China speaks better English than India, says study

[Chinese-Dragon]

Racism is never a personal experience. Racism in India is systematic and independent of the presence of foreigners of any hue.

Discrimination in Delhi surpasses the denial of courtesy. I have been denied visas, apartments, entrance to discos, attentiveness, kindness and the benefit of doubt. Further, the lack of neighbourliness exceeds what locals describe as normal for a capital already known for its coldness.

My partner is white and I am black, facts of which the Indian public reminds us daily. Bank associates have denied me chai, while falling over to please my white friend. Mall shop attendants have denied me attentiveness, while mobbing my partner. Who knows what else is more quietly denied?

"An African has come," a guard announced over the intercom as I showed up. Whites are afforded the luxury of their own names, but this careful attention to my presence was not new.

Indians discriminating against black people, due to their "dark skin colour"?

Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

 

[tanlixiang28776]

Agree 100%. The only reason I was not happy with your comments was when you were on your high horse. Now that you stand at the same pedestal without the pseudo moral high-ground, try and understand that fringe elements are in every society but that does not mean a whole country should be labelled with the same brush.

I never claimed to have the moral high ground. I never thought that all Indians were racist. Just some like Tiki here who likes to make Racist comments against Chinese when a Pakistani is bringing up the face cream thing. Thats just unnecessary. As as for the articles I will delete them to avoid hurting other reasonable Indians feelings.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I am constrained to rubbish the Holier than Thou attitude repeatedly aired by the Chinese posters and their camp followers.

This is written by a Chinese and that too, in the official Chinese Communist mouthpiece, China Daily.

Please note the following:

1. Chinese racism, which the posters claim is non existent.

2. The manner in which the Chinese prove to be economical with the truth and how they fabricate the facts to 'save face'.

Some extracts from the China Daily

A half-Chinese, half-black young woman is making a lot of Chinese netizens mad. She didn't do anything. She just looks different.

One of the most popular comments is titled: "Wrong parents; wrong skin color; wrong to be in a television show".

'm not in a position to judge whether she deserves to be among the top five Shanghai finalists. But she definitely does not deserve the cruel lashing by the huge online populace.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with her skin color. Yes, in terms of her skin tone, she probably looks more like her African-American father than her Shanghainese mother. So what?

Of course, it's a big deal in a homogenous country like China.

There are two factors at work here: Lou Jing is not a pure-blood Chinese, and anyone who marries a foreigner is deemed a "traitor" of his or her race. More relevant, Lou's father is black.

Much of China's simmering intolerance is color-based. It is not an exaggeration to say many of my countrymen have a subconscious adulation of races paler than us. The flip side: We tend to be biased against those darker skinned. It's outright racism, but on closer examination it's not totally race based. Many of us even look down on fellow Chinese who have darker skin, especially women. Beauty products that claim to whiten the skin always fetch a premium. And children are constantly praised for having fair skin.

And here is the stuff of wanting to be fair in colour.

I got my fair skin from my mother and my daughters got it from me. During my college years, I hated it and desperately wanted a tan. My friends, who were spending a small fortune on whitening products, joked: "You are just like those rich kids who want to bring down all the landlords and establish a classless society. You don't know how lucky you are!"

And here comes the typical Chinese style of being economical with the truth and changing the complexion of facts (we see this here too!)

The funniest twist in her story is a formal statement made in her name but later denied by her. The show's organizer confirmed it was fabricated by a third party. Here's how it goes: 1. My father is an American, not an African; 2. I am a pure Shanghainese; 3. I should not have to take responsibility for my parents' mistake. I'm innocent! 4. I strongly protest some people's racial attitude. I should not be the target of attacks because of my skin color. I reserve the right to seek legal action.

Whoever drafted these four points might have done it out of good intentions, but the statement left a pungent aftertaste of deeper and subtler bigotry. First, the writer assumes that an American is innately superior to an African; second, it's superior to be a Shanghai native in China, an attitude carried by quite a few Shanghainese as a matter of fact; third, what her parents did was wrong even though the daughter should not be blamed for it.

Actually we outsiders do not know much about Lou Jing's parents other than that her mother had an extramarital affair with an African-American who later left them. Lou and her mother have never spelt it out, but it could be a number of scenarios, ranging from a one-night stand to Romeo-and-Juliet-style passion that did not withstand the scorn of reality. We simply do not have enough information to pass judgment.

The magazine publisher and talk show host goes on to argue that, "We Han people are given to severe racial discrimination. It is the evil within us".

