the Uighurs were protesting peacefully at first and were eventually dispersed by police. That is when rioters began smashing buses and cars. It is then believed that police used excessive force on the Uighers, which is when things turned violent. I think that more attention needs to be brought to these kinds of events, up until this blog I had never heard anything about it. I think that since economically and technologically, China is an emerging country, they also need to catch up socially. I know that while this racism may not be as intense, it is very well imbedded in the Chinese culture. I know that means it will be hard to change things anytime soon, but steps need to be taken to correct things.
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After reading this article it immediately reminded me of this week’s episode of House. Without getting too much in to specifics in the episode there is a foreign leader that is visiting America for a UN meeting and is admitted to the hospital with some type of medical issue. The problem is that this foreign leader is very unpopular with a majority of the public in the US and abroad and as you can imagine there are many different feelings as how this man should be treated because of the genocide he has committed against people in his country that he sees as “rebels”. He later confesses that is willing to do “whatever it takes” to rid “his people” of the “cockroaches” that plague his country. A point in the article that supports my comparison to this episode was when James Fallows of the New Yorker said “Dark skin or not being Han means a person is inferior (and more likely to be a bad guy/a thief/incompetent etc.) “ Granted, what you really see and hear about in the news is and always will be construed in a manner that will make “your” people out to be the good guys and the other people out to be the bad guys but I think the way that puts our real life issues in to perspective in my current mindset is to look at the episode. I think you need to look at life in two different mentalities at all times; one is what you want at any given moment and take it face value. The other is seeing things how other people perceive that same instant. For example, walk down the street just being you in your mindset and you see a car drive passed, try and put yourself in to that car and see how that same moment of you seeing that car drive passed seems from a different point of view- that new point of view being a person driving down the street and at 30mph sees a pedestrian walking. I know that if you could somehow follow that story and put yourself in that situation you would see that it makes no real sense in terms of the article but if you look at abstractly I think you can imagine that if more people tried that second mindset they could see how it would feel to be on the other end. That other end could be anything from a punch to a really hurtful remark that some took offence to. Sometimes I think people should take a look at their day and try to see how others saw them performing all of their actions. If for nothing else it’s fun when you’re high.
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All of this makes me feel rather ignorant, being that I had no idea there were actual racial issues among Chinese ethnic groups. It really relates to the culture in the United States. You could look at this issue and think how wrong it is and how stupid these people are for making such a big deal about it, but we do the same things in the United States. The country that is supposed to stand for freedom for all and be a “united” state, but we have as many issues as everyone else. I found it interesting how Sam made it a point to note that we probably did not hear about the riots that broke out in China over the summer. I had absolutely no idea about these racial issues, and probably would have been kept in the dark about them had I not been exposed to them in this class. The incident sounded pretty gruesome, and while the United States provides lots of examples for racism and prejudice, I do not think that we have as many violent issues as this. However, I would be willing to bet a lot goes on that I do not know about, or that we are not informed of, because, of course, we are the country of “freedom” and our nation is so civilized. The James Fallows column is very interesting, and gives a detailed idea of the ideas of racism in China. I can’t help but think of America in the 1950’s when black people had their own water fountains or were not permitted in a restaurant or store. In regards to the fact that only Caucasians can be hired for teaching positions in China, the fact that Chinese are so accepting of this and do not try to stand up for themselves is rather interesting. It seems like they are so peaceful, but then all of these riots go on. It really exposes how the hostility in the country can take over. I think when people are continually looked down upon over a period of time, it is expected that some act of violence is going to occur, in this case the Uighers against the Han. I find it interesting that this kind of racism is not like the “KKK”, as Fallows describes it. It is simply an understood theory and everyone either accepts being inferior or being superior. I had no idea that these views extend so much; that certain Chinese will think that they are superior to anyone who is not white, as they consider themselves to be. This particular blog really opened my eyes, and I now see that while we only focus on racism in our country, it is everywhere and takes its toll on many countries.
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This topic of racism in foreign nations is a topic that I feel isn’t well known to everyone. Since America is such a diverse country, welcoming people from all around the world to live here, it is easy to think that we have racism. It starts with diversity. For example, when you walk down the street in New York City, chances are you’ll see white, black, Latino, Muslim, Hispanic, Asian, European or Middle Eastern (etc.) person. However, with all of these minorities, Caucasians still make up the majority race in America. That being said, there is definitely forms of racism still going on everywhere in America, whether it be extreme with white supremacist groups or just hatred between other races. America is always going to be a focal point for people of foreign nations to pay attention to mainly because it is America, considered the “best country in the world,” therefore any sort of conflicts that ever occur here are probably not going to go unnoticed by the rest of the world.
