Lou Jing was a participant that made it into the top five in a talent competition, "Let's Go, Oriental Angels." She is the 20 year old daughter of a Chinese mother and African-American father, the product of an extramarital affair, and was raised by her single Chinese mother. Lou Jing has recently been at the center of a controversy as a result of her ethnic background and skin color. Many people have taken to the internet to speak out against this young woman sparking a much needed discussion on the nature of racism in China.
Here are some of the comments found on KDS: "When I first saw this week’s show, I too was very shocked, so stunned. Society’s norms and values haven’t becomes so “
fei zhu liu“, has it? As a post-80s generation, I completely cannot accept this. If I were that girl, I would be so low key that I could not be any more low key. How could I possibly come out and expose my face, seeking attention and sympathy…it is difficult to understand."
"I cannot help but say, those coming out of mixing yellow and black blood are all truly ugly, a dirty feeling [appearance]…"
"There are still a lot of this kind of women that would get involved with blacks~
Her old mother at the time had courage, probably also did not know what color would she would give birth to, white, yellow, all possible, right…?"
The awful things being said about Lou Jing and her family are inexcusably racist and cruelly personal (not to mention completely absurd). I'm a firm believer in freedom of speech, belief and expression, but it really saddens me to read such ignorant rants. How she looks and where she comes from has nothing to do with her talent--after all that's what the competition was supposed to judge. Instead, Lou Jing became a target, a symbol of something else. As Raymond Zhou of The China Daily newspaper reported,
"There are two factors at work here, Lou Jing is not a pure-blood Chinese and anyone who marries a foreigner is deemed a 'traitor' to his or her race. More relevant, Lou's father is black...
It is high time we introduced some sensitivity training on races and ethnicities if we are going to latch on to the orbit of globalisation. People should realise that if you have a right to discriminate against another race you have automatically given others the right to discriminate against you."Racism is the pivotal issue in this story. It's a latent racism waiting for a spark (in this case, Lou Jing) which makes it all the more insidious. While I find this story troubling in and of itself, I'm more concerned about the way, to use Lou Jing's term, "netizens" are lashing out against each other in overtly (and sometimes subconsciously) racist ways. No matter the ethnicity or nationality, the common thread in these comments is hatred.
What is your reaction to this story? Do you think racism is as prevalent as its always been?
Comments (146)
I cant believe it. I know racism exists but geeze. Lou Jing is beautiful! These haters are assbackwards. I find it surprising because people of mixed Asian heritage are hardly anything new.
That's crazy and so sad. Poor girl.
..
they have the brain of my grandmother!! my grandmother would NEVER accept me with a black person.. she's actually went on a list of guys she would not most likely approve of based on race...
wow, i'm almost speechless. i can tell she's a beautiful girl and the racism is so unjust and inhumane. dislike button.
i know a half black half chinese girl, and she's GORGEOUS.
like crazyy exotic looking!!I cant believe this..At first, I was really surprised, but after some thought I'm not.
i feel like someone who is half chinese and half african-american must be gorgeous
and i don't know if anyone's going to bring this up or not but the "they were raised to believe that way for hundreds of years it's their culture/tradition/belief" excuse is bullshit. two hundred years ago white people owned black people and now the majority of them got over it and interact with them daily so these "post 80's" people can too.
Wow. Theyre dirty for thinking that way. How can you be close minded and prejudice. Thats so bothersome. "it is difficult to understand." Yea, I can say the same to you.
I'd be pretty damn surprised too if I turned on my chinese channel.
I guess subconsciously I know how restricted asian cultures are. Traditional chinese seriously dislike chinese people who can't speak their language without the accent.
So if I saw that girl on a chinese TV show, I would be truly so very shocked.
I think that she's paving the way for change though. So if she can take all that criticism, I have great respect for her. She's doing a good thing.
It's too bad. In toronto, everybody's so fascinated by anyone mixed chinese.
Isnt it blacknese btw? Idk. Thats what my town says.
I feel so bad for that girl. She would be better off if she were in the US or Europe where her beauty would be more appreciated. As someone who is Chinese, none of this behavior surprises me from mainland China; many people there are blatantly racist and think being "dark" is unattractive. Beauty ideals are different everywhere we go. However, as China becomes more industrialized and head of the world, I expect this racism to subside. I think younger people are more accepting, and she is obviously well-liked enough to have made it so far in the competition. I hope there are plenty of other comments that adore her too.
Anyway, she's gorgeous. I think Tyson Beckford is half Chinese too, and he's is HOT.
@ccarothers@xanga - same here.
We all would like to believe that in today's society everyone no longer sees color... but in actuality... racism still exists.
Do you have that girls email or address or something? Lets send her letters of support =) I cannot imagine what kind of hardships she must have gone through
wow...
i think she's beautiful.
@Debra - agreed.
Mm... It's high time that people grew up. I'm don't want to rant on the focus that racism is towards the fact that her father is black; but it is. Popular comedian, Steve Byrne, is caucasian and chinese but you don't see him making headline news or people judging him because of it. Clearly Lou Jing is gorgeous and apparently has talent. All I see in this situation is sheer beauty.
The word racist is SO widely misused and misapplied today.
The Chinese are already more than 'racist' enough against the different ethnic groups in larger China.
However, it is not racist for a people to defend themselves in their own country.
I am Australian, and in recent years we have been flooded by hordes of migrants/students/refugees from Asia, India, the Middle East, the Pacific, Esatern Europe and Africa, all to our detriment, but any Australian who speaks up against this is deemed a "racist".
The Chinese are not exhibiting anything different to what their character has proven to be in this instance.
Has anyone noticed that any famous/successful mixed race, mixed Black with White, or Asian, and fathered by a Black "man", has ALWAYS been raised by their caring White, or Asian, mother as the Black father has long since done a runner.
A healthy dose of racism/racialism is needed by the worthy races, ethnicities and nations of the world so as to protect themselves and their integrity.
@Amayahuu@xanga - So that's the achievement? being "gorgeous"?
I think she's beautiful. Racists can go to hell.
@longbraidsandrainbowsuspenders@xanga - It's mainly because the rich, centuries of history developed in Asian countries (e.g. China) are all very isolated from the rest of the world.
It wasn't until maybe the early to mid 1900s did we see an actual globalization for these Asian countries to mingle with the Western world.
Old habits die hard.
The good thing is that many of the newer generation of children are far less racist, and that it's in the older generations do we see these altogether.
@longbraidsandrainbowsuspenders@xanga - White people owned White people too !
Blacks have owned other Blacks.
Arabs and Turks owned Whites and Blacks.
People can't, and shouldn't, get over these things, for various reasons.
@Debra - Younger people are more accepting now....yeah, that's the problem!
Young people now, devoid of any ideas or inspiration, are blindly accepting all kinds of bullshit.
The vast majority of young (but ironically very jaded) people now are total idiots...don't trust most of them with being a bright hope for the future!
I can't believe people would be so mean to her! She is very pretty and their is nothing wrong with her or her family!
She is GORGEOUS! Some people are damn ignorant. SMH!