I have had people here tell me that they don’t like black people. I usually ask how many they know. Most say none. It took me about 4 months to get one of my best friends to quit using the N word. He just didn’t get why it offended the shit out of me.
We do live in a society where racism is accepted. And a society where most people would rather not deal with things that are outside of their norms.
I don’t think there is any justification for it. Ignorance is ignorance. Sorry.
I’ve tried to buy things at the same Carrefour and gotten no help as well. They suck. Flag them down, speak Chinese to them with the correct and precise request, and more often than not they’ll dismissively send me to the aisle (“Go to Aisle 7…”), which may have similar stuff but which absolutely does not actually stock the item. Never actually stocks the item because, when you really get down to it, they simply don’t know what they have or don’t have and can’t be bothered to check.
Of course, if you go to many of those hardware DIY supercenters in the U.S., you’ll get the same inexpert treatment from folks who pretty much only know where the WD40 is kept. The only difference is that in most U.S. stores they’ll at least try to be helpful while personally taking you to the wrong part of the store and that at least they don’t assume that a perfectly courteous greeting to them in their home language will not lead to a stream of requests to them a (to them) foreign language. Some Taiwan store clerks absolutely skedaddle from any foreigner out of their fear that they might have to rely upon their high school English … taking off so fast that you don’t get a chance to address them in Chinese.
Best recommendation for the black guy is to get down to one of the “real” computer markets in town – there’s people who will sell him a computer with the desired English software installed. Carrefour does not deserve his business.
Taiwanese do have racial prejudices. I think we imported most of these stereotypes from abroad. Young Taiwanese are less likely to accept these stereotypes at face value. Most of us are afraid to speak to foreigners who cannot speak Mandarin or Taiwanese no matter what your color. It is a problem we are working on, and we thank you for your patience and understanding. Racial prejudice did not disappear from the United States overnight. I know as a yellow person, I was mistreated overseas. I know this is wrong. I will stop and educate my country people when I hear them reacting to stereotypes and I hope you do the same.
DING DING DING !!!
We have a winner :bravo: :bravo:
Yes, many of the racial beliefs, IMO, are imported from abroad, as blacks, and other races are not an intergal part of Taiwan’s history. So, while yes, every foriegner here will encounter some from of racism and discrimination, it is in various degrees, and being that blacks aren’t held in high esteem in the public eye, it’s easy to see why certain people who never in their life have encountered blacks,etc would have such beliefs. They base them on general opinions. And as for in Taiwan,or in Asia, many asians will come in contact with Whites or other races/nationalities that carry their negative beliefs that they will pass on. And unfortanitly(sp) they will take it at face value.
citizen k :bravo: :bravo: Thanks for standing up for that lady in Costco. It may not change them, but it may have them thinking, which is the first step to change.
Matchstick man:
I don’t think it’s they may think you will steal something as I have encountered this-well all the time. And I first admit, that with my "they out to get the black woman’ chip on my shoulder, I thought this too. But I think what it may be on occation, is that that is the way customer service is done here. Hoover over the person, invade the space to get that sale. Also, I think it may be some personal curiousity on their part. Wa!! What is the waiguoren gonna buy. Wa!! They can understand what that product is. Wa!!!. This is what I came to once I got past my chip. 
If some shopgirl came at me with a vacuum cleaner I’d damn straight take my custom elsewhere. (It’s a Brit thang 
)
If some shopgirl came at me with a vacuum cleaner I’d damn straight take my custom elsewhere. (It’s a Brit thang )[/quote]
HOVER HOVER!!!Damm it, I’m getting pissed at my misspellings :fume: :fume:
Well I’ve been to many an electronics or hardware store where the staff just ignore me. 
I think most of this is because they assume communicating is going to be difficult. 
But I’ve seen the staff also ignore locals as well. 
Sometimes also the staff also don’t understand the products they are retailing due to high turnover rates.
I was with another forumosan and we went to a 3c shop to buy some audio video splitters. The staff ignored me until I spoke to him in Chinese. But then he didnt really know the product I was after anyways. He just told us they didn’t stock it. We went up to the second floor and found what we were looking for.
