Chinese Britons are often referred to as a "silent" or "hidden" minority. For although we are the fourth-largest minority ethnic group in the UK, we are virtually invisible in public life, principally the arts, media and politics.
On the surface, the Chinese seem relatively content and well-to-do, with British Chinese pupils regularly outperforming their classmates and Chinese men more likely than any other ethnic group to be in a professional job. Consequently, we are often overlooked in talks on racism and social exclusion.
But academic and economic successes do not negate feelings of marginalisation. A 2009 study by The Monitoring Group and Hull University suggested that British Chinese are particularly prone to racial violence and harassment, but that the true extent to their victimisation was often overlooked because victims were unwilling to report it.
Growing up in the north of England in the 80s, I had few role models. Popular culture was dominated by white faces and occasionally black and south Asian, but never east Asian. I'm not sure that much has changed since.
Shouts of "Jackie Chan!" and kung-fu noises from random strangers continue to greet me in the street, perhaps followed by a "konichiwa!" Just a few days ago, a friend was having a post-hangover drink in a trendy east London pub, only to be accused by the manager of being a DVD pedlar hassling his clients.
Going to drama school in London was a revelation; I was told I couldn't perform in a scene from a play because it had been written for white people. The scene was two girls sitting on a park bench talking about boys, and the year was 2006. Worse was when it came from my contemporaries; one (white, liberal, highly educated) helpfully suggested I did a monologue from The Good Soul of Szechuan instead, and another rushed up after one performance to tell me how delighted her parents had been that I'd spoken perfect English (I'm from Bradford).
In hindsight it was good preparation for a profession where, on my first job, the Bafta-winning director chuckled to everyone on set that I'd trained in kung fu, and where any character who speaks in some kind of dodgy east Asian accent is considered hilarious.
I have friends who are shocked that such things actually happen. They are usually most surprised at the fact that it's happened to me. Why? I suspect mainly because, like them, I am part of the educated middle class, and things like that don't happen to people like us.
Well, they do, and quite often. And frankly, it isn't surprising that prejudices are rife in a country whose media perpetuates the very images that evoke stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings: Chinese characters rarely appear on our television screens, but when they do, you can bet they'll be DVD sellers, illegal immigrants, spies or, in the case of last year's Sherlock, weird acrobatic ninja types. Many Chinese viewers were outraged at the portrayal of east Asians in this show, but typically, few complained.
Sadly, the British Chinese are reticent about speaking up for themselves, and simply do not have the numbers to make the same noise the black and south Asian communities do, whose vociferous and galvanising voices have been making waves against racism for decades. Racism is one of those horrendous, soul- and confidence-crushing things that, when faced with, you'd much rather forget or pretend didn't exist. So we tend to brush it off, pretend it never happened, or laugh along with the rest rather than come across as bad sports. We Chinese have become dab hands at this, living up to the stereotype of the smiling but silent Chinaman.
If we are to make progress in understanding the true extent of racism in this country, we all need to be a lot braver in confronting truths about how we live. It's about swallowing our pride and being less afraid of telling the world how racism affects us and really thinking about the people across Britain who have come to accept racism as a part of life. It's about standing up in classrooms, television studios, offices, pubs and public transport, not just for ourselves, but for friends and strangers, too.
Denial gets us nowhere. But awareness, thoughtfulness and courage could make millions of lives so much better.
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11 January 2012 11:18AM
Here's a good question - when's the last time a major TV show had a British Chinese lead? (Hint: Sizeable numbers of us weren't born when it was last on our screens.)
11 January 2012 11:19AM
The Chinese Detective?
11 January 2012 11:21AM
Bravo Elizabeth
We need to confront the appearance of East Asians as the usual three-cornered stereotype of inscrutable/comical/seductive in both life and art.
It seems like the diet industry though - when one exploitation is confronted, the producers simply move on to another. When the East asian character is no more a figure of note for being their ethnicity than a black or asian one, expect a lot of Inuit comedy characters to appear.
11 January 2012 11:21AM
Alexander, are you thinking of the Chinese Detective with David Yip, by any chance?
11 January 2012 11:21AM
I can only think of 15 Storeys High, which wasn't really what you'd call major.
