IBARW 3: International racism

[oyceter]

keilexandra's post reminded me of a rant I've had brewing. (On a side note, this post isn't meant to argue with hers, as I completely agree with her post. Like yeloson says, "Where you stand with intersectionality is really about what you're looking for—are you looking for social justice for all of us? Or are you just looking for someone to pull their foot off your neck, without worrying about whose necks you may be standing on yourself?")

I was in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai for the past two months this summer, and I cannot even count the number of times I heard anti-black comments, from "Oh, that place is so unsafe, so many black people!" to "OMG she's dating a black person and it will RUIN HER LIFE!" Before ranting about how racist Chinese society is (and oh, it is) and having people once more use that as an example of how bad Chinese people are, I would like to note: where do people think this prejudice is coming from?

Obviously, there are not cities and cities in China and Taiwan filled with black people for the media to make histrionic reports about. Most TV shows in Taiwan don't have sassy black sidekicks or Magical Negroes. But turn on the TV, and what do you see but bad HBO action flicks with the black guy getting killed, or all-white TV shows from the US (and sometimes the UK, but mostly the US), or news on the New Yorker cover of Obama. I'm also guessing that when the West began to trade with China, the ideas of the skience of race were probably brought over as well, complete with the placement of Asians above black people and Native Americans in the hierarchy (but all below white people, of course).

Six hundred years of white colonialism leaves its mark, even on areas that have suffered relatively little when compared to others.

... which is not to excuse anti-black sentiment, because choosing to side with the oppressors, no matter what the incentives? Still made of lose.

• Intl. Blog Against Racism Week 3


• My terms, definitions, and disclaimers

Comments

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

"I wish I could play basketball or do hip-hop dancing as well as black people!" But the attitudes aren't only negative.

But I cant help but feel that the idolization is extremely negative because it depends on stereotypes.

[oyceter]

YES OMG YES.

you've witnessed enough of my rants on singing...

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

to know how deeply unimpressed i am by that kind of bullshit.

Re: you've witnessed enough of my rants on singing...

[oyceter]

It's like, "Oh, we will keep you out of politics and business and pretend all of you are poor and criminalized, but hey, we think you can sing! Doesn't that make everything better?"

Re: you've witnessed enough of my rants on singing...

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

i'm working on a FABULOUS rant about this for later...

Re: you've witnessed enough of my rants on singing...

[oyceter]

Looking forward to it!

[jiawen]

Yes, I agree that any kind of bias like that is negative. What I meant was, not all attitudes of Taiwanese people towards African and black people are based in stereotype, and not all are negative.

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

OK, gotcha.