MarshalStealth
09-26-2009, 07:09 PM
Human nature at its worst.
Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009
Can a Mixed-Race Contestant Become a Chinese Idol?
By Simon Elegant and Chengcheng Jiang
In many ways, Lou Jing is a typical young woman from Shanghai. Pretty and confident, she speaks Mandarin heavily accented with the lilting tones of the Shanghai dialect and browses the malls of this huge city for the latest fashions.
But there is one thing that distinguishes this 20-year-old from her peers, something that has made her the unwitting focus of an intense public debate about what exactly it means to be Chinese: the color of her skin. Born to a Chinese mother and an African-American father whom she has never met, the theater student rocketed into the public consciousness last month when she took part in an American Idol–esque TV show, Go! Oriental Angel. (See pictures of modern Shanghai.)
The marketing gurus for the series could hardly have dreamed of a better promotional gimmick when they started to investigate the backgrounds of the dozens of pop-star wannabes to root out the competitors' mushy stories of triumph over adversity that are a well-worn staple of the genre. Here was a tale guaranteed to attract eyeballs: a girl of mixed race, brought up by a single Chinese mother, struggling to gain acceptance in a deeply conservative, some would say racist, society.
The strategy worked — perhaps too well. In August, Lou's appearance on the show not only boosted viewer numbers but also sparked an intense nationwide debate about the essential meaning of being Chinese. Over the past month on Internet chat rooms, where modern China's sensitive issues are thrashed out by netizens long before they reach the heavily censored mainstream media, Lou's ethnicity has been the subject of a relentless barrage of criticism, some of it crudely racist. Many think she should not have been allowed to compete on a Chinese show, or at least not selected to represent Shanghai in the national competition. She doesn't have fair skin, which is one of the most important factors for Chinese beauty. What's more, her mother and her biological father were never married; morally, the argument goes, this kind of behavior shouldn't be publicized, so she shouldn't have been put on TV as a young "idol."
These kinds of posts on the most popular chat rooms have attracted thousands of comments. A few have been supportive of Lou, but the rest range from expressions of fear and ignorance to outright racism. One of the most popular posts about Lou Jing on the KDS Life forum asked in mock seriousness, "Is it possible that she is Obama's daughter?" Another poster said, "I can't believe she's so shameless that she would go on TV." Most of the critics are agreed on one point: that this black woman cannot be regarded as a "real" Chinese.
As recently as the 1970s, foreigners were largely barred from living in China, let alone marrying a local. China does not easily accept mixed-race children as true-blooded Chinese: as soon as a child is born, the parents are required to register with the authorities as to which of the 56 government-approved ethnic groups their child belongs; there are no mixed-race categories. Lou feels she is very much Chinese. "When I meet somebody for the first time, they'd often ask me how I can speak Chinese so well, and I tell them, 'Because I'm a Chinese — of course I can speak my mother tongue well,' " Lou says defiantly. "I don't like to be treated differently."
As China undergoes an astonishing demographic shift and more foreigners make their homes in the Middle Kingdom, Lou is by no means the only one being treated differently. Recent decades have seen a surge in the number of mixed-race couples. According to the data offered by Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, from 1994 to 2008, each year there have been about 3,000 more mixed-race marriages in Shanghai. But as the children of that first generation of mixed-race marriages come of age, their moves to gain acceptance in society — like Lou's participation in the TV show — have exposed a deep-running vein of xenophobia in Chinese society. Last year, Ding Hui, a young man of African-Chinese ethnicity, caused a stir when he was called up to the national volleyball team, prompting much soul-searching about whether the athlete should be allowed to represent China alongside pure-blooded Chinese competitors. Eventually, Ding Hui did go on to play for the national team.
"As China continues to open up, this kind of phenomenon will become ever more prevalent," says David Zweig, a professor of humanities and social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "This is part of the process of internationalization, but we can only hope that Chinese people, including netizens and the people whose views tend towards extremism, can come to accept that there are many mixed-race people, both in China and worldwide."
