July, 2010
The look that made China think
In many ways, Lou Jing is an ordinary Shanghainese girl. Smart, pretty and confident, the 20-year-old student enjoys dancing, eating and shopping for clothes,
just like many other young people in China's biggest city.
Last year, however, she caused a controversy when she appeared on a reality TV show called Go! Oriental Angel. Audiences were fascinated by her when she came on stage, rapping and singing in her Shanghainese-accented Mandarin. What got everyone talking was the colour of her skin. Ms Lou is half-black and half-Chinese, an rare combination in her country.
Her fans started to nickname her the "Chocolate Angel" and the "Black Pearl". But, not everyone was a fan. Miss Lou was shocked to tears when she discovered the insults that had been posted on the Internet, cursing her for trying to represent her city and daring to appear on television.
Basically, her enemies believed that she didn't have the right to represent Shanghai because she wasn't Chinese enough. Even though she was born in China and has lived in China all her life, they hated the fact that her father was a black man.
Miss Lou's mother also became a victim of the attacks. She'd had an African-American boyfriend who left China before their daughter was born. She had never been married, but one newspaper published a false report claiming that she'd been married to someone else when she went out with the African man.
The gossip was so painful for Miss Lou that she actually felt relieved when the judges voted her out. She'd beaten over 20,000 contestants to represent the city of Shanghai in the show, but she wasn't one of the top 10 finalists.
She no longer feels completely at home in her city, and now hopes to go to the United States for further studies. "I've always thought of myself as Shanghainese," she says, "but after the competition I started to have doubts about who I really am."
Getting more cosmopolitan
Lou Jing's terrible experience has caused several foreign journalists to conclude that China is racist. The truth is actually more complicated.
Certainly, there are racial prejudices in the country, especially against darker-skinned people. Traditional Chinese culture valued fair skin in men and women, as it showed that they were rich enough that they didn't have to work outside in the hot sun.
There have also been protests aimed against foreigners, such as the anti-African riots that broke out in the city of Nanjing in 1988. Locals destroyed the dormitories of African university students who'd won scholarships to study in China, enraged by rumours that they'd had killed a local man.
However, in the 20 years since then, China has become much more cosmopolitan, with an increasing number of foreigners settling in the country, as well as an increasing number of Chinese working abroad. The country has had to learn to deal with racial and cultural difference much more rapidly than many other countries which continue to struggle with racism.
Today, mixed race people are largely accepted in Chinese society. Some of them, especially half-white, half-Chinese young people, are especially popular as fashion models, because of their different looks.
Miss Lou herself says she endured very little racism before appearing on "Go! Oriental Angel". She had lots of friends, and had been accepted into the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy, where professors had practically pushed her to audition for the reality show. Recently, she's found another job in the public eye, as a co-host for a TV programme called News Surfing Intelligence.
Nor is she the only half-black, half-Chinese person to become a success story. Last year, the country also picked a new star athlete to represent the country in volleyball at the 2012 Olympics. His name is Ding Hui, and he lives in the city of Hangzhou.
Like Miss Lou, he's 20 years old and speaks Mandarin and dialect rather than English. His father's from South Africa, and he's the first half-black athlete on a national team in China.
Young, mixed-race people like Mr Ding and Ms Lou will face challenges as they build their careers. They'll have to convince many people that they, too, can be the public faces of their country.
But as they become more visible, the citizens of China may gradually become more accepting of the idea of a multiracial nation. The ugly racism they face today can become a thing of the past.
This article first appeared in the January 2010 issue of What's Up.
Re-published here in July 2010.
Last year, however, she caused a controversy when she appeared on a reality TV show called Go! Oriental Angel. Audiences were fascinated by her when she came on stage, rapping and singing in her Shanghainese-accented Mandarin. What got everyone talking was the colour of her skin. Ms Lou is half-black and half-Chinese, an rare combination in her country.
Her fans started to nickname her the "Chocolate Angel" and the "Black Pearl". But, not everyone was a fan. Miss Lou was shocked to tears when she discovered the insults that had been posted on the Internet, cursing her for trying to represent her city and daring to appear on television.
Basically, her enemies believed that she didn't have the right to represent Shanghai because she wasn't Chinese enough. Even though she was born in China and has lived in China all her life, they hated the fact that her father was a black man.
Miss Lou's mother also became a victim of the attacks. She'd had an African-American boyfriend who left China before their daughter was born. She had never been married, but one newspaper published a false report claiming that she'd been married to someone else when she went out with the African man.
The gossip was so painful for Miss Lou that she actually felt relieved when the judges voted her out. She'd beaten over 20,000 contestants to represent the city of Shanghai in the show, but she wasn't one of the top 10 finalists.
She no longer feels completely at home in her city, and now hopes to go to the United States for further studies. "I've always thought of myself as Shanghainese," she says, "but after the competition I started to have doubts about who I really am."
Getting more cosmopolitan
Lou Jing's terrible experience has caused several foreign journalists to conclude that China is racist. The truth is actually more complicated.
Certainly, there are racial prejudices in the country, especially against darker-skinned people. Traditional Chinese culture valued fair skin in men and women, as it showed that they were rich enough that they didn't have to work outside in the hot sun.
There have also been protests aimed against foreigners, such as the anti-African riots that broke out in the city of Nanjing in 1988. Locals destroyed the dormitories of African university students who'd won scholarships to study in China, enraged by rumours that they'd had killed a local man.
However, in the 20 years since then, China has become much more cosmopolitan, with an increasing number of foreigners settling in the country, as well as an increasing number of Chinese working abroad. The country has had to learn to deal with racial and cultural difference much more rapidly than many other countries which continue to struggle with racism.
Today, mixed race people are largely accepted in Chinese society. Some of them, especially half-white, half-Chinese young people, are especially popular as fashion models, because of their different looks.
Miss Lou herself says she endured very little racism before appearing on "Go! Oriental Angel". She had lots of friends, and had been accepted into the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy, where professors had practically pushed her to audition for the reality show. Recently, she's found another job in the public eye, as a co-host for a TV programme called News Surfing Intelligence.
Nor is she the only half-black, half-Chinese person to become a success story. Last year, the country also picked a new star athlete to represent the country in volleyball at the 2012 Olympics. His name is Ding Hui, and he lives in the city of Hangzhou.
Like Miss Lou, he's 20 years old and speaks Mandarin and dialect rather than English. His father's from South Africa, and he's the first half-black athlete on a national team in China.
Young, mixed-race people like Mr Ding and Ms Lou will face challenges as they build their careers. They'll have to convince many people that they, too, can be the public faces of their country.
But as they become more visible, the citizens of China may gradually become more accepting of the idea of a multiracial nation. The ugly racism they face today can become a thing of the past.
This article first appeared in the January 2010 issue of What's Up.
Re-published here in July 2010.