That being said, it has been easy for much harsher and more brutal forms of racism in other countries, such as China to go unnoticed. When people think of China, for the most part, not that many people think of china as a diverse country. The common thought is that China just contains Chinese people. What we don’t know are the various cultural and ethnic groups located in China. This is where the awful conflict between the Han and the Uighurs. This conflict has gone virtually unnoticed by people in America. When I read this, I had no idea that there could be such an awful demonstration of racism in a country like China. The racism going on in China toward the darker skinned Uighurs is much worse than anything I have heard of in a long time. They go so far as to post signs looking for “Caucasian teachers only.” The light skinned, Han look at these darker skinned Chinese people as completely inferior to them. It’s almost like it was in the South during the civil rights movement with whites and blacks. However, this conflict has gone so far as to cause hundreds of deaths and injuries. In my opinion, its very disturbing that something like this is still going on in our world today. Everyone should be treated as equals regardless of the color of ones skin. I find it shocking that people are still so caught up on race rather than just looking on the inside of someone and getting to know them.
I think that this controversy along with other controversies such as the ones in Tibet should be much more publicized in our country. As a whole, Americans need to pay more attention to what is going on around the world. This is a conflict that we can easily help lessen by simply paying more attention to it and trying to prevent it. In the end, it is very important for people to just start becoming more informed by simply paying attention to what is going around throughout the world.
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When I opened up the Race Relations blog to put in my weekly two cents about a racial issue happening in our world today, I was torn between writing about the biracial couple’s struggle or the inequality some minority groups in China face. While the biracial couple’s union being disapproved of did strike a chord (my parents are of two different races), the riot’s in Xinjiang, China have been something I’ve been tingling to discuss about since it happened earlier this summer. I lived in Shanghai, China for over five years as a teenager. I am not Chinese, and my experiences in China are through the eyes of a foreigner, not fully experiencing the day to day doing’s of a local Shanghainese, protected by my expatriate bubble. However, a lot of my friends are Chinese American’s somewhat fairly connected to their roots, I was surrounded and immersed into the Chinese culture and relationships, and I have actually visited the area of the riots, Xinjiang, twice. My mother has also lived the majority of her life abroad and we both excitedly discuss issues dealing with race on a frequent basis. What stood out to me in this post, and is a point that my mother and I have actually discussed in the past, is the fact that other countries, similar to the United States, struggles for “civility and understanding” between people of different backgrounds within a country and that discrimination is as immense a problem in other countries as the US; So perhaps the U.S. should not be dubbed as the “most racist country in the world.”
In Xinjiang, the Uighurs work as street venders, or work as shopkeepers in cheap, dingy markets. Many are peasant farmers. The quality of life for the Uighurs is extremely poor. However, they’re deep, and interesting culture, and their mixed qualities of Asian and Middle Eastern traits, lure and intrigue many around the world and have made Xinjiang a tourist spot in China. While I was there I noticed a slightly depressing, gray glaze that hovered over Xinjiang, and also seemed to be emanating from the Uighurs. It wasn’t just the foggy, gray skied muck that covers most of China, but something else between the people in Xinjiang seemed strained and saddening to witness. Many Uighurs, move to the cities, like Shanghai, where they continue to be tuk-tuk drivers, and street venders… by day. By night the Uighurs make loads of money selling weed, and they’re “rolling in the dough. “ But many Uighur dealers have been caught and now, many people in the city, simply relate the term dealer to the people, Uighurs. Does this sound familiar to you? African-Americans. The data shows, Black people as the lowest income holders in the U.S. And unfortunately, a portion of U.S. still associates and generally links poor jobs to African American people. African American’s (including other minorities) come to the city to make it big, only to find themselves working those poor jobs again. Jobs like being a janitor, taxi driver, or street vendors. Then they learn they can make 1000, maybe even 2000bucks in a week by dealing drugs, and many, not all, but many drugs dealers are black. Soon, it’s imbedded in our brains, due to the media and from what other people tell us, that black people sell drugs, black people are bad.
Uighers, similar to the minorities still struggling in the U.S. today, must fight the bad connotations that come with their name in China and must fend off the prejudices and inequalities they endure regularly.
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The reason I love reading blog posts like this is that they always shed light on something I would never have learned of going about my daily life. Just like the entry on slavery made me realize the gravity of modern day slavery (along with reading Disposable People), this one informed me of the culturally ingrained racial hierarchy in China. It almost makes me feel naïve that this past summer hundreds of people died solely because of their race and I had no idea about it. The fact that it happened in a different country shouldn’t make it any less important.
What’s ironic about the racism in China is that the “white” Chinese are polite and slightly embarrassed while simultaneously degrading Uighurs based on their skin color. You would think that if they’re embarrassed about the situation they would change their racist attitudes and eliminate the reason for being embarrassed, but it’s almost as if they feel pressured by their culture to hold their race superior. A part of the video that stood out to me was when the reporter said the Uighurs felt they were being repressed religiously, economically, politically, and socially but the Han Chinese thought they were providing the Uighurs with equal opportunities and fair treatment. This is very similar to the discussion we had in lecture about people (primarily whites) who think that racism doesn’t exist in the United States and that the playing field has been leveled. However, it’s hard to argue with statistics that clearly prove racial discrimination exists in America.