11 January 2012 11:23AM
I've never had anything but the highest regard for the Chinese community in London. True to say I think the stereotypical view that they are all Kung-Fu experts and have completed their Maths A'Level by the age of 9 only reinforces the fact that they are perceived by me at least, to be above average in most things. To say nothing of their excellent cuisine.
11 January 2012 11:24AM
I'm Indian, I can understand where you are coming from. I do think however that admiring the "cry racism at absolutely everything" attitude is hardly something to admire. Yes, shouting Jackie Chan at you is not funny - but is it really that bad? It's telling that the Guardian found "Come Fly With Me" more offensive than my parents, who actually found it funny. Scottsih, Welsh, Irish and English people have a healthy "relationship" where they can joke with each other without taking offence. As you have said, Chineese people (like Indians) do well where it really matters - education and jobs.
Just to make it clear, I'm not advocating racism, just a sensible attitude. Of course if someone at work is harrasing you because you are Chineese, you should complain. From what you write however, it seems that their jokes are borne from unfamiliarity as oppossed to malice. I'd be wary of encoruaging the victim mentality seen in other communities - and also be wary of assuming that other Chinese people secretly want to foster this kind of mentality in any case.
11 January 2012 11:25AM
Ireland is worse. My wife, who looks Chinese, often gets yelled at by idiots, normally young men in cars.
11 January 2012 11:25AM
Elizabeth objects to a racist situation where an ethnic Chinese is not allowed to take a white part in a play. Under current politically correct racist orthodoxy white people are not allowed to play black people in plays , so SNAP dear.
11 January 2012 11:28AM
It's not just in Britain. You get it on New York's Broadway, too.
No, not in the King and I.
But in one of Papa John's 'Pizza Palaces'.
11 January 2012 11:28AM
The reason the Chinese community has remained invisible to the guardian is probably because instead of complaining endlessly about discrimination leading to poor academic acheivement and a higher rate of imprisonment and failure to obtain professional jobs, it expended its energies on ensuring their children took best advantage of the educational opportunities available to them and concentrated on their careers and as a result it has generally performed better in all these areas.
11 January 2012 11:30AM
Very well said.
The criers of "Jackie Chan" etc are being ignorant buttheads. The chances of eliminating that characteristic from the human race I would estimate at , roughly, doodly/squat.
11 January 2012 11:30AM
That is indeed absolutely disgraceful. My mind boggles at the sort of tit who would think that funny or acceptable, but I'd be confident in asserting that 99.9% of Brits wouldn't dream of behaving that way, yet you use it as an example to portray society as inherently anti-Chinese, which seems unfair.
Also, doesn't this go some way to contradicting your idea of an anti-Chinese bias? It seems that like anybody else, the Chinese can work hard and reap the rewards. Sounds good to me. I don't like all these articles that bemoan the lack of black/female/disabled/chinese faces in the arts or politics, as those these 2 fields alone of the holy grail of human achievement. In reality, the vast, vast majority of white British folk are not involved in the arts of politcs either. They are barely relevant to most ordinary lives. Most people just like to work hard and have a quiet life. A lot of this just comes off as your own aspirational middle class bias.
11 January 2012 11:31AM
It does seem to be a particularly acceptable form of racism. Every time we leave london my (Japanese) partner has someone shout "Gok Wan!" or the like at him on the street. Literally every time.
11 January 2012 11:33AM
Part of her point, @sludge dear, was that there was no reason for it to be a white part. Jeez.
11 January 2012 11:33AM
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11 January 2012 11:33AM
So therefore said children have to endure racist sneers on the street on a weekly basis?
11 January 2012 11:33AM
So where did you learn to speak perfect English then?
11 January 2012 11:33AM
To be fair it depends on the part. With some characters their race is central to the part. If so it’s only common sense that the actor should be of that race. So without knowing more about this part in question it’s really rather difficult to say if the writer was wrong to deny Elizabeth the part due to her race.
Jumping on the racism or anti-racism bandwagon without more information would be premature.
11 January 2012 11:34AM
Elizabbeth,
try being ginger for a day then get back to me
11 January 2012 11:35AM
Why? Do you still regularly see people shouting racism at black people on the streets? Sure it still happens, but it's waaaay more socially unacceptable.
11 January 2012 11:36AM
If I were Chinese to any racial comment I would reply "And who's bailing you out?"
That should shut the morons up.
11 January 2012 11:36AM
Also, in my relatively limited experience, the most commonly expressed stereotype held about the British Chinese is that they're hard working and just get on with it.
