To get really pissed off that a lot of people seem to think it's acceptable to be racist towards Chinese people?

[xiaozhu]

'They all look the same'

'Sum ting wong?'

'I'll have a number 28 please'

'Oh but they eat dogs and cats and small children, and are therefore scum'

Just a few of the comments I've seen on 'news' articles published by a certain 'newspaper'. I mean, I know Daily Mail readers are not known for their intelligence and tolerance, but AIBU to think that similar comments about other races would not be tolerated, or would at least be regarded as much more serious? Not just referring to the DM morons, it seems to be 'OK' to make ignorant sweeping statements about the Chinese in supposedly more educated circles, too.

The same probably applies to other east Asian races too, but I notice it more with the Chinese.

I think that there is a hostile atmosphere towards, if not foreigners, 'immigrants'

Hmm. Possibly. Those kind of views are certainly widespread, but I wouldn't say that they are representative of the majority. Anyone using the word 'chinky' on here (or any other racial slur) would be jumped on in 30 seconds. I mean, I know MN tends to be a left-leaning and liberal kind of place, so maybe it's not representative either, but it does have millions of registered users and it's certainly a fairly good litmus test of the views of a certain British demographic.

I disagree, I think that there is a hostile atmosphere towards, if not foreigners, 'immigrants'. And that's not just the Daily Mail.

That's not my experience of the UK. But I have spent my whole life in London so maybe that's why I haven't seen as much racism.

Uk is my home and having lived here for over 3 decades, I feel I am a Brit, but obviously I don't look like a Brit to other people, although I can't or don't see myself how other people see me. One time I remember I was quite shocked at how different I looked standing next to my (white) best friends in the changing room mirror, and It really hit me then that that's how other people must see me.

Hate and racism is not ok, of course it us not. But I'm just going to have to shake it all off , carry on living my life in the uk and bury my head in the sand about it. Sometimes it could become a self fulfilling prophecy if you see every single slight or negative interaction as a sign of racism. Life is too short.

It is not nice, feeling like an outsider, but I could equally feel like an outsider, at the school gates for example, being white except I would not automatically jump to the thought that it is to do with my looking Chinese.

A woman I used to teach with in the UK once spoke about the 'chink' girl in her class.

To add insult to injurty, the girl was Vietnamese, not Chinese.

When the people who teach our children are still stereotyping kids and using racist language, it makes me feel incredibly pessimistic.

I live in Korea now, and yes, people can be quite racist, against the Japanese in particular, but also against westerners, Chinese, even north Koreans. Since moving here, I can understand a little just how hurtful racism can be - and honestly, as a white woman, I probably experience relatively little racism compared to others. But things like being stared at, having men proposition you because they assume you are a prostitute, having people address you using non-polite forms when you know they would never do that to a Korean...it's really hurtful and those things are relatively minor compared to a lot of racism that goes on.

But, you know, so what? That doesn't mean it's ok for Brits to be racist, just because people in other countries are too.

I've lived in many countries and I'd say the UK is the place where people are least openly racist, but I think it is possibly more insidious. It's hard for me to say, because I'm white so have never really experienced it personally.

I agree candles that the uk is the least openly racist but more insidious.

It's all the political correctness, to some extent it polices what we say but it us superficial. I get the feeling that some of the liberal, politically correct white Brits will say all the right things and are the ones who get all indignant on blacks behalf about cumberbatch saying "coloured" but really, do they live their values?!

Are they open and friendly to chinese or other minorities? I don't think so, based on personal experience, because if that was the case, I don't believe that the school gates would be as difficult to navigate for me in the affluent white leafy village setting I live in.

Queens Very good post! and this is precisely what sets the UK apart from many, the degree of political correctness! most are not any less racist, its just displayed more covertly.

The number of lefties on a daily basis who claim they don't see colour , they're all embracing etc, sometimes its simple things like photo albums that tell the truth, not a single minority face to be seen.

The U.K on the whole is a very 'tolerant' society, 'acceptability' of other races as equals is still to be debated.

In school photos my dd stands out a mile for her ethnicity :).

She's one of two White british kids in her class. The class itself is about 70% African/Caribbean/mixed race. The rest being Chinese, Indian, and white European.

I think it's fair to say pretty much everyone at the school is open to minorities .

I think there is a lot of racism towards east asian communities in the UK. With the recent influx of chinese immigration, people (morons, namely) tend to assume that anyone from japan, korea, vietnam et al are all chinese. It's disgusting how many people I have seen walking past speaking Korean or Japanese, only to have complete IDIOTS start parroting "NEE haw HEE" at each other. Chinese is one of the few tonal languages - IT ISN'T THAT HARD TO TELL IT APART.

I've got a friend who is half Japanese, half Vietnamese and grew up in Australia. She get's a lot of people crooning "NI HAO" at her as they walk past, or drunks asking her to give her a discount at the "restaurant she works at" (to note: She works in finance). A disappointing number of guys tell her that they have "yellow fever" as if they are doing her some sort of favour.

I think a lot of people use the word "chink" or "chinky" because it doesn't have the same exposure as other racial slurs, and because although a hideous racial slur, doesn't have the same horrific history in the UK. For example, when there was a lot of hate crime - violent crime - against people in the 70's often using the word "Paki".

