There is a thread titled 'Black Men with Chinese Women' on our forum, which talks about whether Chinese people are racist towards Blacks. This is apparently an important issue so I will make some comments here.
To understand this issue, we have to learn a little about the situation in China. There is virtually no racial problem in China since the Chinese are basically all one race, the Han race (about 92%). The minorities live mostly in the autonomous prefectures. Thus Chinese people have no idea about racism and they don't talk about it at all. The closest thing to racism in China is anti-foreign or Paiwai in Chinese, which refers to treating someone poorly who is not native to a town. Paiwai is mainly due to the differences of dialects, cultures and living levels in different regions or cities. But it is not a racial issue since they are all from the same race. The point here is Chinese people could be very ignorant on this issue because they have no experience with racism and they haven't been personally hurt by it.
This is also related to the culture. Chinese people generally like lighter skin, as a popular Chinese saying goes 'One white covers up 100 defects.' If a girl has lighter skin, people often say the girl is rather white, even if she has many imperfections. On the other hand, for a girl with darker skin, people often point it out that she has the darker skin, even if she is a rather pretty girl. So the girl with lighter skin often has the edge to compete with others when looking for a mate.
Another important factor is Chinese people have little contact with Blacks. What they know about Blacks are mostly from media and movies. Furthermore people usually only hear and remember bad things. So they already have a prejudice before they know a real person. This can be changed once they know you. But some Chinese people, especially some of the elderly, can be very traditional. It will be hard to change them.
In conclusion, I think most Chinese people are not racist towards Blacks. I don't believe they have any hatred towards Blacks because the idea of what racism is isn't personally felt in China. It seems to be more appropriate to say some Chinese people may like or dislike Blacks based mainly on prejudice or ignorance.
Join the discussion here.
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