Chinese Racist Views Towards Blacks and Africans

Photo credit: AfricansinChina.net

The racist attitude of the Chinese towards Blacks and Africans is quite overt and seemingly unrelenting. It is estimated that tens of thousands of African Immigrants live in China, and Africans themselves are fully aware of the overt racism in China. On May 27, 2015, Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden, and Viola Rothschild published an article and Podcast, “Chinese Racist Views Towards Blacks and Africans, A china in Africa Podcast.” Read more.

In response to a question, “Why do Chinese hate Africans?”, someone responded, “Chinese business is booming in Africa accounting for $billions in trade in the Chinese treasury, I am not even mentioning the number of Chinese who are presently in Africa competing with the poorest. Yet I came across a Chinese thread that treated Africans like worst enemies, I know there has been a lot of indoctrination since the advent of communism but people can't be so clueless and yet still knowing where to go for business. ” However, this same blogger also wrote a disclaimer stating, “ I was in China on a business trip last year and was treated like family by the people who welcomed me. My question is based solely on very racist and derogatory comments I read in a forum.” The latter statement also supports the notion that we should not generalize since most likely not all Chinese people are racist.

In April 2016, a racism Chinese Laundry detergent commercial resulted in a global outcry. “The In the television advertisement Qiaobi laundry detergent “a black man wolf-whistles at a Chinese woman, who beckons him over. She then stuffs a packet of detergent in his mouth and shoves him head-first into a washing machine. A moment later, the woman opens the lid and a fair-skinned Asian man pops out.”

The company later apologized, “We express our sincere apologies and sincerely hope that the many internet users and the media will not read too much into this," Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics, the company that owns the Qiaobi brand, said in a statement. Subsequently, “the company deleted an online version of the ad in response to the outcry, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing an interview with the firm. However, versions of it could still be seen on Chinese and foreign video platforms, including YouTube” following the apology. Read more.

Africans living in China complain about racism. However, they are also many Africans who have had positive experiences in China. Still, it is quite clear that racism toward Blacks and Africans is a major ongoing issue in China that is not likely to end any time soon.

Read more about Africans in China, cultural research about Africans in Guangzhou, and beyond.