As for Lou, she found the whole experience more than a little disturbing. She did well in the show, ranking in the top 30 contestants before she was eliminated. Now she's back to her normal life as a college junior — with a little new insight into her home. "Through this competition, it's really scary to find out how the color of my skin can cause such a big controversy."
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
See the Cartoons of the Week.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1925589,00.html
Shanghai Black Girl Lou Jing
September 1st, 2009 by Key | Posted in Life Style, News | 100 Comments »
Participating in the competition reality show “Let’s Go! Oriental Angels” (加油！东方天使) on Dragon TV, Lou Jing (娄婧) recently became popular on the Chinese internet because of the brutal comments and attacks online over her ethnic background and her skin color.
Lou Jing and her mother showed up on the “Let’s Go! Oriental Angels” program and told the viewers their story. After Lou Jing’s mother was married, she had sex with a black man. The black man returned back to the United States, left Lou Jing’s mother pregnant with her. After Lou Jing was born, mother divorced the original husband, alone raising this special girl. Lou Jing also expressed that the person she loves the most in her whole life is her mother. Because of Lou Jing’s birth story, soon after she and her mother were viciously insulted by the netizens all over the country.
Ever since Lou Jing made it to the top five in Shanghai district of the competition, Netizens never stopped debating over her, as she further advanced in the competition, netizens’ voices were more and more extreme. As early as August 10th a netizen named “宅男爸爸” wrote a post with the title “Posting a boring post, is it possible Lou Jing’s father is Obama?” on KDS. In this post, he endlessly mocked, made fun of Lou Jing. Soon after, more and more netizens jumped on the bandwagon of “cursing Lou Jing”. (This post is now deleted)
On August 28th, netizens’ debate over Lou Jing’s controversy grew more intensely. A netizen named “朕爱天下” posted a post with the title “Lou Jing’s American Black Father and Shanghai Mother”, attracted over 100,000 views. Many netizens viciously insulted Lou Jing’s mother in the post comments, of course others were outraged by the racist and ignorant comments, fighting back to protect Lou Jing and her mother. Below is the translation of this post and selected comments.
After Lou Jing’s mother was married, she had sexual relation with a black man. The black man went back to the United States, leaving Lou Jing’s mother with the unborn child. After Lou Jing was born, her mother got a divorce. But Lou Jing’s story did not end with her performance; her black skin became everyone’s focus. Lou Jing and her mother for the first time publicly responded to this sensitive topic. Lou Jing’s mother is from Shanghai, father is a black American. Later his father left them and never returned. Lou Jing at a young age lived in a single parent family without a father. Lou Jing is a lovely and well-behaved mother’s girl. She is always optimistic and has a positive attitude towards other’s questionable looks. Lou Jing grew up with ups and downs missing her father’s love, but was never lack of family love. Even though Lou Jing was strong, when facing her mother on stage, she shed tears of both happiness and bitterness. “Whatever dad could have taught me, mom already taught me, and she taught me better.” Tears of both happiness and bitterness are the warmth between mother and daughter and the hardships of their lives. And only they can understand each other.
Host Dai Jun (戴军) was touched by Jing Lou’s optimism. When he learned Lou Jing has the wish of finding her father, he encouraged her to look for her father, to find the missing fatherly love in her life. The headmaster of the program Chen Rong (陈蓉) also at the scene called for everybody to help her to make her dream come true.
This show not only had excellent performance, but also told the unforgettable story. “Chocolate” girl Lou Jing’s skin color lets people mistaken her for a foreigner. In fact, she is an outright Shanghai girl, and she speaks fluent Shanghai dialect. On the stage, studying under “the Yue Prince” Zhao Zhigang (赵志刚), Jing Lou sang a classic Shanghai opera piece (a famous sense from the novel “Dream of the Red Chamber”). Teacher Zhao carefully prepared her before the competition, also confidently vowed “ I must teach her well.” The strict master produced outstanding student, Lou Jing defeated Dang Tian (唐甜), the girl from Xian going to the finals. Lou Jing not only has great talent, but also has the looks of a model. Her fashion shoot by “Mina” magazine was appraised as “the best of in class of Shanghai”.