While I wasn’t aware of the level of racism in China previous to reading this blog entry, I was definitely aware that racism exists in countries other than the United States. This past spring I studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain and lived with a Spanish family for almost five months. Spain, and Sevilla in particular, does not have a very culturally diverse history but immigrants from Africa and surrounding countries are slowly starting to change this. From what I gathered through personal experience, the Sevillanos, particularly the older generation, aren’t very accustomed to seeing people of color in their city and hold derogatory attitudes towards these “negroes”, as they are called. In one specific instance, I was in a small, neighborhood bar with a few of my American friends and the owner came over to talk to us. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, as he was extremely welcoming had gotten to know us over time. On this night, he sat down at our table and began to tell a joke, which ended up being a racial joke about how “negroes” are on the bottom of the social ladder. Unfortunately a few of the details were lost in translation (my friends and I aren’t completely fluent in Spanish) but the gist was very clear. In another situation, I was about to leave for a local market with primarily African vendors and my home-stay mother warned me to be extremely watchful of my purse because some of the people there would be very shifty. This reminds me a lot of the racism in China because the Spaniards are the kindest people, yet it’s hard to ignore the racist undertones.
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I knew there were extreme amounts of hate driven discrimination in the world, but I never really thought that they were over race. The news is constantly filled with the wars and deaths that occur over religious disputes. It is surprising to me to find out that other countries discriminate against other races. In fact, it is even more surprising to hear that such a thing is going on in a place like China. I have friends that have been there and I’ve only heard from them that everyone there is nothing less than kind and nice. Race is a complex subject, but I feel that because of what has happened in history with whites enslaving blacks that it has become more simplified. When someone brings up the subject of racism, most people automatically think whites versus blacks. Furthermore, as Sam has mentioned in class, people have almost forgotten about what first settlers did to Native Americans. Right away, people think about whites being racist against blacks, but it is much more than that. I mean, racism is taking place in China. So, if such a thing is going on in China, I can’t imagine what may be going on in the countries with less media attention or countries that do not give much media access. For the Chinese to say that they would prefer one person as a teacher to another person solely on the basis of race just puts a bad taste into the mouths of those foreign to China – especially to those of us from America because it is still burnt into our past. This truly does open a window to the amount of ethnocentrism, discrimination, and racism that goes on throughout the world. We, as citizens of the United States, cannot condemn the Chinese for what they are doing. Certainly, we can frown upon it and we can try to wish them to cease from what they are doing, but we cannot call them evil people for it. We were once in their position, and, clearly, there are many others that are also committing such racist and hatred acts. Moreover, this news just proves the ignorance of other countries and cultures – basically, ethnocentrism. So many people are blind to what actually goes on in the borders of another person’s home country. But I guess the question comes down to how to solve such a crisis. For the United States, it took a civil war to settle the dispute of slavery. But even then racism did not die – unfortunately, it can’t. Decades later, everyone was still not equal. Still, more government policies, laws, and rights were created and we still cannot shake the concept of racism. It will be interesting to see how China, its government, and more importantly its people will handle the inner hatred that is brewing in the immensely populated country.
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Americans think that there is such a vast cultural divide between them and citizens other nations. People are so ignorant that it almost seems like they hold this view of foreigners as being a completely different species. I can’t say that I have ever travelled very extensively. The only time that I’ve left the United States is to go to Canada, and to be quite honest, it’s a lot like the U.S. in many ways. They have the same stores and hotel chains. They drive the same cars and trucks as us and watch the same movies and shows on television. And yes, they are as racist as us too. Sure, they don’t show it off to all the tourists, but they are. Every nation is at least a little bit racist, but it’s on an individual basis, so no one in a different part of the world would ever have any idea. I honestly believe that if I went to an Asian country and asked around I’d find out that they don’t give a damn about Americans and their culture. They probably think the same ignorant things about me and my country as I think about them and their country. I’m sure the select few have their character faults and have a bad habit of passing judgment on others based on skin color and ethnic background instead of the content of their character. It’s not like white people are the only ones in the world who are allowed to be racist. Or have we become so racist that we don’t think that it’s possible for Asians, blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics to possess the mental capacity to accurately differentiate between races and subsequently rank people by their color. This brings me to my next point. Just because a person speaks a different language and practices different cultural and religious activities from us doesn’t make them an idiot. I think the root of most racism is an inability to comprehend an equal level of intelligence between men of different skin tones who speak different languages. That’s why when we come across a person who doesn’t speak our language we act like fools. They don’t understand us the first time we say something to them, so we speak louder the second time. They still don’t get the message that is so important to us so we throw in some hand gestures to show them what we mean. Still, we get no response from them, and eventually we’re shouting and waving our arms about (and we wonder why foreigners would think that we aren’t as smart as them). The fact of the matter is that everyone is at least a little bit racist. And often times, racism spawns more racism until we enter a cycle of growing hatred that causes us all to hate the other race because they are so racist.
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Racism outside of the United States, could it actually be true!? Of course it is! I heard about this situation in China from my oldest brother while he was away at the Military base in Quantico, VA. He laughed to me explaining how we are here talking about freedom and saying how we are better than other countries when we are basically copying them in the how racist we all are.
I don’t know if those scenes from the video upset me or just show me a truth that we as Americans are hidden from. The horridness of this world is not imaginary as we can see by the on-going war we have been in, but people try so hard to be blissfully ignorant to everything and it is terribly upsetting.
