Racism in China: A Reality Show and The Black Pearl

OK, silly movie title shout-out aside, this example of racism in China is illuminating in a sad way. I suppose we could call it "bumblebee racism" since it's yellow-on-black. It's the story of Lou Jing, whose mother is Chinese and father is African-American:

" . . . I often got more attention than the other girls. It made me feel strange," Lou [Jing] said.

The reality show hosts fondly called her "chocolate girl" and "black pearl." The Chinese media fixated on her skin color. Netizens flooded Web sites with comments saying she "never should have been born" and telling her to "get out of China."

. . . "She used to wonder why she had black skin," said one classmate. "We thought about this question together and decided to tell her it's because she likes dark chocolate. So her skin turned darker gradually."

Another classmate weighed in, "We said it's because she used to drink too much soy sauce."

RELATED POST: Ethnic tensions in South Korea. Also, racial chauvinism by Ma Ying-jeou.