Harsh, isn't it? But a browse of forums for young people confirms it. Sure, there are also sensible voices online. The magazine publisher and talk show host goes on to argue that, "We Han people are given to severe racial discrimination. It is the evil within us".

Harsh, isn't it? But a browse of forums for young people confirms it. Sure, there are also sensible voices online. One says: "Americans, who we accuse of racism, elected a black president. We are supposed to have grown up on the teachings of equality, yet we cannot accept a half-black TV contestant."

People should realize that if you have a right to discriminate against another race you have automatically given others the right to discriminate against you. And what's the rationale for filling in the post of an English-language teacher with a Caucasian who can barely speak English instead of an African-American who qualifies on all counts?

Note: It is the opinion of CHINA DAILY and not mine!

Does expose the racism as also the manner in which the Chinese like to fabricate the truth as the official statement given but denied by the girl.

 

[tanlixiang28776]

Indians discriminating against black people, due to their "dark skin colour"?

Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

About as hypocritical as Ray here screaming Chinese are racist when India is just as bad in real life.

Some Chinese may be racist but they are polite enough not to point at you like you are some kind of animal.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I never claimed to have the moral high ground. I never thought that all Indians were racist. Just some like Tiki here who likes to make Racist comments against Chinese when a Pakistani is bringing up the face cream thing. Thats just unnecessary. As as for the articles I will delete them to avoid hurting other reasonable Indians feelings.

Why should you delete?

Let truth prevail if indeed it is the truth and not a figment of imagination and chicanery of the highest order.

 

[tanlixiang28776]

Why should you delete?

Let truth prevail if indeed it is the truth and not a figment of imagination and chicanery of the highest order.

I don't feel the need to degrade every Indian on the thread just to spite you.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

About as hypocritical as Ray here screaming Chinese are racist when India is just as bad in real life.

Some Chinese may be racist but they are polite enough not to point at you like you are some kind of animal.

True, and for a very hypocritical reason as well.

After all, Indians themselves have a very dark skin tone.

So how can they use that as a reason to discriminate against black people?

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

About as hypocritical as Ray here screaming Chinese are racist when India is just as bad in real life.

Some Chinese may be racist but they are polite enough not to point at you like you are some kind of animal.

I have not said anything.

China Daily has.

Any comment on Post 333?

Are you an animal? Who has called you so?

On psychotropic medication that you are hallucinating?

I agree that truth hurts and so you would not be suitable disposed towards me for bursting your bubble of total falsehood and half truths.

 

[tanlixiang28776]

I have not said anything.

China Daily has.

Any comment on Post 333?

Are you an animal? Who has called you so?

On psychotropic medication that you are hallucinating?

I agree that truth hurts and so you would not be suitable disposed towards me for bursting your bubble of total falsehood and half truths.

Once I stood gazing at the giraffes at the Lucknow Zoo only to turn and see 50-odd families gawking at me rather than the exhibit.

On a visit to the Lucknow zoo, people gawked more at me than at the exhibits.

Parents abruptly withdrew infants that inquisitively wandered towards me. I felt like an exotic African creature-cum-spectacle, stirring fear and awe. Even my attempts to beguile the public through simple greetings or smiles are often not reciprocated. Inste

Not me. Just the victim's personal experience.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

True, and for a very hypocritical reason as well.

After all, Indians themselves have a very dark skin tone.

So how can they use that as a reason to discriminate against black people?

What about some sagacious comment, old boy, on Post 333 that has been given by China Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist nation and which you take as the Sermon on the Mount?

Address that first.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

What about some sagacious comment, old boy, on Post 333 that has been given by China Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist nation and which you take as the Sermon on the Mount?

Address that first.

Why do you think that Indians, with a similar skin-tone to black people, would discriminate against blacks for having dark skin?

Isn't that hypocritical?

 

[ares]

Indians do the same. You treat them like animals.

In spite of friendship and love in private spaces, the Delhi public literally stops and stares. It is harrowing to constantly have children and adults tease, taunt, pick, poke and peer at you from the corner of their eyes, denying their own humanity as well as mine. Their aggressive, crude curiosity threatens to dominate unless disarmed by kindness, or met with equal aggression.
Once I stood gazing at the giraffes at the Lucknow Zoo only to turn and see 50-odd families gawking at me rather than the exhibit.



On a visit to the Lucknow zoo, people gawked more at me than at the exhibits.