After reading this blog and then watching the video I had a range of emotions run through me and was thinking of everything I could write about in the post, and now I have nothing. I am almost speechless. Life is funny in the sense that it is always going to surprise you, like now wondering how many Americans think that there is no racism outside of the United States, that the rest of the world is perfect. If that was true, then how free could others actually think we are. In addition, I began to wonder how many others around the world just laugh at us, and how ignorant and idiotic most of us are.
Hatred and racism is a funny thing, because we randomly one day just started to dislike other people, with a passion unknown to most. Everyone in the earth, no matter who you are, does not like someone, for whatever reason it may be. We, of course, have every right now to like certain people if we choose too, but why do people choose to hate someone because of their skin or race. This is truly something I will never understand. We were created by some evolutionary theory and we all came from the same thing, in the same sexual way, so why hate someone that is exactly like you?
It saddens me to read this article because it shows that even with a half black president, and us, overseas, attempting to solve some problem, there is still this enormous hatred for people of certain races. Honestly, it is the stupidest thing that we as human beings have come up with. I can’t say I don’t make racist jokes or stereotype some people because of their skin colors, but it doesn’t mean I like it. This world is sadly never going to change, and if it does I will be long gone, but hopefully just drastic hatred like the one is the video stops soon, otherwise we as a society are never going to survive.
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Racism From a Different Vantage Point
To be honest, there is VERY little that I know of China. The facts that I knew were mostly common knowledge facts, like that China is a communist country, wealthy, and developing quickly. Other than that, I thought that there were no religions allowed, similar to Cuba. It was very shocking to me that there were Chinese Muslims. People joke about how all Asian people look alike or about how they all look Chinese, but in fact they are very different. This difference is what brings tension within the Chinese community, because the majority of the population, the Han, is lighter than the Uighurs, the minority. It is very hard for me to comprehend how a communist country can be so racist, the whole point of communism is to have a classless, stateless and oppression free society. As seen in the video clip, China is anything but an oppression free society.
I am very sad to say that by reading this article, I learned about the racial conflicts between the Han and the Uighurs for the first time. Finding out such a shocking fact about China is embarrassing for me because I am a person who prides himself in being well informed. I wish to have known of the Uighurs’ struggle before, I would have had an opinion on the situation instead of a certain shock and awe effect that I still have after watching the video clip.
The Uighurs’ struggle compels me to sympathize with them; there is no way that anyone cannot feel that way as well. I find it amazing how two different countries can be so similar, even if the moment that they share is fifty years apart. Whether it is a democratic country or a communist country, the citizens of a country will always have deep seeded racial issues. The Han’s belief of how people who are darker than them are unintelligent is so prevalent in their culture that it reminds me about how slavery in Mauritania is so widely accepted in that country because of their culture. It is amazing how these struggles are not well publicized. The United States and its President, Nobel Prize winner – Barack Obama, should address this situation of blatant racism, instead of focusing its time mostly on how to fix the economy, or maintain what little influence they have in the Middle East. I wonder what is the racial makeup of Chinese Americans here in the United States, mostly Han or Uighurs. Do Chinese currently in the United States support the majority? If so, do they share their views on how people darker than them cannot be more intelligent? There are so many questions that I have on this situation, I guess it is up to me to stay informed in order to answer them.
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This blog post is proof that no matter where you are in the world you can never escape racial tension and issues. It surprised me to find out just how strong racism is in a country that I thought was filled with people who were similar to each other. Maybe my white American perspective on the world’s other nationalities came into play while I was forming my opinions about China, but I know, judging by other student’s responses, that I am not the only one who was surprised to hear about the great tension between the people of that nation. Hearing of these massive riots and our great lack of knowledge on the events makes me wonder if we in America are really just living in our own little worlds blind to what is going on in the countries around us. How could we not have heard of these race driven riots, when we as Americans are constantly trying to solve racial issues in our own country? Are we really so deeply enveloped in our own problems that we can help others who are going through the same problems? Do we not care about the racial issues outside of our borders? I picture almost a physical barrier at our borders that we have set up to block out other people’s problems from entering our society.
The real question that came to mind when I read Sam’s report was why do we as American’s hear and care about race issues in places like Darfur, but we hear and do nothing about issues in places like China. Is our media blocking these stories from us because it doesn’t directly concern us or can we look at this as another example of how certain ethnic group’s issues are simply just swept under the carpet because people are too racist to care? I recall a poll shown to us in class by Sam asking what is the least favored ethnic group that we as Americans would want a President to come from. Surprising enough to me it was people of Asian descent that people voted the least desirable. Then Sam began to say that the reason for this was because Americans tend to see Asian Americans as more of outsiders than any other race of people. Is this why we are not looking at Asian news stories here in America? Are we blocking this news out on purpose? Half of me wants to say that the media is not being bias, and that the reason why we do not hear of this information is because we are too far away from the events for the story to reach us. The other half of me, my cynical side, is telling me that our media and our populace are simply just turning our backs on this news because we ourselves are looking down on these people because of their nationality. If we want to eradicate racial tension, I feel we need to start looking at the bigger picture and we need to start now.
