In a couple of weeks Beijing will turn into a party town and Sanlitun is predicted to be the epicenter of the Olympic night events. The South China Morning Post has however reported that the bar owners in the area were asked to refuse service to black patrons. The article reports:
Bar owners near the Workers' Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises.
"Uniformed Public Security Bureau officers came into the bar recently and told me not to serve black people or Mongolians," said the co-owner of a western-style bar, who asked not to be named.
We checked twice just to make sure: This story comes from the SCMP and not The Onion ... in 2008 ... as the world awaits the ultra-harmonious "One World, One Dream" Olympics. Did you hear that? That was the sound of our jaw dropping.
But something about this report doesn't gel. Could this possibly be true? Could it possibly be enforced? Given the strong national ties that China has built with African nations in the last two years coupled with the fact that many Olympic athletes (and their families) hail from African descent — not to mention that such a policy would be despicable and horrendous PR for a country looking to improve its image — it sounds like, perhaps, some racist in the Beijing government went out on his own on this one.
We hope strong denials from Beijing are in the works.
Mooched from the SA forums.
The source is...ah... dubious at best (nothing on CNN,) but it still sets a rather distressing standard if true.
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I´ve read and heard quite often that being black in China is rather difficult. There seems to be a lot of prejudice against black people in China. This story is sort of in tune with what i´ve heard. Taxis not stopping for black people and things like that.
Why is the source dubious? Some Googling tells me that the South China Morning Post is a serious Hong Kong paper, and is actually perceived to be very pro-Beijing if anything.
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things... their number is negligible and they are stupid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower
Metatwaddle wrote:Why is the source dubious? Some Googling tells me that the South China Morning Post is a serious Hong Kong paper, and is actually perceived to be very pro-Beijing if anything.
It's just that no one's bug up the story from them actual paper, though that could just as easily be on account of translation problems or the SCMP just not having a website.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know, the piper's calling you to join him
Metatwaddle wrote:Why is the source dubious? Some Googling tells me that the South China Morning Post is a serious Hong Kong paper, and is actually perceived to be very pro-Beijing if anything.
It's just that no one's bug up the story from them actual paper, though that could just as easily be on account of translation problems or the SCMP just not having a website.
They do have a website. The shanghaiist post linked to it; I don't know why you didn't see it. You have to be registered to see the article, but the headline is there: "Authorities order bars not to serve black people". Link
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things... their number is negligible and they are stupid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower
Metatwaddle wrote:Why is the source dubious? Some Googling tells me that the South China Morning Post is a serious Hong Kong paper, and is actually perceived to be very pro-Beijing if anything.
It's just that no one's bug up the story from them actual paper, though that could just as easily be on account of translation problems or the SCMP just not having a website.
Follow the link in the link you provided and you will be directed to an article on the scmp website. It´s in english but you have to register and log in to read it.
If China wants to be taken seriously on the world stage, shouldn't they be telling people to ease their racist policies at a time when they're going to be getting unprecedented levels of tourism from around the world? How does this make any sense whatsoever?
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Drooling Iguana wrote:If China wants to be taken seriously on the world stage, shouldn't they be telling people to ease their racist policies at a time when they're going to be getting unprecedented levels of tourism from around the world? How does this make any sense whatsoever?
More accurately, they should preach how racism is a problem of the past, and the bars in question should have the 'We don't have to serve people we don't want to serve' signs you see in the States.
Manic Progressive: A liberal who violently swings from anger at politicos to despondency over them.
Out Of Context theatre: Ron Paul has repeatedly said he's not a racist. - Destructinator XIII on why Ron Paul isn't racist.
Qwerty 42 wrote:It's just that no one's bug up the story from them actual paper, though that could just as easily be on account of translation problems or the SCMP just not having a website.
The SCMP is Hong Kong's main English newspaper and is highly regarded. A lot of the writers are, after all, white old timers. Unfortunately their website is subscription only. In the post-97 era I've regarded them as more moderate towards Beijing but hardly pro-Beijing.
The Worker's Stadium bars and clubs are Western style (but with karaoke) and are probably the best in Beijing. Beijing's scene is kind of small, though compared to Shanghai. Black people are entirely new to Beijing as far as I know. Its not like HK where blacks are around, in some places. And the lack of prior contact makes racism easy.
salm wrote:I've read and heard quite often that being black in China is rather difficult. There seems to be a lot of prejudice against black people in China.
I know there IS some prejudice against black people (they're often portrayed as villains in Hong Kong films), but I STRONGLY doubt the Chinese government will risk the resulting humiliation from ordering businesses to act as racist as the Deep South (my father had a Chinese dictionary, loaded with Communist propaganda, that stated Harry Truman was a KKK member; that wasn't a compliment).
It's more likely the reporters confused an order barring members of the "black society" (Chinese slang for the criminal underworld) for "black people"; in fact, a recent SCMP article is titled, "Police deny ban on blacks."
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
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