How Africans view racism in China: “They won’t even sit next to me”

How Africans view racism in China: “They won’t even sit next to me”

We invited a few Africans that are studying or working in mainland China or Hong Kong to talk about their life in China and how the locals see them.

Q: Are you treated any differently in the city versus in the village?

Many interviewees have expressed that the experience in the city and village is drastically different, but most are not ill-willed. 

Berthold Ackon from Ghana is studying Chinese in Beijing Language and Culture University and often uploads videos of interviews with other Africans in China on social media. He recalls that in big cities like Guangzhou, other locals would not mind his presence and would continue their business as usual, which is completely different from his experiences in small cities and villages. 

“Some people would stare at me, some would take photos of me with their phones.”

Another interviewee, Serge Mouangue from Cameroon, frequently travels to China for work, recalls having a similar experience when he first arrived in China in the early 2000s. He thinks the locals were just curious and did not mean to be offensive.

“They just want to know more about this man wearing full suits. Where is he from? Does he know how to use chopsticks? Oh, apparently he knows! That’s all,” he said.

He also said people would look at him the same way in big cities at that time. However, now as time has evolved, things have changed. “They would only give me one glance and perhaps tell themselves – just another ordinary man”.

Q: What experiences made you feel discriminated against? How did it feel?

Interviewees had encountered some incidents where they felt discriminated against. Nevertheless, they think that the Chinese would have similar experiences if they were to go to Africa.

Riska Koopman from South Africa is teaching English at a training center in Xi’an. She expressed that other people would not sit next to her in the subway, no matter how crowded it is.

“When it happened for the first time, I thought it was a personal choice. But as similar incidents consistently occurred, then I know what it’s about.”

Ackon also said he usually releases videos on Youtube, so his viewers are mainly non-Chinese. One time, his friend reposted his video to social media in China, and he received some very negative comments. 

“I didn’t even want to read those comments. They were full of hatred.”

“Some of his friends would like Kobe Bryant, who is of African descent but dislikes black people.”

This puzzles him greatly.

He understands China is not as diverse as other countries, therefore he does not feel offended but instead take this as a chance to help China understand more about other cultures.

Mouangue does not see this as racism, as he understands the Chinese are only curious.

“You can imagine Chinese coming to Cameroon to work would have similar experiences. They are just curious to know where is this person from.” 

Thandiwe Moyo from Zimbabwe works in Hong Kong agrees, “Many Chinese have investments in Zimbabwe. Children in villages would panic and run away from them because they don’t understand why these Chinese look different from them.”

Q: How do you overcome this emotion?

Moyo expressed that when others discuss Zimbabwe with her, they only know about the inflation in Zimbabwe and not much about Africa beyond that.

“I didn’t understand when I first came to Hong Kong. Why do I know about China more than they do about Africa?”

“I believe if we can understand and appreciate each other’s culture and country, then this would definitely help decrease racial discrimination.”

Michael Ehizuelen from Nigeria is a researcher at Zhejiang Normal University Africa Academe. He recalls that someone spat on the floor in front of him when they saw him in the village.

“This might be acceptable in their culture, but not in mine.”

He revealed that he ‘returned the favor’ by spitting in front of the same person.

They had a very strong reaction and asked: “Why do you spit in front of us?”

He replied, “You were the one to first spit. If you don’t like it, then why do you think it is okay to do it?” 

Then they have never done it again ever since.

Q: What do you think of the exhibition in Wuhan?

Yu Huiping, a Hubei photographer, has hosted a photography exhibition in a museum in Wuhan. 

The exhibition is themed “The face is the index of the mind” and showcased portraits of Africans next to animals, which received a lot of criticism and was accused of racism.

Ackon found this to be very wronged and commented that “it is disgusting” on social media. He believes the exhibition would give people the wrong impression of Africa, especially when mainland Chinese already had a bad impression of Africans.

“Photographers put this two side by side, alluring the exhibition viewers to think that this is what black people are like.

Mouangue thinks people who have never been to Africa or know any Africans would make the connection between black people in the photos and the animals. 

How they interpret the message would be different to how the photographer wishes to express. 

But he also thinks Yu Huiping, as an artist, did not portray anything negative in the photos and did not specify the exhibition’s objective is to offend others.

“He is just expressing what he thinks. Let him be. What is the problem?”

“We need artists. Thanks for what he did, which leads you (BBC) interviewing me today.”

Source: BBC Chinese (Dec-2017)

https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-42218142