Apathy Amongst the Chinese Community Towards Racism

A horrific and awful news story about a baby being discovered in a drainpipe in China. Of course there was condemnation all around, but what was shocking was how some sections of society aimed their condemnation at the Chinese people.

Yes, all 1.4 billion members of my race were being labeled as barbaric and that the behavior from the individual who committed this horrific crime was representative of our race.

This was the message from an ignorant few.

Yet more shocking was the wall of apathy I was met with some members of my community to such comments. An attitude I have come to label as “keep your head down and don’t say anything” response common amongst the oriental communities.

It’s the reason why some sections of society can say incredibly offensive things about our community, without even realizing they have been offensive.

True, the comments made in this situation weren’t exactly strong if you compare it to more serious racial issues. But I have heard and seen far worse in the past concerning my race, and still this “keep your head down and don’t say anything” attitude prevails.

One of the things I most respected about Muslim community after last week’s Woolwich attack, is how many people came out and made a stand against the attacker and the racists who had hijacked the situation. In the media, on social media and on various other channels. They did everything they could to try and dispel the stereotypes and let the world know the true, positive nature of the Muslim community.

The Chinese and oriental community is sleep walking towards being targets of racism.

It takes one political spanner to be thrown into the mix before all these stereotypes, and seemingly innocuous ignorant comments and ideas become transformed into truly racist beliefs.

Let’s take the example situation that China suddenly became embroiled in a conflict with America and Britain. Unlikely but could happen given the ever present tensions between the Far East and the Western World.

Or perhaps another example of one crazed oriental individual who decides upon himself to attack western society through a violent and publicity grabbing method.

What happens in the reactions of society?

Individuals who had previously poked fun at our community suddenly use these ideas to genuinely attack us. They react with hateful comments and actions against our community instead of at the individual.

This is because no one has ever spoken up to tell them that what they said and believed was racist or offensive. No one has ever tried to inform them that the stereotypes were sweeping and generalized. That not every individual in that community is the same.

So this why we need to start standing up for ourselves. Like the Muslims have done, and like the Black and South Asian community has done over the years.

It doesn’t matter how harmless their comments or actions are.  Just let the person know. Stand up for yourself and explain to them why its offensive. Educate them. Let them know we won’t allow these sorts of views to be perpetuated about us.

We are light years behind other racial communities when it comes to educating the ignorant. 

There are still large swathes of people who believe all we do is run takeaways. That Chinese people are backwards and barbaric. That making kung fu noises and shouting “Gok Wan” at us is acceptable.

Some people might say the blame is on them for being ignorant. I disagree.

I say 50% of the blame is on them for being ignorant. The other 50% is on us for not making an effort to educate and make people aware of who we really are.

We need leaders in the Western World for the oriental communities. Many other racial communities have politicians, actors, celebrities and sports stars to turn to. People who fly the colours of their community with pride. People who speak up about injustices no matter how small.

People who don’t just say “Leave it, it isn’t worth it” whenever they experience any sort of racism or ignorance.

This is how we make things better. By taking things in our own hands.

For the benefit of a few reading, this blog is not just being posted on Facebook and Twitter, but also on message boards, websites and to some big publications to preach to the “uncoverted.”

Thank You.