Is this offensive to lazy Chinese people, or those who like making a fuss?
11 January 2012 11:37AM
I wouldn't be so sure - until I came back to the UK to live with my partner I thought the same. I've been shocked and appalled by how often people shout racist stuff to him on the street.
11 January 2012 11:37AM
@Elizabeth Chan
Join the bandwagon, Many Britain's but not all have alot to answer for in terms of racism, both historically and current issues.
In terms of the Chinese experience the legacy of Hong Kong is the prime example and the negative aspects of the cultural influence including natives having two first name's one chinese and one anglicized.
How about a national apology from the Prime minister and maybe some compensation. :-)
11 January 2012 11:38AM
The reticence has both good and bad aspects. It is a very bad thing when it leads to people not reporting that they have been the victims of racial crime, as you mention in your article, but a reluctance to complain about minor slights can also mean that one refuses to let other people's prejudices get you down.
When you say in the second part of that paragraph that it is sad that "[British Chinese] simply do not have the numbers to make the same noise the black and south Asian communities do" it seems to me that you are accepting a model that society should be based into racial interest groups who compete to make most noise. Increasingly, that is the way society seems to work these days, (with the whites starting to copy the apparently successful rhetoric of aggrieved group rights) but I think that is sad.
11 January 2012 11:38AM
Sad to read that so little has changed. I lived in the UK in the early 70s and as I am a Chinese Eurasian I got used to silly remarks. Fortunately there were no Kungfu films (in English) so I was spared any comparisons. I always thought that literature was about the "human condition" and not about skin colour!
11 January 2012 11:39AM
It was quite shockingly high. While they constitute c. 1% of Manchester's populace, they accounted for 3.6% of victims in racist incidents.
So I agree: it does need to be confronted. Media stereotypes are probably more ambiguous - but how many Chinese-British journalists, editors, pundits, or characters in drama are present in the UK's cultural life? Too few.
11 January 2012 11:39AM
Well said. I would love to see a greater variety or ethnicities in leading roles - I've always wondered why more producers/writiers don't do it , if only for added interest for the main characters. Who cares about some stereotype character? Nobody, you just let it pass with little notice. But playing around with stereotypes could be really fun and really helps to break them down! Not that it never happens, but not enough....
11 January 2012 11:39AM
You're no doubt referring to The Chinese Detective but you've forgotten Burt Kwouk as Entwistle in Last Of The Summer Wine.
Though forgetting Last Of The Summer Wine is something we'd all probably like to do.
11 January 2012 11:40AM
I followed that link. Fourth largest indeed!
The Chinese represent a whopping 0.8% of the population. Is it really any wonder that the Chinese are silent or hidden?
11 January 2012 11:41AM
As usual this article has attracted the usual lazy "stop blaming all white people"/"you are saying we are all racists"
YAWN
Yes, by pointing out (very real) racism, what the victims are actually doing is personally attacking you.
11 January 2012 11:41AM
I am sorry that racism has ensured that the Chinese are relatively content and well to do, that British Chinese pupils regularly outperform their classmates and Chinese men are more likely than any other ethnic group to be in a professional job.
We should do best to ensure that these enormous disadvantages are rectified as soon as possible, and that the achievments and expectations of the Chinese are lowered to be more in line with the average for the country as a whole.
11 January 2012 11:43AM
Less of the anti-Bradford sentiment :)
11 January 2012 11:43AM
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11 January 2012 11:43AM
The usual stuff not comparing like with like. Imagine you're a black actor looking for work in Britain. The vast majority of the number of roles available are going to be white roles and the vast majority of them are going to go to white actors. And then imagine that you find white people are taking black roles also?
11 January 2012 11:43AM
2001
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banzai_(television_show)
11 January 2012 11:43AM
Valten78:
It would be overdue. The author provides the link to a University study which makes the matter plain:
So - yes: it's a serious problem, which has evaded significant notice.
11 January 2012 11:44AM
All this article appears to say is that life isn't perfect for British Chinese. But it isn't perfect for anyone. Try being disabled for a day, whatever your race you will be discriminated against in all ways possible. Even the government calls us lazy, fraudulent scroungers and the media are happy to print it.
11 January 2012 11:45AM
... and having racist abuse shouted at you every day is no real problem, right?
