Dfrac had earlier published a report on “Chinese Twitter Army: Whitewashing the negativity about China on Social Media”. This special report deals with the increasing hate posts against Africans in the Chinese social media space.
There is a huge multimedia industry going on in China where they are using poor African children to make funny videos in Chinese and for this they exploit, beat them, don’t let them go to school as shown in the BBC documentary.
This is part of a pattern of spewing hate against Africans in China. Not only are Africans humiliated in China, racial comments are passed on to them, their features are compared to an animal and even some use poor African women to post derogatory content. Hate remarks, hate posts and hate speeches are rampant against Africans in Chinese social media.
Our team has dogged a bit deep into the racism in social media against Africans:
Racial Content
- Black people are banned from entering McDonald’s in China.
A video posted by a verified account of Ian Miles Cheong, in which a notice can be seen, where it is clearly mentioned that “Black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant”
(video taken from the tweet of Ian Miles Cheong)
2. Weibo is full with racial comments on Africans.
A photo is shared by a twitter account of Bruce, in which it can be seen what Chinese talk about Africans.
( picture taken from the tweet of Bruce)
3. China’s racism towards Africans also clearly shown in their advertisements
The most racist advertisement of 2016 title was won by a detergent ad of China, where a black person is transformed into a white after using the detergent. See it for yourself, if this is something less than RA CISM?
(video taken from the tweet of AJ+)
- African Features are being compared to that of the animals.
A museum in China put on an exhibit called “This is Africa” that compares Africans to animals.
(video taken from the YouTube channel, Shanghaiist)
Abusive Content
- A weibo account, “Jokes about Black people club” posts video of Africans
In 2020, the weibo account posted a video in which a group of African children huddled round a blackboard are made to say in Chinese: ‘I’m a Black monster, my IQ is low’
These kids don’t even know what they are speaking.
(credits Runako Celina)
Africans in China had been speaking out about the industry that this video forms part of for years – @wode_maya has been one of the most vocal.
This industry had existed for years – and its huge. Back in 2017, there was a wave of controversy around these videos – soon after, they started to disappear from Taobao, a site like Ebay, where they were being sold at the time.
Credits: @RunakoCelina
Humiliating content for African girls
A photo is viral on social media where a chinese man is standing with two Nigerian girls and harassing them.
Additionally, the story of hatred towards Africans among the people of China can be clearly seen through some tweets on social media.
- Zambian student killed by Chinese nationals for dating a chinese girl
The chinese nationals in the video shared are being heard insulting the student and his country, by saying its poor and they can’t allow Africans to be raised in China.
(credits to @blackathanblue)
2. Separate washrooms for Kenyans
The Africans who go to China for work are mistreated, physically assaulted and humiliated.
3. Africans blamed for the return of Corona Virus
Kenyans and other Africans in China are blamed by the Chinese people for the return of the coronavirus and are denied access to supermarkets and public transport. They have to sleep by the roadside without food.
- Chinese WeChat application uses the “N-word” to translate ‘Black Foriegner.’
China’s most popular social media messaging service, WeChat algorithm translated a neutral word, commonly used phrase for “black foreigner”, with the N-word.
Social media is too filled with ‘N-Word’ on debate.
5. Chinese TV celebrates new year with Racisim.
Many a times time the Lunar New Year show has featured racist caricatures. In the year 2018, Africa featured a Chinese actress in blackface with an exaggerated fake posterior and a basket of fruit on her head, reciting lines like, “China has done so much for Africa” and “I love Chinese people! I love China!” Accompanying her was an actor from Ivory Coast dressed in a monkey costume.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/16/china-state-tv-celebrates-new-year-racism
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43081218
To tackle this racism against Africans in Chinese social media, so that it doesn’t become a big issue in the world. The Chinese Twitter army is always ready to clean up this mess and deal with those who voice racism in China. Like one account is Yin Sura, who is accusing the UK of making a documentary on racism only to bring differences between China and Africa.
Tackling Racism comments against China by blaming UK
Link: https://twitter.com/yin_sura/status/1536667399021264896
Conclusion:
Social media platforms always spread hatred and China is no different. While other social media platforms talk about transparency, Chinese social media is heavily monitored and controlled and hence in a better position to prevent such targeted attack. The lackadaisical approach of Chinese authorities towards such hate remarks against Africans indeed throws a lot of questions.
