Lost my temper today. I walked by Kid Castle in San Chung, Chung Yang Road Section 1 and saw in the window large paper cutouts of brown people in blackface with huge lips, wearing “native” clothing. One person had a bone fastened to the top of his head. They looked exactly like what Hollywood and American television used to portray “funny, African savages” as. After taking a few pictures, I went in asked what the deal was and told them they should take the display down. I wasn’t very pleasant about it. They said it was about Africa. I got even more pissed off and told them what I thought. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the Chinese word for racist, but as best I could told them that it was a very negative portrayal. I ranted for a good 10 minutes. I think they got the idea. Alas, I didn’t explain that Africans are represented by many ethnic groups, and cultural backgrounds. I just wasn’t in the mood to explain in a nice way how insulting this display was.
Ugh, arseholes. Passing it on to the next generation, too. 
And Kid Castle is, for all practical purposes, a school. It’s where kids go to learn about the world. 
Bunch of idiots. Did they take it down? Even if they did, I doubt they’ve gone away to find out some actual facts about Africa. They’ve simply learned that some foreigners are awfully touchy and rant about the weirdest things.
I would email them, maybe apologize for shouting (you are 100% in the right, but ranting can make people dig their heels in) and then nicely ask them to take the display down within 48 hours, or you will post the pictures online. You could write a blog post on medium.com, it would only take 5-10 minutes, and you could make them lose face to the world (or at least 50,000 people). We can’t tell if they genuinely listened, or if they were just smiling + nodding, waiting for the loud foreigner to shut up. I think it all stems from insular ignorance instead of malice, but they need to sort it out quick or risk the wrath of the internet. One quick blog post could lose them 20 per cent+ of their income within a few weeks.
You don’t have to give them notice, but it’s fair. Just an idea.
And Kid Castle is, for all practical purposes, a school. It’s where kids go to learn about the world.
Bunch of idiots. Did they take it down? Even if they did, I doubt they’ve gone away to find out some actual facts about Africa. They’ve simply learned that some foreigners are awfully touchy and rant about the weirdest things.[/quote]
Why would they take it down? They way they see it, OP was just another adogah who doesn’t understand Taiwanese culture. Sad but true.
That’s what I figured. Smile and nod until the crazy guy goes away. I agree that it’s ignorance rather than malice, but schools don’t have the privilege of being ignorant.
The discussion around the water cooler wont be about having the face in the window, it will be about how all foreigners are loud and bad tempered, completely missing the point.
Lessons Learned: -0
Yup, you guys hit it on the nose. The rude, loudmouthed foreigner who loses his temper over a cute window display. That’s all they will remember. But, in my experience, explaining things in a rational, logical, polite way may not work here. I’ve tried to do just that. And people just looked at me silently and ignored me and went on doing what they were doing.
And there’s the excuse people give that kills me every time. “I didn’t understand/know.” Anyone remember Blackie toothpaste, which created a controversy and now has a different English label, but is unchanged in Chinese? For goodness sake, all the controversy about the toothpaste, and Kid Castle still uses the same caricature??? And my favorite from a few years back is HItler promoting a product on billboard ads. One thing I do to amuse myself is ask people the difference between a blinking red and a blinking yellow traffic light. No one has been able to tell me.
It would be too painful for me to walk into Kid Castle again. At best they would feign ignorance, and then apologize.
BTW, this is the Kid Castle across from Wellcome Supermarket, not the Kid Castle at the big intersection. Hmmm. Any other Kid Castles have this same display?
Could you post a pic? Would that get you into trouble because of work or something?
I recently asked my 31 year old Taiwanese friend what she thinks about this ad.
youtube.com/watch?v=Few8kJ0zfnY
First she thought it was hilarious.
Then I asked her what she thinks black people would feel. She said, “They will think it is funny and black people wish they were white too”. Cringe
W
D
F?
I’m glad I don’t have a TV.
I just can’t understand what the foreign guy was thinking. Maybe he’s British and in desperate need of hard currency 
[quote=“cyberguppy”]I recently asked my 31 year old Taiwanese friend what she thinks about this ad.
youtube.com/watch?v=Few8kJ0zfnY
First she thought it was hilarious.
Then I asked her what she thinks black people would feel. She said, “They will think it is funny and black people wish they were white too”. Cringe[/quote]
The idea for that commercial was actually stolen (borrowed?) from an Italian one.
Superficially similar. Conceptually unrelated.
Interestingly, that commercial faced a lot of backlash in China. Local netizens criticized it a lot, which give syou some hope.
Problem with the “outdated” images in Kid Castle is that this is what is being taught to children. They copy what they see in adults and while the adults may remove the images, the damage lingers.
Imagine you are a foreign kid from South Africa or Kenya or somewhere in Africa who is studying here in Taiwan at the same Kid Castle. You tell your calssmates those images are incorrect and offensive. Who will they believe? Who will they copy? Who will be mocked?
Recently, there was a raukus on the Interweb because a young girl was mocking her peers as country bumpkins and poor farmers while showing off stuff her Mom had brought from abroad, telling them they couldn’t have those things because they were poor and class-less. Most people criticized her emptiness and morals and tone, but when you hear her, the words that come out of her mouth ar straight what she is hearing in her environment from adults. Children are just little carbon copies. Don’t blame them if we do not like what we see.