Selected Comments:
Shanghai people’s value plunges.
A bastard, brought her out to show off because of the foreigner descent.
The girl is ok, her mom is a whore, married and still mess around with black guy, maybe it’s the great “love”, it’s a pity the black guy was just playing her, Chinese girls please have some self-respect.
Her mother still has the face to go on stage, she is shameless, and this kind of thing is definitely scandals you should keep in the family. She still dares to go on stage, maybe she does not feel ashamed, instead feels proud.
Is this the legend of the bastard? And an unwanted bastard, Her mother is a shameless woman, pregnant by a black guy, and then abandoned, was it good when he was pleasing you? Still obsessed with him after several decades? Not feel ashamed, even go on TV to look, looking for what? Looking for lost big XX? Looking for climax never had again? Shameless! Why are Shanghai women always the target of criticism? It’s because of shameless bitch like her!
Dragon TV please help this bastard find her family. Let the black father with a big XX hurry back, address this old woman’s needs!
Black Dad, come back soon! Someone cannot forget your big XX.
This woman has no sense of shame, married and you cheat, give birth to a black kid so there is no way to hide, if wasn’t for that her husband will have to raise their children. Cheap is the word, in order to run with a foreigner, even do with black people.
There are countless comments like above with only a few neutral comments, but mainly saying it’s not the girls fault…
Why all people in here are like this? What kind of world is this!!!!
Her mother, I don’t know. But everyone is discriminate against blacks? If her father is white, what will you say then?
People, please be kind, girl herself is not wrong. Why can’t she go on TV? F* that, I cannot help but to curse. I think even she is a little dark, but very cute~
You guys are a group of twisted people.
Lou Jing wrote a post “I am Lou Jing from ‘Oriental Angles’, I am making an announcement here” on KDS on August 30th
1. My father is an American, not African
2. I am a native Shanghainese
3. Parents’ fault I should not be responsible for, I am innocent!
4. Solemnly Protest against acts of racial discrimination by some of you, my skin color should not be the target of attacks! I will retain the right to take legal actions!
http://www.chinahush.com/2009/09/01/shanghai-black-girl-lou-jing/
* Pictures of Lou Jing
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/ShanghaiGirl2.jpg
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/shanghainese-luo-jing-fancy-dress-280x373.jpg
http://www.chinahush.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/20090901blackgirl02.jpg
Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009
Can a Mixed-Race Contestant Become a Chinese Idol?
By Simon Elegant and Chengcheng Jiang
In many ways, Lou Jing is a typical young woman from Shanghai. Pretty and confident, she speaks Mandarin heavily accented with the lilting tones of the Shanghai dialect and browses the malls of this huge city for the latest fashions.
But there is one thing that distinguishes this 20-year-old from her peers, something that has made her the unwitting focus of an intense public debate about what exactly it means to be Chinese: the color of her skin. Born to a Chinese mother and an African-American father whom she has never met, the theater student rocketed into the public consciousness last month when she took part in an American Idol–esque TV show, Go! Oriental Angel. (See pictures of modern Shanghai.)
The marketing gurus for the series could hardly have dreamed of a better promotional gimmick when they started to investigate the backgrounds of the dozens of pop-star wannabes to root out the competitors' mushy stories of triumph over adversity that are a well-worn staple of the genre. Here was a tale guaranteed to attract eyeballs: a girl of mixed race, brought up by a single Chinese mother, struggling to gain acceptance in a deeply conservative, some would say racist, society.