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Before reading this blog, I had no idea who the Han and Uighurs were and certainly did not know about this type of violence between them. Racism and just this hate going on between the two is worse than anything I have heard about here in the U.S. The kind of things than the Uighurs have to go through is just awful. Not being able to get jobs because of the color of their skin is ridiculous. I guess that type of stuff does go on here like Sam was saying the other day in class but it goes on to a certain extent. Yes, maybe just your random company or store might not hire someone of color but that’s just your random store. Most companies here in the U.S. do hire people of color all the time. Over there in China, it’s not even considered. That’s awful to think that they have a zero percent chance to get a job. I feel really bad for those people. You can tell they are prejudice too because it says that they are excepting to some colored people if they come off nice? How can you even do that? Just because the Han do not personally know the Uighurs seems to be the only reason for the prejudice, since they are accepting of people of color that they know If you hate and are racist toward another group you can’t just like a couple of them no exceptions. The prejudice in China is clearly a lot more serious, as you could see by the video link. You just don’t really see that here between two different groups. It also shows that there is other countries that are more racist than us and the quote that “The United States is the most racist country in the world is just a flat out lie. Maybe you could say that back in the earlier to mid 1900’s but we have come a long way with racism since then and the type of racism you saw then doesn’t exist anymore. There are still racial issues that come up every now and then but smaller issues that before and nothing like in China. I don’t even have to really look into China’s racism because I can tell it’s more racist than ours just by the video. I haven’t seen a video like that in a while and especially not an American video like that. Finally to conclude, believing that someone else is inferior because of their skin color if just an ignorant way to judge someone. I hate people that believe these things without even meeting the person. It only leads to bad things. Maybe the Chinese should get over hating and killing over skin color and the country will be a lot safer and non racist.
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I believe that prejudice has no boundaries, and anyone can be racist or prejudice against any group. I, as a typical college teenager in America, pay little attention to the world news and occurrences happening in foreign countries, even if the United States is involved. I was unaware of the riots and discrimination against the Uighurs in China. I didn’t even know that there were two largely different religions that resided in China. After reading the blogs posted by Professor Sam Richards, and reviewing some of the comments of other peers, I feel that I am developing a new perspective of how the world should assimilate and accept others cultures.
I firmly believe that racism and prejudice is terrible. It leaves humans in positions where there deeply entrenched beliefs are called “wrong” by people in power because they don’t believe in the religion or are not their color. It boggles my mind that many nations of this world still have this deep-entrenched hatred of other religions. It just leads me to believe that religion in general should be called into question. How do you expect me to believe in your God when people of your religion are killing other gifts from God? However, the main point of this article is to discuss this discrimination in China, that is oh so similar to the discrimination in America.
What I do believe is that developing nations, such as China and India, are starting to gain more power. The political group in power, referring to the Han in China, is trying to hold this power and give more rights to people of their own race. The concept refers back to Professor Richard’s lecture of the King of the Mountain. The King of the Mountain does not want to lose power, and will discriminate and penalize people that are not their skin color, ethnicity, or religion. The Han in China are not surprising to me, as I see prejudice in Palestine and Africa. It may be that the trend of developing countries is for a cohesive civilized community to arise, a revolution has to occur. It is just seems too repetitive of a pattern for this not to be observed.
Overall, the lesson that needs to be learned from this article is that prejudice is everywhere. Some American’s may see it in everyday life. Minorities of other countries see it every minute. Whoever the group that has the power over the citizens of that nation provides rights to people of his community, and discriminates against the others that are not their race, ethnicity or religion. As said in the book, Making Peace Between Our Colors, the real solution of prejudice lies within us. The only way to stop the spreading of this epidemic is if we stop it within ourselves.
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The fact there are riots and racial tension in China and most Americans aren’t even aware of it is very shocking news and really makes you wonder what else is going on in these countries that goes unreported in our daily news. In fact I am so clueless, that I was actually in China less than a year ago and I noticed no type of tension at all. It is also very sad because these are the sort of things that we are not able to give them aid with because it is something they must deal with on their own. The fights going on between the Uighurs and the Han is a reminder of the struggles we faced in our very own country just 50 years. Americans thought people were inferior just because of their skin color and held protests from where African Americans could eat to where they could go to school. It seems like just because we got over those past days that Americans turn a blind eye to the same racial things going on around the world. You know if there were racial riots going on in any city in America the news channels would be covering it live 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It is crazy to think that we went though a huge phase like that in our country so many years ago and yet there are countries out there that are only starting to deal with equal rights today.
Perhaps China is going through their current civil rights movement and after the riots and bloodshed are over they will move forward and try to repair the damages and hopefully make China a better place to live for both ethnic groups. Maybe they will finally realize that they are all equal no matter the color of their skin. It makes it even harder for them to deal with their racial tensions due to the Communist government in power right now.
I think the point Sam brought up in class about where does one country end and the other begin is related to what is currently going on. The reason the two groups of Chinese people look different is based on their location. The darker skin is because of how close they are to countries like Kazakhstan and Mongolia. At the end Sam mentions that the people are not inflexible and when exposed to nice people of color like Obama they change their minds quickly. Possibly in the end they will change their minds about the people in their own country. Instead of trying to sovle the problems with violence they should sit down and talk about it like the ideas that Martin Luther King, Jr. brought in the 60s.
