Racist comment or statement of fact?

[Spinxsta]

7 year old DS said that a TA at his school stated "the Chinese eat dogs". He said they were talking about what people in other countries eat.

I feel there should be some context behind a statement that stereotypes people. Maybe "in the past, some of the poorer people in china ate dogs as they were starving" or something.

Another school mum said the statement didn't sit right but she didn't see it as racist.

We spoke to DS about how people have made statements like that in the past to be racist towards Chinese people and make them seem like disgusting people. I want to say something to school but I'm not sure if this is even complaint worthy... it just doesn't sound like something I want my children growing up saying or thinking.

Am I right to feel cross about this or am I overreacting??

@Spinxsta
I feel there should be some context behind a statement that stereotypes people. Maybe "in the past, some of the poorer people in china ate dogs as they were starving" or something.

But the Yunnan Lychee and Dog Meat festival began in 2009 - that's neither in the past, something poor people did or a response to starvation.

There is a subtle distinction between "The Chinese eat dogs" and "Dog meat is eaten in China"

That’s because deep down people in the U.K. think that eating dogs is such a horrible thing to do that really it would only be acceptable in dire circumstances. And that those circumstances would make it ‘acceptable’ because they had no other choice - very poor and starving. Some sort of last resort type of things.

In some ways, it’s perhaps making the fact Chinese people still eat dog meat even more judgemental (and those people racists) because they are reinforcing that idea that eating dog meat is a horrible thing and only horrible people would do that….

Really?

Dh is French. I’m naturalised. That does not offend a French person anymore than saying the French eat frogs legs.

None of this is true anyway as there are veggies and vegans in France. I imagine there are also a fair few in China.

I think it was perhaps clumsy of the TA to say this because of our cultural view on eating cats and dogs. However, we don’t know the context. We don’t have the same aversion to snails and frogs legs as very few of us have them as much loved pets.

It is a statement of fact, although maybe better explained part of a discussion what people eat across the world. I lived in China for 6 years and yes they do eat dog and in fact my family has eaten dog...also unaware of it at the time. It tasted fine.
As far as I was aware dog is mainly eaten in southern China...but I am happy to be corrected on this.
The dogs eaten where we were staying were bred for food along with pigs and chickens and are usually eaten when they are about 10-15 lbs, so I was told.

There is a subtle distinction between "The Chinese eat dogs" and "Dog meat is eaten in China"

Only if you are also happy to say that there is a subtle difference between ‘British eat lambs’ and ‘Lamb meat is eaten in Britain’.
Wouod we ever say the second sentence? It would be considered pompous really. The first one would be the norm.

So why the difference? I mean lol at the nice little lambs in the field. How can you eat them? So innocent and still children….

Well, seeing as the French are not a race, it isn't!

Some people in South America eat Guinea pigs. Some French people eat horses... I think you're making a mountain out of of a molehill. Most people in India don't eat beef. Muslims don't eat pork.

The TA's point was that people in different countries, eat different things.

The French eat frogs legs.
The English eat cows
The Chinese eat bats
The Germans eat Pork
The Belgian eat horsemeat

Commercial sale and purchase of dogmeat became illegal China-wide in 2020, although private consumption is allowed provided the consumer hasn't acquired a live dog with the intention of slaughtering it for meat. (This is also the law in the UK.) No doubt people who particularly want to obtain dog still can obtain it on the black market or through local sources or other countries in the region like Malaysia which have not banned it. But if you see it hanging in the market, it is not legal.

Taboos against eating dog, historically and currently, aren't as widespread in China as in most of Europe. But the appetite/tradition - rather than eating dog as practical or emergency alternative - isn't terrible entrenched across the entire country either, and it's always existed alongside objections and local taboos against it. Here's an article from a Chinese grad student, written before the nationwide ban, claiming that the promotion of dogmeat as a delicacy is mainly a money-maker for the tourist trade. Other parts of Asia have more of a tradition, as do certain parts of Africa and the Americas. There are examples all over the planet. The Aztecs bred hairless dogs as a food source, as was done with the (now extinct) Poi dogs in Hawaii. The Romans allegedly had a tradition of ritual sacrifice of dogs, and the bodies were eaten. Several ethnic groups in West Africa, Polynesia, Australia and North America have a tradition of cooking and eating dog.

If a child with Chinese background or experience spoke up and said s/he'd had dog in China or Chinese relatives prepared it, then that's a useful jumping-off point for the idea that some countries/cultures consider dog to be consumable meat and others have taboos or laws against it. But if someone without direct experience is jumping directly to "weird food? Dogs! China!" it's worth thinking about why that association is so common, while it's relatively rare to hear a blanket statement that Mexicans or Italians eat dogs. Or Canadians, even although the slaughter, sale and consumption of dogs is legal there.

Thanks for replying and providing this information that in no way represents what I was saying.

The OP said:

Maybe "in the past, some of the poorer people in china ate dogs as they were starving" or something.

OP very clearly did not mean dogs were first eaten in China because of poverty but now they are a normal part of their cuisine. There are even dog meat festivals where the eating of dogs is celebrated, in the same way the UK have/had things like Grillstock, to celebrate the eating of meat.

No, OP did not want her child to know that dog meat is eaten in China, so she lied to him and said it was only eaten in the olden days when people were starving and had no choice.