The strategy worked — perhaps too well. In August, Lou's appearance on the show not only boosted viewer numbers but also sparked an intense nationwide debate about the essential meaning of being Chinese. Over the past month on Internet chat rooms, where modern China's sensitive issues are thrashed out by netizens long before they reach the heavily censored mainstream media, Lou's ethnicity has been the subject of a relentless barrage of criticism, some of it crudely racist. Many think she should not have been allowed to compete on a Chinese show, or at least not selected to represent Shanghai in the national competition. She doesn't have fair skin, which is one of the most important factors for Chinese beauty. What's more, her mother and her biological father were never married; morally, the argument goes, this kind of behavior shouldn't be publicized, so she shouldn't have been put on TV as a young "idol."
These kinds of posts on the most popular chat rooms have attracted thousands of comments. A few have been supportive of Lou, but the rest range from expressions of fear and ignorance to outright racism. One of the most popular posts about Lou Jing on the KDS Life forum asked in mock seriousness, "Is it possible that she is Obama's daughter?" Another poster said, "I can't believe she's so shameless that she would go on TV." Most of the critics are agreed on one point: that this black woman cannot be regarded as a "real" Chinese.
As recently as the 1970s, foreigners were largely barred from living in China, let alone marrying a local. China does not easily accept mixed-race children as true-blooded Chinese: as soon as a child is born, the parents are required to register with the authorities as to which of the 56 government-approved ethnic groups their child belongs; there are no mixed-race categories. Lou feels she is very much Chinese. "When I meet somebody for the first time, they'd often ask me how I can speak Chinese so well, and I tell them, 'Because I'm a Chinese — of course I can speak my mother tongue well,' " Lou says defiantly. "I don't like to be treated differently."
As China undergoes an astonishing demographic shift and more foreigners make their homes in the Middle Kingdom, Lou is by no means the only one being treated differently. Recent decades have seen a surge in the number of mixed-race couples. According to the data offered by Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, from 1994 to 2008, each year there have been about 3,000 more mixed-race marriages in Shanghai. But as the children of that first generation of mixed-race marriages come of age, their moves to gain acceptance in society — like Lou's participation in the TV show — have exposed a deep-running vein of xenophobia in Chinese society. Last year, Ding Hui, a young man of African-Chinese ethnicity, caused a stir when he was called up to the national volleyball team, prompting much soul-searching about whether the athlete should be allowed to represent China alongside pure-blooded Chinese competitors. Eventually, Ding Hui did go on to play for the national team.
"As China continues to open up, this kind of phenomenon will become ever more prevalent," says David Zweig, a professor of humanities and social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "This is part of the process of internationalization, but we can only hope that Chinese people, including netizens and the people whose views tend towards extremism, can come to accept that there are many mixed-race people, both in China and worldwide."
As for Lou, she found the whole experience more than a little disturbing. She did well in the show, ranking in the top 30 contestants before she was eliminated. Now she's back to her normal life as a college junior — with a little new insight into her home. "Through this competition, it's really scary to find out how the color of my skin can cause such a big controversy."
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
See the Cartoons of the Week.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1925589,00.html
Shanghai Black Girl Lou Jing
September 1st, 2009 by Key | Posted in Life Style, News | 100 Comments »
Participating in the competition reality show “Let’s Go! Oriental Angels” (加油！东方天使) on Dragon TV, Lou Jing (娄婧) recently became popular on the Chinese internet because of the brutal comments and attacks online over her ethnic background and her skin color.
Lou Jing and her mother showed up on the “Let’s Go! Oriental Angels” program and told the viewers their story. After Lou Jing’s mother was married, she had sex with a black man. The black man returned back to the United States, left Lou Jing’s mother pregnant with her. After Lou Jing was born, mother divorced the original husband, alone raising this special girl. Lou Jing also expressed that the person she loves the most in her whole life is her mother. Because of Lou Jing’s birth story, soon after she and her mother were viciously insulted by the netizens all over the country.