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I personally do not know how many people are interested in or have some knowledge about Chinese history or the history of the relationship among East Asian countries, but I would say Chinese history is very diverse and extremely complicated. There are numerous ethnic groups spread all over the China’s huge territory and those groups have always struggled to dominate the China. The ancient Chinese history indicates there used to be three most influential ethnic groups, and they kept repeating the history of being united and divided. Even when they were united in quite modern history, the dominant group kept changing; one group was Han and the other group was Mongolian. It turned out that Han Chinese is the dominant group nowadays. Although the history was very complicated with changing dominant groups, I’d say Han Chinese had the longest period of dominating China. I am afraid that I may have an ethnocentricism, but I think Chinese people, especially Han Chinese people have excessively clang on the belief that their ethnic group as superior group. I believe Chinese people should have composed of diverse ethnicities not only because China has huge territory but also China’s national border is facing so many different countries. As people are all spread out throughout the country, they develop their own culture and language. Also the huge national boundary facing so many different nations implies there would be frequent in-coming and out-going people, which would result in mixture of certain ethnic groups that would create another whole different group. However, Han Chinese have always claimed that they are the best ethnic group among the all Asia. They are the ones who are intelligent, rich, and superior to any ethnic group. The current name of China named after Han Chinese people in Chinese word also means the center of the world. The name of the country also shows how Han Chinese think about themselves. The are at the center of the world, therefore they are the best and most important people. The neighbor nations such as Korea and Japan were forced to bring an annual tribute to Han Chinese because Han Chinese considered other nations were barbarians, a lot more inferior to them. I found this very funny because the Han Chinese created discrimination within their own racial group. In American, for instance, racism is considered a discrimination between white Americans and colored Americans based on skin colors. I don’t think people call it discrimination or racism when a white person discriminate another white person, or a black person goes against another black person. Han Chinese just have created this ridiculous standard within Asian people from very long time ago. I know that Korean, Chinese, Japanese people look quite similar to one another and share a lot of similar customs and culture values because they have closely developed together through trading, war, and cultural contact. But I want to comment on the relationship among those three Asian countries: people in each nation both consciously and unconsciously think they are the best ethnic group while other two are quite inferior even though they might all look the same from the perspective of people from other racial groups.
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This type of racism is violent and disturbing, but socially accepted to an extent. I’m sure that this occurs to an extent in every country. People judging other people, people being considered a sort of aristocratic type while some are merely inferior, in every civilization. It’s like the story of The Ugly Duckling but to a might greater extent. Differences in appearance seem to continue to shape how we perceive others, subconsciously at least. As much as one would like to believe that America is the only place where racism takes place, thus making the rest of the world better off than us, it is in fact the other way around. As we are becoming more and more civilized in our racism some countries fail to progress and extend their beliefs, because of religion among other reasons. An easy example of this is shown all throughout Disposable People; other countries with slavery that most American’s don’t even realize exists. This country to country ignorance shows how disunited the world has become. Threats and self indulgence separate countries from each other more and more as we progressively choose to ignore beliefs that we don’t at first understand. I can’t say I was shocked to read about the racism going on in China, however the fact that they so blatantly demonstrate their racism was. To publicly advertise for white only job positions, or even to have no control over the rioting that is then publicly shown with little compassion all over the world. It almost shows a type of monstrous malicious society that we just can’t understand. Another interesting thing that I noticed in the article was that the Chinese people considered themselves “white” and identified with White people. The irony in this is that in America I feel like no one considers them white. But then again, maybe “white” has just become a term for a “socially accepted upper class,” which in my opinion would be just as detrimental to the world as just accepting racism altogether. I think that all countries experience racism and to say, or try to sympathize, that the United States is the worst is simply not accurate. Sure we have racism in the country, but as far as public terror of this extent being acceptable? I think not. It really puts in perspective the reality of racism all across the world, and how monumental of an issue it really is. Along with this comes the mention of stereotypical white vs black racism not being the only kind, however I think that racism can be seen from almost every direction, towards most if not all ethnicities and colors of skin. It’s a shame that we have so many stereotypes, yes, but they don’t all need to racism. Used properly, a stereotype can be merely a useful advantage to trying to decipher the actions and mentalities of others.