Parents abruptly withdrew infants that inquisitively wandered towards me. I felt like an exotic African creature-cum-spectacle, stirring fear and awe. Even my attempts to beguile the public through simple greetings or smiles are often not reciprocated. Instead, the look of wonder swells as if this were all part of the act and we were all playing our parts.
Racism is never a personal experience. Racism in India is systematic and independent of the presence of foreigners of any hue. This climate permits and promotes this lawlessness and disdain for dark skin. Most Indian pop icons have light-damn-near-white skin. Several stars even promote skin-bleaching creams that promise to improve one's popularity and career success. Matrimonial ads boast of fair, v. fair and v. very fair skin alongside foreign visas and advanced university degrees. Moreover, each time I visit one of Delhi's clubhouses, I notice that I am the darkest person not wearing a work uniform. It's unfair and ugly.

Discrimination in Delhi surpasses the denial of courtesy. I have been denied visas, apartments, entrance to discos, attentiveness, kindness and the benefit of doubt. Further, the lack of neighbourliness exceeds what locals describe as normal for a capital already known for its coldness.

My partner is white and I am black, facts of which the Indian public reminds us daily. Bank associates have denied me chai, while falling over to please my white friend. Mall shop attendants have denied me attentiveness, while mobbing my partner. Who knows what else is more quietly denied?

"An African has come," a guard announced over the intercom as I showed up. Whites are afforded the luxury of their own names, but this careful attention to my presence was not new. ATM guards stand and salute my white friend, while one guard actually asked me why I had come to the bank machine as if I might have said that I was taking over his shift.

It is shocking that people wear liberalism as a sign of modernity, yet revert to ultraconservatism when actually faced with difference. Cyberbullies have threatened my life on my YouTube videos that capture local gawking and eve-teasing. I was even fired from an international school for talking about homosociality in Africa on YouTube, and addressing a class about homophobia against kids after a student called me a 'fag'.

Outside of specific anchors of discourse such as Reservations, there is no consensus that discrimination is a redeemable social ill. This is the real issue with discrimination in India: her own citizens suffer and we are only encouraged to ignore situations that make us all feel powerless. Be it the mute-witnesses seeing racial difference for the first time, kids learning racism from their folks, or the blacks and northeasterners who feel victimised by the public, few operate from a position that believes in change.

Living in India was a childhood dream that deepened with my growing understanding of India and America's unique, shared history of non-violent revolution. Yet, in most nations, the path of ending gender, race and class discrimination is unpaved. In India, this path is still rural and rocky as if this nation has not decided the road even worthy. It is a footpath that we are left to tread individually.

(The writer is a Black American PhD student at the Delhi School of Economics.)

People have a way of exaggerating things, in order to make them sound interesting..back in academy days, half the guys in my batch were Angolans who were actually from Africa and not just Black American..Nobody gnawed or clawed or taunted or stared at them...they were quite comfortable and content with their surroundings.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Once I stood gazing at the giraffes at the Lucknow Zoo only to turn and see 50-odd families gawking at me rather than the exhibit.



On a visit to the Lucknow zoo, people gawked more at me than at the exhibits.

Parents abruptly withdrew infants that inquisitively wandered towards me. I felt like an exotic African creature-cum-spectacle, stirring fear and awe. Even my attempts to beguile the public through simple greetings or smiles are often not reciprocated. Inste

These gawking chaps must have been villagers where Chinese is but a rarity as let us say, Chivas Regal.

They are foolish, if they thought that you were a giraffe. I am sure you are nowhere as tall as them.

In villages in some parts of the country, they are very wary of outsiders including Indians who are not from the area.

I would not condone their behaviour or make any excuse for their foolishness.

I apologise for any hurt that you may have experienced by their behaviour.

If you came to Calcutta, they would not even know you were a foreigner, since we have many Chinese out here, and what is more, they would have probably spoken in Bengali thinking you are from Tangra!

Next time you are here, please let me know and I will give you a conducted tour so that you can understand India better.

We are not perfect, but we try harder!

Call us Avis, if you wish!

 

[tanlixiang28776]

People have a way of exaggerating things, in order to make them sound interesting..back in academy days, half the guys in my batch were Angolans who were actually from Afric and not just Black American..Nobody gnawed or clawed or taunted or stared at them...they were quite comfortable and content with their surroundings.

Is this in India?

That is your personal experience and I respect that. However you should also realize that not everything is the same in all parts of a country and that we should not marginalize this persons personal experience based simply on your experience.

My intent was never to imply that all Indians are racist. Just that its very hypocritical to call Chinese racist when the situation in India is no better.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Why do you think that Indians, with a similar skin-tone to black people, would discriminate against blacks for having dark skin?

Isn't that hypocritical?

Not hypocritical, but downright stupid!