The staff didn’t know what it was called in Chinese or English and he had to learn what it was in Chinese from 2 foreigners lol.
I don’t. Taiwanese can be as prejudiced as anyone else. Blaming it on foriegn influence is a cop out.
I don’t. Taiwanese can be as prejudiced as anyone else. Blaming it on foreign influence is a cop out.[/quote]
How is it a cop out if you know that most of your beliefs are based on what has been indoctrinated from abroad? Yea they have their hang ups as everyone else,but if they are being re-enforced by outsider points of view, then is this still a cop out? I see this thread dying really quick…
Yup. I think it took me about ten years of living around Asian people pretty constantly to understand how entirely irrelevant our (the west"s) influence really is.
Yup. I think it took me about ten years of living around Asian people pretty constantly to understand how entirely irrelevant our (the west"s) influence really is.[/quote]
In that case, whew, there’s alot to be said for what goes on here. 
I assume you mean in this forum, so yes, Whew! what a load of nonsense some people here spiel about changing local attitudes. If anything from the west has shaped local attitudes here it is television and movies and even there it has hardly been an “indoctrination” process.
Are you sure? Pretty crass, given the fact that blacks in Asia is a more recent phenoma than official discuragement of racism is in the west. Traditionally, there would not be all that many blacks here - so the average Chinese or Thai would be more or less unaware that they actually was anything else than a drawing in a book.
OK, let’s see at racism in China:
simonworld.mu.nu/archives/076861.php
The source is here - note that there was major parts of this I would not dare to quote, as it would be against the rules.
Also, you might believe that those attitudes are not as common among very well educated people. Unfortunately not, as the student unrest which culminated on tiananmen square June 4 1989 actually started as anti-black riots.
In China, until well into the 1990’s the only images the average Chinese person would see of black people were the ones showing heroic Chinese aid workers handing out food packets and building railroads in Africa.
The chinese also took in a fair number of African exchange students, but they were kept more or less under curfew until the late 1980’s. However, in general the African students coming to China were in general from the well off parts of African society - and on decent scholarship packages (Decent for China, that is). As they gained additional freedoms in China, the African exchange students would start to spend more, get local Chinese girlfriends etc…
The average Chinese male student became somewhat flustered over this. he knew tht all africans were poor - the infallible party had been spoon-feeding him with images of starving africans his whole childhood, so what did those Africans think to go around, spend wads of cash (according to his admittedly meager yardstick) and then get a local girl to bed.
OK, the chinese male students got flustered and attacked the African dorm, throwing rocks and hurting a few African students rather badly.
It was a topic our professor touched upon while in university - I think it happened at Nankai University in 1988, but I don’t have the actual source.
Also, in general, it’s black bad, white good here - a dark Chinese will also be picked upon, and that has nothing to do with the white in Asia giving them a bad name.
Most of our beliefs, any person’s beliefs, are the result of indoctrination from outside sources - parents, peers, school, society. It’s a cop-out to blame your racism on what you see on television, or what you were taught by others. “Yeah, my old man was a bigot, so I can’t help being a bigot, too.” Ultimately you are responsible for your own beliefs, unless you are still a child. That’s part of what adulthood is all about.
Truer words were never spoken - especially when you are talking about people encouraged to think by themselves at a early age. Sadly, that’s not really the case in China, and to some extent here.
It’s not just racism against foreign un-yellow colored folks. Many are racist against Aboriginals and any Asian who is naturally dark (South Asians excepted). It’s SK II’s fault.
Some of asian perception of Blacks come from contact with USA military and popular mass media.
It only compounds the problem of racial bias against those that aren’t asian to begin with.
The solution in my opinion is to get a positive stereotype character played by a Black actor on Chinese TV.
Bingo.
That and god knows what else it is makes people so god damned dumb.
Yeah? And the solution to my big, fat, bald head would be?
Yeah? And the solution to my big, fat, bald head would be?[/quote]
…tooo deep throat a Winchester Defender.