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So, the riot that broke out in China over the summer between the minority Uighurs and the majority Han. This was very tragic and graphic. From my understanding it started because Uighur men had attacked Han Chinese women and from there on it turned into this huge blood fest. There was madness and discrimination going on. Hundreds of people died and over a thousand were injured. So many people’s lives are left were damaged or left with great losses due to these crimes. This was most likely the worst ethnic violence in China ever, or at least in decades. Because the Han Chinese make up more than 90 percent of the population, the Uighurs must have felt that they were being prejudice against them. The racial tension is for sure still in the air, and these two groups may very likely emerge in attack again in the future. To prevent something like this again, affirmative action should be enforced. I feel that because of this occurence less Muslims might live in China due to fear, yet more Muslims might live in China due to revenge. If the Muslimes knew that their rights weren’t equal to those of the Chinese, they were probably better off staying in their own country or even a country where they would have rights equal to those of that particular culture. Our country is becoming more and more diverse as time goes on, and as far as I know, racism between Chinese and Musilims has never gotten this out of hand. I find it somewhat interesting that regardless of an applicant’s capabilities, only white people can perform the job of being a teacher. That right there is a prime example of affirmative action. With this being a fact, it’s a matter of whether the person can be Asian, of another culture other than Chinese, being that they consider themselves white, or strictly Caucasion. I don’t or never have considered Asians to be white and think it’s sort of weird that they consider themselves white. The theory in China that white people and Han people are considered to be good and that black people or people who are not Han are considered to be bad sounds more like a stereotype than it does rasicm. I guess although racism is active in all parts of the world, it is not always looked at the same way. The reason why there are people who say that the U.S. is the most racist country in the world is probably because it is so diverse. There are people of every ethnic group in the world that live here. There are more chances to get to know more about other people and their backgrounds and realize how you feel about it.
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Racism from a Different Vantage Point
The dynamic s of the racism worldwide is absurd, for the mere fact that to a degree that the acts are becoming more prevalent in a sort of distorted manner that is gone unseen by most; the ignorant and the oblivious. It pains me that societal racism and discrimination is becoming acceptable to the degree where it is the normal and is expected. The educational system in one of the leading countries in the world, the United States of America; “the land of opportunity”, varies from coast to coast and it is heavily based around race, which may seem inhumane to someone that is looking inside. I believe that the instance where ‘white’ or ‘Caucasian’ are found on ads for employment. We all are conditioned and socialized to accept these terms as way of life. However, what we American’s may is unconstitutional, in a country thousands of miles away they may say it is a way of life and true racism is a soldier beating you half to death while giving you orders that cannot be fulfilled.
The fact many people in this nation, including myself automatically think of whites and blacks when the topic of racism arises, it never occurs to us that in other nations other are experiencing the same types of racism, if not worse. A response as such would show our level of self-centeredness and our lack of knowledge of the surrounding nations. Many people fail to know of genocides that occur throughout out Africa year after year. The years of genocides that was the foundation for the ‘melting pot’. The genocides that occurred in Bosnia, Cambodia, and Russia are prime examples of what people fail to know.
Moreover, what boggles me even more than American’s unawareness of what occurs outside of United States borders is how people can destroy their own people, because they are ‘different’. Races have sub-races that indulge in heinous acts of racism (Uighurs and Hans). It is hard to see how people can believe that the other is inferior because of one aspect of their life. How does a population of people come to a conclusion as such? In addition, what are these actions based on, how did the differentiations between the two races arise?
All in all, racisam worldwide is based on societal norms and is not easy to divert from, because it is instilled in citizens so much then reinforced by outside factors.
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I am most impressed by the fact that (like she stated) the Chinese allowed the foreign media in. There have been riots on the farms where the only proof is from hidden video cameras.
Last semester my room mate was from China. She’d been living here for 6 years, but had been so isolated that she still had no idea of basic US social norms. (Her questions included “what’s up with sandwiches?” and “I don’t understand why religion is so important to people. What is it?” On the other side I asked what their school system was like, and what she thought about Tibet and Tiananmen Square. She didn’t know what the controversy in Tibet was about, and she had not heard about Tiananmen Square until she came here. (!) I was appalled to hear the extent to which the Chinese State goes to control the thinking of its people. The education system is the easiest way to control a population. I think China needs its ‘60s badly. After explaining to her the situation in Tibet, her first reaction was “so what?”. I was angry. But then it’s a perfect example of their mindset. The belief instilled is that the state is more important than any one person. When a worker is disabled because of unsafe working environment, then they are dismissed haven “taken one for the team”. A couple days later my roommate got back to me with the reason that the plight of the Tibetans had no impact on her- the Chinese government treats its citizens that way, why would they treat outsiders any differently? That totally makes sense. I was actually quite upset when China denied all protest licenses during the Olympics, and when the US didn’t boycott the opening ceremony.
The Republic of China just celebrated it’s 60th anniversary amid great fanfare…I wonder what the parade was actually like. I have seen the few pictures that were “officially released”, but I wonder. Also, does it worry anyone else that the country that might be taking over from the US as the next super power has such a horrible human rights track record? There are several countries in Africa who’s economies are surviving solely by the power of the Chinese-as if Africa needed anyone else’s’ involvement, especially a country that doesn’t give a shit about human civil rights.
I did not know about this conflict. I did not even know that there were Muslims in China. These scenes definitely recall the US pre-civil rights movement. I wonder if their civil rights movement will happen within my lifetime. (I happen to be an optimist… possibly hopelessly). Especially if China gains more power internationally, I hope their civil rights policies improve.