She is either hugely racist by inferring that there's something wrong with Chinese people eating dog meat, to the extent she tried to minimise it, or alternatively she just doesn't know what she's talking about, didn't bother to do any research and just came on here to contemplate stomping up to the school to make a complaint in the hope of getting the TA in trouble. Either way I'm not sure OP is as woke and culturally accepting as she is pretending. OP, I would suggest working on your own racism before projecting it onto other people because I can guarantee you that it's you who would look like you have ignorant beliefs and opinions if you go marching into school.

I do notice that OP is using the tired comeback 'read the thread' to posters who disagree with her and have pointed out what I have above. She doesn't seem to be saying it to posters who agree it was awful and then say 'unless it was said in a wider conversation'. It's a clear as day in OPs first post that the conversation concerned what people eat around the world. I highly doubt the TA walked in during a maths lesson, blurted 'the Chinese eat dogs' and walked back out again to the look of horrified 7 year old faces.

It's a statement of fact, although a caveat of "some" would make it more accurate. Thinking it's racist is likely because our culture has such negative associations with the consumption of dogmeat, or the practice of deliberately frightening or injuring animals, or eating them still alive, in a belief that the taste will be better.

Its not racist they were stating a fact.

they dont eat dogs routinely

I'd say it depends on the intent of the TA and the context it was said in really..

To say 'things you would expect are eaten all over the world in France snails ere eaten, the Chinese eat dog and in Haggis in in Scotland is sheep heart, liver, and lungs cooked with grains in a stomach lining'

To simply state 'The Chinese east dogs' is the same as when people on Facebook make crap jokes about checking local Chinese when there is a missing dog/cat in the area - it is taking a fact and making it insulting. Then acting all innocent and saying, but it's true - doesn't mean it is the right thing to say.

Its neither
it is not racist
or is it true, any more

In what context did the TA say that? However the statement is factual, I don't think it's a good example of course the context matters. However I don't see it as a racist comment. SA here.

sorry my sentences merged - I wasn't sayin it is a fact that missing dogs/cats can be found in local Chinese restaurants...

dammit I wish there was an edit button

I worked in a Chinese takeaway when I was a student and we constantly had “hilarious” customers ask if there was dog and cat in the food. The Chinese staff didn’t find it funny in the slightest.

Whilst it is true dog is sometimes eaten in China and other countries (along with a variety of other animals that British people would probably balk at), saying “the Chinese eat dogs” to 7 year old does imply all Chinese people do. We really associate dogs with being family members- it is one step down from cannibalism in a lot of people’s eyes.

And yet you left out the word some when you spoke to your DS, which in his mind may now make him believe his teacher was being racist.

We spoke to DS about how people have made statements like that in the past to be racist towards Chinese people and make them seem like disgusting people.

Have you actually spoken to the teacher to check whether they left out the word some?

As an aside
The ‘festival’ in Yukon china for eating dog and cat meat is not to celebrate dog and cat meat.
Its purely because yulin has nothing else that is culturally interesting for tourists, they needed to make money as required by the Chinese govn. So thought up this ‘festival’ to attract people. Shock tactics…….foreign tourists and activists from all over the world swarm there every year some to demonstrate / some to watch such things as labradors being boiled alive. Some to try the food.

The festival is pure tourism.
A previous poster sent a link to an article that makes the reasons clear.

You seem adament on being offended by this OP, so just take it up with the school.

You have a rare 7 year old though who repeats verbatim what the teacher says.

You seem intent on the fact the word 'some' should have been included. 'Some' chinese eat dogs. But your child did not say the teacher said 'all'. If they had said ALL chinese eat dogs, you might have a point.

It was general statement. In china, where chinese people live, they eat dogs. and given your child is intelligent enough to remember exact word for word what a teacher said during the lesson, surely you would consider him intelligent enough to realise that obviously not ALL people of that nationality, in that country, eat the things they were dicussing.

Are you equally offended by other generic statements about food?
The italians eat pasta
The scottish eat haggis
The turkish eat goats
the french eat snails
The english eat fish and chips.
Are these racist too?

The actual fact is that people in china DO eat dogs. not all of them, as I'm sure not all italians eat pasta or all scots eat haggis. The fact it was considered derogatory in the past does not make it untrue today. It is a fact. Not racist. A fact.
And given the context of the actual discussion - what do people in other countries eat - I imagine the school was teaching the dc how diverse different foods are across different cultures. And knowing my 7yo, the grosser the better.

But take it up with the school, tell them they should not mention chinese people eat dogs in case your child does not understand it isn't ALL chinese people and also you don't want him to know that some do in case he repeats it and looks like a racist.

Honestly, if my 7 yo came home and said, he learnt today chinese people eat dogs, firstly i'd ask about the lesson and then I'd just say well yes some do, not everyone though, just like everyone in england does not eat chicken or brussel sprouts. 2 seconds to clear that shit up, yet here we are on page 10 over a teacher missing out the word 'some' or stating a fact you find uncomfortable.

Do Chinese eat dogs..? No, how racist are you!

Well, people in South America eat people. 🤷‍♀️😂

Assuming that some Chinese (or Korean people) only eat dog meat because they they're starving is what's really racist. It's clear that in both of those countries some people regard dog meat as a delicacy.

What's wrong with eating dogs?