Anti-black racism in China, younger generations may be the hope for change

In April, it became evident to the Internet that several black people were being evicted from their homes and apartments in China. More restaurants, stores, and other services in the country, including the world-renowned franchise McDonald’s, were also rejecting their black customers as it became a common belief that these black foreigners were bringing COVID-19 into the community. Jeff Remington, an African American professional basketball player, is just one of the many who has faced this seemingly rampant anti-black racism in China. He says, in a very recent New York Times article, that even when he comes into a grocery store, “people are literally running outside, fearing for their life.”

However, Victor Yong, a black man who has been living in Shanghai for the past five years, points out that this anti-black attitude has always existed there. In a country where a massive majority of the population is Chinese, Yong describes the mistreatment he undergoes from some locals who catch sight of him. These Chinese citizens, mostly from older generations, may run away, cover their noses because of his “smell,” or try to see if “dirt” comes off of his darker skin. Some kids may cry. He even knows that people in the country may sometimes refer to him and other black individuals as “black ghost,” which translates to the derogatory n-word in English.

"Sometimes I feel like they just want to make you...know that you are nothing," says Victor Yong. "They just want to make you feel like you’re inferior, like they’re better than you.”

The anti-black discrimination in China seems to go beyond social treatment and language, however. Victor Yong also describes how black people may sometimes have a disadvantage in getting a job because of their race and color:

Regardless of this anti-black discrimination in job offers, Satiya Catchings, an African American woman, still took the opportunity to teach English in Baoding from last August to February of this year. Catchings says that she’s “fortunate” enough to have not been a target of anti-black discrimination in China, although she is very familiar with the ongoing issue in the country. In this time of the coronavirus pandemic, actually, she describes how she knew two Zhuhai-based South African teachers who were “forced” into quarantine for one to two weeks “despite having no symptoms” and “no history of interacting with anybody with COVID-19.”

Even so, as she’s had some experience with Chinese citizens making wrongful generalizations about the black community, Catchings really does suspect that the anti-black discrimination in China mostly stems from people’s ignorance. She says that China’s an “isolated country” with “limited media,” and so it’s no wonder that so many of its citizens’ perceptions are reduced to the “White American view” of black people being “ghetto.” Satiya Catchings, along with Victor Yong, believes that it’s important for China to take a role in advocating for black human rights, especially as she stresses how anti-black racism is a problem that clearly sweeps the globe:

But who are the Chinese citizens that we should look up to, in hopes for changing the anti-black behavior that’s so common in the country? It may just be the younger generations of China. Shulin Li, an incoming New York University freshman who lives in Shenzhen, emphasizes that it’s really up to her and other young Chinese men and women to “speak more” for the black community in their country.

Shulin Li explains, “We are the young ones. We’re the ones who can reach out more. We can gain more information from the outside...if we don’t speak out for you, no one else will.”

Another young Chinese student from Shanghai, who asks to remain anonymous, adds to Shulin Li’s push for change, suggesting that the “lack of moral education” in China is one of the first things that needs to be fixed. Despite her strong support for black human rights, however, this student says that it’d be difficult to gather others into a “large movement” for the cause due to China’s restrictions and censorship. For example, she mentions that anything relating to the Me Too movement was banned from her social media awhile back.

Yet, nothing about China’s restrictions stopped young Annie Xie from writing her influential piece on Medium: “An Open Letter to My Asian Parents About Anti-Black Racism in America.” Xie, an incoming USC freshman currently living in Shanghai, says that her father and a lot of other Asian parents “don’t know about the history and the racism that has occurred over...400 years.” With her written letter, she aims to educate them and encourage their advocacy for black human rights. She hopes to prove to the Chinese community that there’s more to black people than their “statistics and stereotypes” of being violent and less civilized.

And since she's published her open letter online, Annie Xie has received much praise from several other young Chinese men and women, many of whom she doesn't know. It appears that she's inspired them to "begin the conversation" with their parents about why they should understand and support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Leyi Zhang is yet another Chinese international student who strongly agrees with Annie Xie about the means of educating their community:

And so, change should begin now. Two other young Chinese women, Cecile Tang and Katherine Lai, stress that it's time for the Chinese community to stop showing any more indifference or ignorance toward the black community’s push for equality. Cecile Tang clarifies that the common statement, "This is not our fight," is simply wrong. Although she's had her own family members telling her “to be wary of black people and the danger they pose,” Tang is someone who “wholeheartedly” supports the Black Lives Matter movement. After all, she understands what it means to be discriminated against as a Chinese person, “especially in the wake of the coronavirus that brought forth a wave of racist attacks against the Asian community.”

Meanwhile, Katherine Lai also adds that the Chinese community should take time to understand its own “wrongdoings” and history of clashes with black people. Maybe then, they'll rethink the stance that they take toward the matter of anti-black discrimination in their own society and world. She further goes on to explain that it's even more critical for them to especially stand up for their black counterparts in America as the Chinese race is often perceived as the “model minority” there.

Katherine Lai says, “China is not above anti-black racism. And it definitely isn’t ‘not our problem.’ We also owe a debt to black Americans. We owe a debt to African Americans in the United States, for fighting for our rights alongside their own…we Asians have the opportunities we do because of those efforts. We owe them. It is time that we returned the solidarity shown to us.”

There’s an overlooked situation of anti-black racism in China, and it seems that the up-and-coming younger generations may just be the ones to expose this situation as a problem in their homeland. They may just be the hope for change.