11 January 2012 11:45AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_the_United_Kingdom#2001_Census_ethnicity_results
11 January 2012 11:45AM
Not wishing to be condescending, but I'd always assumed that was a matter of choice. How many, for example, are even members of political parties, and out doing the grunt work delivering leaflets and knocking on doors, and trying to get a seat on the local council?
Whilst any racism is awful, my (white British) perception is that those groups probably get more stick than Chinese Britons.
By all means tackle racism wherever you find it: we have laws that will support you to the hilt. But don't overplay the outraged victimhood card here: it's not warranted.
11 January 2012 11:46AM
My significant other is Chinese, and after three months in London, she refused point blank to even consider settling in Britain. To put this in perspective: she would have been quite happy to live in Italy (!??!!?). Mercifully, it was a legal impossibility.
Perhaps they'd heard you were from Bradford.
(I'll get me coat...)
11 January 2012 11:46AM
Anyway back to the main point, a friend of mine is of Chinese heritage (but was born and bred in Southport) and went to university in Leicester, which is a hotbed of racial tension anyway. She lost count of the number of times she had racial slurs lobbed at her on nights out (not always by white people either). The ‘Jackie Chan’ one was quite common, the real irony was that not only did she know no Martial Arts whatsoever but her white boyfriend, who was often with her, was a part time Ju-Jitsu instructor, which occasionally her detractors found out the hard way.
Good luck to the author, ignorant racism needs to be challenged wherever possible.
11 January 2012 11:47AM
Bramhall:
No - the fact that they are 'relatively content and well to do' hasn't precluded victimisation on account or ethnicity. You're implying that victims should stop complaining. Why, exactly?
11 January 2012 11:47AM
This comment isn't meant to justify racism, but overseas Chinese communities often fail to mention the blatant racism their relatives exhibit at home. Like yelling "Foreigner!" at the top of their lungs when the lone European traveller enters a train station in China. The silence after such comments isn't so much shame as it is complacency. Where the Chinese are the majority, their offhand comments about Africans will make you think twice.
11 January 2012 11:47AM
What a brilliant article!
Some of things you mention are pretty odious, though unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me that some people in Britain know nothing more about Chinese culture than kung-fu and the names of their favourite take-away dishes.
Even as China continues to rapidly grow in international significance, I don't see whole swathes of British people actively taking more interest in one of the world's oldest and richest civilisations any time soon. I predict that we'll instead prefer to continue laughing at people mimicking the dodgy accents.
Consequently, I would guess the only way that the situation will improve, is when more people speak out against such casual stigmatisation and call it out for what it really is. Do you see any signs of growing assertiveness amongst Chinese Britons to suggest that this might happen?
I mean, as much as you will have the support of many white, middle-class, liberal-minded, Guardian-readers such as myself, the wider public are only really going to get the message if it comes directly from the peoples affected.
11 January 2012 11:47AM
Elizabeth.
Racism is unacceptable. There's no excuse for it.
Only that its human nature from either a protectionist or simply bigoted point of view. It goes something like this: You are different to me so therefore you are a threat to be. You may steal my job/house/wife/girlfriend/daughter etc.
We are all capable of it.
I wonder, do minorities experience any racism from native Chinese in China or HK I wonder?
If the answer is yes then you shouldn't be surprised if it happens here.
11 January 2012 11:48AM
Well the figures seem to say the opposite
11 January 2012 11:51AM
There seems to be a misconception that, unless the stats for everything reflect the racial proportions in society, that racism is present. Why is the low number of Chinese people in media "a great shame"?
I am not talking for Chinese culture here (although it wouldn't surprise me if it's exaclty the same), but many Indian parents don't see a career in the media as something for their children to aspire to. Academic success is emphasised heavily - and surprise, that's an area in which the Indian community does well. Of course this is a generalization (as any discussion on race is) but it demonstrates that the lack of Chinese presence on TV is highly likely nto to be due to racism.
And by the same token, you can't comend "over-representation" in certain areas whilst condeming udnerepresentation in others.
Finally, if all racism was eliminated from society, there would still not be exact representation everywhere. 5% or whatever of law firms wouldn't necessarily be black, 0.8% of travel agents wouldn't be Chinese etc. To infer racism primarily on the basis of representation ignores the vast differences in culture which mutli-culturalism supposedly recognizes.