un autre article, autre point de vue
Lien retiré
Explaining China’s persistent racism – The Qiaobi AdLien retiré
Last week, a racist ad by Chinese washing powder Qiaobi went viral overseas. Here, we explain culturally why it was seen as acceptable in China.
Racism of any type is unacceptable in any context. In this article, I would like to explain from a cultural perspective, why this type of communication is considered acceptable in China, and simply did not ‘raise any eyebrows’, as it has now done so, quite dramatically, internationally.
China is still a monoculture, seeing the outside through stereotypes
Despite the internationalisation that has occurred since China opened her doors economically back in the late 1970s, China is essentially a monoculture.
The vast majority of the population (94%) are the same ethnic group – the Han Chinese. This group are unapologetically advanced as the ‘true Chinese’, and there is fundamental unacceptance of other foreign groups or nationalities. Minorities, let only foreign nationals, have simply never been accepted within this culture, beyond the idea of being ‘cultural performers’ – ie pretending to be Chinese. Similar levels of monoculturalism are also noticeable in East Asia – notably South Korea and Japan.
The effect of monoculturalism – and in China’s case, years of isolation from outside culture – means that foreign culture and ethnicities are viewed through stagnant stereotypes – Caucasians, Africans, foreigners generally, are pre-judged by a barrage of cultural assumptions. This often lazily enters local speech in China where the term for ‘foreigner’ is coupled with a certain behavior, habit or inability.
(...)
