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??

I’m Chinese and I’m offended. It’s one of these classic racist lines people say to me. No I don’t eat dogs, so fuck right off now thank you.

This has explained it beautifully. Yes it's a fact that some Chinese (and Korean and Vietnamese) people eat dog meat.
However that fact is inextricably linked with racist assumptions and negative connotations of Chinese people because in our supposedly more enlightened culture dogs are our best friends and the thought of eating one is horrifying.
A statement like that to a room of 7yo's needs a huge amount of explanation in context.

It’s a statement of fact presented wrongly.

Dog meat is eaten in China but not all Chinese people eat it.

Would people be jumping up and down crying racist if someone had said “French people eat horses/frogs”?

My 7yo also came home saying the same! I said oh, yes. And they eat horse in different countries in Europe - vaguely remember mentioning France and Netherlands.

Its not racist. It happens! Dogs are eaten in china.

For all of you dating it's not racist, this is the most important post on this thread.

Your kid is 7. If I said to my 7 year old nice 'some people on China eat dogs' that may well be heard by her as 'Chinese people eat dogs'. You weren't there so don't know exactly what was said.

No that could also be racist - if it is possibly typifying a behaviour that others might find repellent (eating snails) with a particular race.

It's not only the words. It's how they are used, and the context they are used within.

(See a PP's 'potatoes' comment earlier, highly offensive).

Some Chinese. Mostly a regional thing. Common in the Philippines too.
could be racist. Depends on the context

@imagemini

Agree fully.

Yes. If said like that.

^Spinxsta
Eating dogs had historically been used in the UK by British people as a derogatory statement though.

Saying British people eat chickens and fish has never been used in a derogatory way!

Yes it has, we're known as ' le rostbif' in France for our corpulance and ruddiness and are horrifying other cultures around the world for the fact we eat pigs and cows

We're also seen by a lot of eastern countries as very smelly because of our dairy intake, we apparently smell 'eggy' to the Chinese

No other country gets itself in a twist and wrings its hands so much over things like this.^

"Le Rostbif" really isn't the same thing though. It's not comparable.
^
When we lived in the Middle East, we were told that westerners smelt like sour milk. Again, I don't see that as the same thing.

This statement has been used in a derogatory and racist way so, despite there being truth in it, I think we need to be careful how we discuss it.^ ... and, yeah, we remain quite a racist country so I do think we should "wring our hands" or consider how we stereotype people more carefully.

We have several cultures & nationalities in our family and are constantly taking the piss out of each other. That's within our family and done with love. This is about what's being taught in a school.

Aye well if it offends Chinese people then maybe Chinese people should do something about it since eating dogs obviously seems wrong to them.

Same for snails, frogs, horses and insects. If your cultural norms seem wrong then campaign for it to stop. I’d like to see eating pigs banned because they’re so smart, I’m also Scottish and have had plenty of comments about how disgusting eating haggis is but it’s associated with Scotland and is just one of those things. I can’t see any difference personally.

Why?

Saying something is racist doesnt mean it is. Everyone has the right to feel offended. Dogs are eaten in China (and other countries) its a fact. It doesnt compute that every single Chinese person eats them but they are in the shops as a foodstuff, ergo they are eaten by the customers.

Bearing in mind the OP is talking about comments reported by a seven year old, can she be completely certain of how the comment was made, and if the word 'some' wasn't included? I'm not sure all children will always report things they've been told at school reliably at that age.

You are coming across as a little bit naive, I have family in Scotland and the amount of "the English this" and "the English that" that goes on is amazing. The fact is many people will think eating dogs is disgusting ( along with bats, snails, mealie worms, crickets depending on the country) never mind not giving your people political freedom, shooting protestors, forced abortion and sterilisation, executing and torturing rather a lot of people, imprisoning Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps..... and other cultures/countries think things that are acceptable in Britain ( gay marriage, having dogs as pets, eating pork/beef, drinking alcohol, sex before marriage, football hooliganism , tourist behaviour) are also disgusting. Will you shortly be teaching your son about all this or are you only going to over-react to a simple statement of fact that, I agree, should simply have had the word "some " inserted before it ?

It's racist stereotyping.
Like saying, "The English hate foreigners".

Even 'some' wouldn't rescue it.

I suggested above a phrase thad might make it ok.

For 7 yos, you need to do some work to ensure that the context is understood, including that different cultures do things that other cultures would find unacceptable and so on

(Not saying that this teacher didn't do this - they might have tried to).

The Chinese do eat dogs though. I have seen horrific videos which I wish I never saw, dogs that have been thrown into a large vast pot to deep fry, alive or not, then hung up on hooks at a market, dogs kidnapped from a garden and dragged to be butchered. Its pretty terrible. I have also seen them eat bugs, toads, baby hamsters in noodles (alive) and many more. Am not saying all Chinese eat this. But its not racist, its a statement of fact like saying Beef and chicken is popular in the UK. Or Muslims don't eat pork. Or Jewish people eat kosher. Its the truth.

I agree with you.

The way it is phrased is very important.
If those were her exact words, i’d be inclined to belief it’s racist. We all know how that statement has been framed differently over the decades but the intent and meaning haven’t changed.

its a statement of fact like saying Beef and chicken is popular in the UK. Or Muslims don't eat pork. Or Jewish people eat kosher. Its the truth.

None of those have especially negative connotations tho.

Saying 'Chinese eat dogs' addresses a controversial point thad goes against our Western social norms.

That's the difference.

They are also eaten in Vietnam and South Korea by SOME people - mostly older generation and yes poorer communities.
A lot of younger people find it barbaric. So like absolutely anything you can’t generalise.

A little off topic but I’ve never understood how people can be upset by dogs being eaten when pigs are eaten daily and have a similar level of intelligence.

I think there is huge naivety on this thread about how the UK/British/English are talked about in other countries, let alone the racism (real racism) within other countries about different cultures.

OP claims to have lots of cultures and nationalities in her family and they make fun of each other 'out of love', if this is true and she is as well travelled as she claims she'll know that general conversations within other countries always contain stereotypes about other cultures and nationalities, particularly their nearby countries. The UK is not 'quite a racist country' in comparison to others and this situation with the TA is not an example of that.

Well, they do eat dogs so it's a statement of fact. Like saying Brits eat beef. Not all Brits do, but we do.

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.

Firstly I would not assume that your DS has said exactly what the TA said verbatim. She may have actually said some Chinese people eat dogs for all you know.
Secondly your statement around poor people eating dogs in the past is not true. A significant number of people in China eat dogs, not just poor people and definitely not in the past. It is a statement of fact.

It's a statement of fact......BUT if she said ' the Chinese eat dogs ' I'd class that as racist. Solely because Chinese people aren't one, homogeneous group, I imagine a good number of them couldn't be paid.to eat dog.