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I am in no way ignorant when it comes to the idea of racism and prejudice throughout the rest of the world, but the article about the Uighurs was even shocking to me. To know of something vaguely, and then to be shown a direct example of that same issue is very eye-opening. Although I am shocked by this Chinese ideal that people of color are unable to teach and are inferior, I can honestly say that I am not surprised. This is blatant racism and although it might not be on the level of radical groups such a the KKK, I still believe that it’s something that should be addressed. Now, I know that the addition of Barack Obama as the president of the United States has helped some to overcome this irrational idea, but this cannot be the only thing done to help alleviate this issue. Notice, I didn’t say eliminate, I said alleviate and for good reasons. I don’t think the problem there in China will be an easy fix, yet on the contrary most chinese people are willing to change their prejudice ideas once they have been educated a little more on the subject or actually exposed to upstanding and educated “darker” people. The problem is, these Chinese minorities are being treated quite similar to how African Americans were treated in America. Further research showed that racism against blacks in China is also strongly linked to the class divisions and racism that exists within Chinese society. Now, I know this is not a justification for racism against blacks in China, but it gives us an explanation for where the issue derived from. Actually, for thousands of years Chinese people of lighter skin looked down upon those of darker skin, who often could not afford to be anything other than a peasant farmer. It is exactly this thinking that continues today and has manifested into a very strong and unnatural belief. It’s sad to find out that it’s actually a lot easier to get a job teaching English in China as a white person from a country where English is not a native language than it is for a black person from a country where English is the only native language. The crazy thing is, many people in China think most black people play basketball and are violent. I’m just glad that those of them that come over to America are fairly understanding and open minded, typically willing to accept that what they thought is not necessarily how things really are. This whole issue is disturbing, but it’s just a testament that racism exists everywhere. The severity of which is the only thing that changes from place to place or country to country. We are not alone with this issue and so I hope we can learn from others or present ourselves as an example of how to help alleviate such a problem.
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Racism From a Different Vantage Point
I really do not know much about Chinese history and the slavery that exists there, but as I have read in Disposable People, slavery exists everywhere. The United States is a country that is somewhat ahead of everywhere else, but as a country we still have huge race problems. Racism is something that I think will never end no matter what country. There will always be some race or group that is always discriminated against. As a white female I never really thought about race as an issue for me but reading this article, I believe that everyone should have an equal chance. The Uighurs should be able to show their abilities to everyone. Personally, I knew that there was racism, but I never thought about it between the same races. In China, I really did not know that racism there exists between two cultures.
Living in America we are not really open to what other racism exists outside of our country, because it is something most people are not interested in. The only way most of us get our outside news is from what the media tells us. We have the opportunity to learn about it, but it is not a main priority.
Watching this video and seeing the similarity to the old fashioned USA, is scary. Watching the Han’s slicing the Uighurs reminds of what the Ku Klux Klan did and the hangings. It is just scary to think that racism reaches an extent like that.
It is interesting to see what goes on in other countries because many people think America is extremely racist. There are extremely bigger problems in other countries that can use our help. Many countries have racism that far exceeds our own problems, and it is eye-opening to see that other countries have a big problem. It is interesting to realize that the Hans are the “whites” and the Uighurs would be the minorities such as “black, and Hispanics etc.” I think that it is ridiculous that people are judged based on their skin color they are the same race and should be treated equally. It is extremely odd now that I have read this article, to come to the fact that Americans are extremely sheltered as to what we know. Personally, I knew of conflicts in other countries, but I never really thought of those conflicts as racism.
I do not think that China will be able to overcome their racism as quickly as we have, but I also realized that America will never fully be racism free for awhile. Right now the teenagers and young adults are the most liberal and it will be interesting to see the change once the “original” are no longer here.
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Truth be told when I first read this article I was astonished about my complete ignorance of this situation in China. I found it very interesting and somewhat enlightening even if it is not the whole story and there are many parts to every story as well as many sides. The article however made me want to learn more about the situation as well as about other racism in other countries and trying to find the truth, as much is I possibly could. This article also proves to me how little I know about the Chinese culture because I had no idea about the differences between these Chinese people and why the racism between them exists. It is funny how American people including myself before now or so ignorant to other racism around the world as well as just happenings around the world. In being so ignorant we also are almost giving our approval that it is okay for racism to exist around the world. Though it can be said that we are leading by example by racism not being as prevalent though it still very much exists. China is where America was during the Civil Rights era. During this era people racism fueled the country and made it almost impossible to break the cycle of racism. The people of China are doing this right now. In the article by James Fallows he states, that the racism there is a “deeply ingrained cultural characteristic of mainland Chinese people”. Though this might have been his observation does not make it right. The same could have been said about racism here before something was done about it. People decided to speak up for injustice and when one person speaks up many follow. Obviously this needs to happen in China people need to say that this is not right and try to change the situation. I also am really glad this article can show people that racism is a universal problem. It does not only exist in the United States but many other places. It shows that racism can be bout about by the littlest of differences in people and people must take a stand toward injustice. Awareness of racism in general is part of helping it to eventually be erased. If no one is aware of an injustice does the injustice really happen? The truth is the injustice does happen by the only way to fix it is to first be aware then certain actions can take place. Before this article I was very ignorant to whom the Han Chinese are and who the Uighurs Chinese are now I am still somewhat ignorant but now I know more than I did. I can only hope that as more people become aware of this situation that things can be done to help resolve some of the racism in China and all over the world.
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