People saying that there is racism in east asian countries as well are completely missing the point. Japan barely has any immigration at all - if anything people seemed more terrified of foreigners than aggressive towards them. And of COURSE Japan/China/Korea all hate each other to a stronger or lesser degree. Read a history book!!!!

For those people that still don't get it, I invite them to consider how they would feel if everywhere they went, people assumed that they were Russian. Shouting things in Russian at them. Making jokes about you being drunk all the time, or a Russian whore, or other bizarre stereotypes which have absolutely nothing to do with where you come from.

newname Hmmm.. that would be a product of white flight!

I can't be bothered to read to the end of this thread. But if nobody's answered the question 'you know what they say about Chinese men'
I don't know if you can still buy them, but many years ago there were condoms made for Asian men. I couldn't believe it when my friend told me (she sold them) it was because a lot of Asian men are generally smaller in the nether regions than western men.

And apparently Chinese men have small penises

True I believe, along with Japanese men.

Finger and that's precisely why you should read to the end of a thread if you're bent on posting! its been answered, but thank you for sharing you're two pence worth of info to discuss Chinese men's genitalia. Precisely the type of distasteful and rude comments OP is talking about.

Goodness

Who,doesn't get it? Every single person on this thread has stated quite clearly their opinion and experience of racism

Amazing, that out of all distressing comments people who have been racially abused have expressed here, the only thing rich and co can comment on is size of genitalia. Everything else went over your heads obviously!

My comment was only an answer to a question. Although I have to say that I took against the Chinese after one attacked me in a casino when I was dealing roulette to him and he lost a lot of money.
And the time one attacked my Brother in law with a meat cleaver. The Chinese 'gentleman' mistook him for someone who had left his restaurant without paying. So yes, they are not my favorite people.

So you have based your beliefs about more than a billion people on your encounters with just two people who happen to have the same ethnicity?

Do you realise how racist that is, finger? Shame on you!

Finger

I can't believe the stuff you are posting "took against the Chinese" "they", totally shocking

Finger has singlehandedly proved the OP correct.

Just to explore the daffodil thing a moment... Mine come from ocado in the fridge bag. No wonder they get mistaken for food!!!!!

It's really bloody sad, I heard some kids today being horribly racist to an Asian gentleman who had done my nails just five minutes before, and made a loud comment about it. I would have told them off if they hadn't been in a large group of teenagers.

Can I just ask about "nip in the air" though? In Scotland, nip is a word used to describe the burning cold sensation or if you get salt in a cut, or the heat in spicy food, or if you are going to briefly go somewhere (nip to the shop). I know it can be used in a racist way also, but if it's used in aforementioned context is it still considered a bad word? I have noticed some people don't understand the word nip or nippy, but it's not on the spellcheck as being misspelled so I assume it is in the dictionary too.

I am disabled and female, so I have experience discrimination on those basis', so I always try to be correct when talking about race and sexuality too, as it's just unkind, and I always make a point of educating where I can, or being educated where I need to be.

I couldn't believe how dense people were about the daffodil thing. When the news first reported that shops were being requested not to display daffodils with food as people were thinking they were edible, I immediately assumed some kind of cultural/language thing where they were being mistaken for a common foodstuff from another part of the world. As you would. But the news was full of fuckwits people with no imagination tweeting "HAR HAR how can people think a daffodil is food they must be really thick"

At least it's not as damaging as the deadly mushrooms (immature deathcaps I think?) some east Asian people have died from eating in the UK because they look a lot like edible paddy-straw mushrooms. Really sad.

Forgot to mention the camcorder, camera, jewellery that was stolen from my room while I was in Shanghai. And the time in the Hospital in Beijing with food poisoning. I'm sure most of you will get great pleasure from that.

Finger Your property stolen from a room in Shanghai, you suffered food poisoning in Bejing.... you do realise these things happen all over the world. Y

You dislike a entire race because of this. Have you never had food poisoning in the U.K? i know I have, more than once, admitted to hospital for it as well, i still love the British people! has my property been stolen???? let me guess, my house was broken into in the middle of the night, 3 white men with balaclava's on entered, and stole my car....do i hate all white people for it???? of course not.

I've been attacked in a car park by a white man, my crime? i parked next to him and my car was nicer than his. His companions looked the other way as it was going on....should i go on?

But for every bad experience, I can also count hundreds of white british people who have helped me in life and done wonderful things, my lovely neighbours, my nice butcher, son's teacher, our doctor, so many.

Every race or nation has its good and bad. Its foolish to be bitter at an entire nation because of a few bad experiences.

The Chinese are some of the loveliest, polite and courteous people you can ever hope to meet.

Well said Nubia.

Fan nip in the air isn't racist until you say it when an East Asian person walks into the room etc., like saying 'I really fancy a Chinese' or the slightly more threatening 'I could just eat a Chinese' when a Chinese woman walks by. It's just a nasty way of putting a person on warning and letting them know they'll never belong, but leaving yourself enough room to make the other person look like a professionally offended twat if they pull you up on it. Like Jeremy Clarkson's 'slope' comment, which the BBC though was fine.