Bigotry Around the World

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Bigotry. Prejudice. Intolerance. Unfairness. Injustice. So many words. So many ways humans can hurt each other with preconceptions. And so many excuses for it. “All stereotypes have a basis in truth.” “I can’t help it. I was raised that way.” “That’s just how my generation feels.” “I’m not the only person who feels that way.” “They are prejudiced against me.”

There are few things that anger me more than bigotry and discrimination. Even as a child I railed against them. One of my mother’s favorite stories to tell recounts a parent-teacher meeting in which an eight year old me, with hands on my hips, ranted against the unfairness of the ‘standard eyes tests’ being discussed. “Who is to say who has standard eyes and who doesn’t have standard eyes? My friend Timmy is Chinese. Are his eyes standard? Or are mine? You can’t say one person has standard eyes and another doesn’t.”, I said from atop my soapbox. My mother, choking back a giggle, patiently explained that the word was ‘standardized’, not ‘standard eyes’, and assured me that none of my friends would be discriminated against.

I have always been happiest when in a racially and culturally diverse environment. Our similarities bring us together but it is our differences that allow us to learn and grow. Without that diversity, I stagnate. I had a good job in the States, but at a small company in a small town and I was drowning in biased homogeny. “I can’t help it. I was raised that way.” “That’s just how my generation feels.” “I’m not the only person who feels that way.” I accept and understand that all people are entitled to think and feel however they wish to think and feel, even if I do not agree with it. J.S. Mill said that all men are free to think and do what they will so long as it does not interfere with the freedom of others. (or something like that) Though their prejudice was never directed toward me, being as lily-white as I am, it hurt me just the same.

I came to China, in part, to immerse myself in a foreign culture for the challenge of it. I wanted to learn, to grow, to expand my understanding of the world. I was not foolish enough to believe that I would leave bigotry behind in the good ole U.S. of A. I already knew of some prejudices that exist here in the Middle Kingdom from stories from friends who had traveled and lived here. ABC’s have a difficult time finding work as English teachers because students want their foreign teachers to look foreign. But, as far as I’ve seen, it was never overtly antagonistic. They were simply refused a position. I’m sure there has been hostility towards ABC’s. I can only speak from my own experience. In the nearly two years I have lived here in Shenzhen I had not seen truly horrid prejudice until recently.

Two weeks ago an Indian woman came to teach at my training center. She moved here from Guangzhou for this job. She was born in England, grew up in several different countries, is exceedingly charming, and very well educated. I liked her at once, as did all the other foreign teachers. But after a week we all sensed that something was not quite right. Students were signing up for classes and then refusing to attend when they saw that she was the assigned teacher. Her English corners went unattended. At one English Corner, a few students were openly hostile towards her. I started doing my lessons and English corners on tolerance and diversity, and on the history of cultural exchange between India and China. I talked about my own education. I have a degree in French and I told the students that I felt it was very beneficial to my acquisition of the language that my professors were from several different countries and had varying accents. I thought my training center would do something to encourage the students to be more open-minded. I thought the Chinese staff would show support for my new coworker, as all the foreign staff had done.

My training center did do something. A mere two weeks after her start date, they fired her. They fired a highly competent, well-educated, and experienced teacher because she was brown and the students didn’t want a brown teacher. I felt sick. I felt angry. And I felt helpless to do anything about it. I know some of the students that were blatantly biased against her. And now I wonder, “Do they only like me because of the color of my skin or my nationality, just as they disliked her due to the color of hers or her nationality?” This notion makes me just as angry. Liking someone just because of their skin color/nationality/etc. is nearly as deleterious as disliking someone just because of their skin color/nationality/etc. because the former is usually not revealed until the latter rears its ugly head.

Putting my enmity for bigotry aside, I feel sorry for those who obstinately believe that certain groups of people are unequal to themselves and unworthy of their interest or courtesy. In spewing out their vile prejudice, they are not just injuring the victims of their attacks. These people are robbing themselves of unique opportunities to learn, depriving themselves of meaningful friendships, and, as is often the case, propagating the negative aspersions cast upon their own demographic.

*sigh* Okay, I’ll put my soapbox away again.

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Comments

[amanda]

here's my thought about the bigotry
Hi Tiffany, Well..I happened to read this section about your anger for Chinese students' attitude towards the Inidan teacher. i guess it's not about the discrimination, but that these kids just want to learn the most native English, esp. the American English. However, people from India generally have Indian accents or something. These kids, they just started learning a new language, so the native accent is very important. Not all these students come from very wealthy families, and yet their parents work VERY hard trying to afford their children to be able to study English in private training center with foreign teachers. it's not like everyone has this opportunity, even in Shenzhen, a metropolis in southern China. So they just wanna get what they paid for. on the other hand, i'd say most Chinese are seldom thinking about politics or races or things like this. you have to first live a descent life, i mean, economically, then you'll have extra time to think about else, like,"i like white people better than a brown one". needless to say they're just 8-9 year old children. so i guess you might be thinking too much. take it easy :-) perhaps you should, for yourself, for at least one time ask those kids why they wouldn't want to take her class. that would help. - Amanda. your reader.

[Tiffany Journeys East]

It was bigotry
I worked at a center. We had students from age 5 to age 60. Some teenaged and adult students made race-related discriminatory comments directly to my Indian coworker. I would never go on a rant about racist 9 year olds.