Ever since Lou Jing made it to the top five in Shanghai district of the competition, Netizens never stopped debating over her, as she further advanced in the competition, netizens’ voices were more and more extreme. As early as August 10th a netizen named “宅男爸爸” wrote a post with the title “Posting a boring post, is it possible Lou Jing’s father is Obama?” on KDS. In this post, he endlessly mocked, made fun of Lou Jing. Soon after, more and more netizens jumped on the bandwagon of “cursing Lou Jing”. (This post is now deleted)
On August 28th, netizens’ debate over Lou Jing’s controversy grew more intensely. A netizen named “朕爱天下” posted a post with the title “Lou Jing’s American Black Father and Shanghai Mother”, attracted over 100,000 views. Many netizens viciously insulted Lou Jing’s mother in the post comments, of course others were outraged by the racist and ignorant comments, fighting back to protect Lou Jing and her mother. Below is the translation of this post and selected comments.
After Lou Jing’s mother was married, she had sexual relation with a black man. The black man went back to the United States, leaving Lou Jing’s mother with the unborn child. After Lou Jing was born, her mother got a divorce. But Lou Jing’s story did not end with her performance; her black skin became everyone’s focus. Lou Jing and her mother for the first time publicly responded to this sensitive topic. Lou Jing’s mother is from Shanghai, father is a black American. Later his father left them and never returned. Lou Jing at a young age lived in a single parent family without a father. Lou Jing is a lovely and well-behaved mother’s girl. She is always optimistic and has a positive attitude towards other’s questionable looks. Lou Jing grew up with ups and downs missing her father’s love, but was never lack of family love. Even though Lou Jing was strong, when facing her mother on stage, she shed tears of both happiness and bitterness. “Whatever dad could have taught me, mom already taught me, and she taught me better.” Tears of both happiness and bitterness are the warmth between mother and daughter and the hardships of their lives. And only they can understand each other.
Host Dai Jun (戴军) was touched by Jing Lou’s optimism. When he learned Lou Jing has the wish of finding her father, he encouraged her to look for her father, to find the missing fatherly love in her life. The headmaster of the program Chen Rong (陈蓉) also at the scene called for everybody to help her to make her dream come true.
This show not only had excellent performance, but also told the unforgettable story. “Chocolate” girl Lou Jing’s skin color lets people mistaken her for a foreigner. In fact, she is an outright Shanghai girl, and she speaks fluent Shanghai dialect. On the stage, studying under “the Yue Prince” Zhao Zhigang (赵志刚), Jing Lou sang a classic Shanghai opera piece (a famous sense from the novel “Dream of the Red Chamber”). Teacher Zhao carefully prepared her before the competition, also confidently vowed “ I must teach her well.” The strict master produced outstanding student, Lou Jing defeated Dang Tian (唐甜), the girl from Xian going to the finals. Lou Jing not only has great talent, but also has the looks of a model. Her fashion shoot by “Mina” magazine was appraised as “the best of in class of Shanghai”.
Selected Comments:
Shanghai people’s value plunges.
A bastard, brought her out to show off because of the foreigner descent.
The girl is ok, her mom is a whore, married and still mess around with black guy, maybe it’s the great “love”, it’s a pity the black guy was just playing her, Chinese girls please have some self-respect.
Her mother still has the face to go on stage, she is shameless, and this kind of thing is definitely scandals you should keep in the family. She still dares to go on stage, maybe she does not feel ashamed, instead feels proud.
Is this the legend of the bastard? And an unwanted bastard, Her mother is a shameless woman, pregnant by a black guy, and then abandoned, was it good when he was pleasing you? Still obsessed with him after several decades? Not feel ashamed, even go on TV to look, looking for what? Looking for lost big XX? Looking for climax never had again? Shameless! Why are Shanghai women always the target of criticism? It’s because of shameless bitch like her!
Dragon TV please help this bastard find her family. Let the black father with a big XX hurry back, address this old woman’s needs!
Black Dad, come back soon! Someone cannot forget your big XX.
This woman has no sense of shame, married and you cheat, give birth to a black kid so there is no way to hide, if wasn’t for that her husband will have to raise their children. Cheap is the word, in order to run with a foreigner, even do with black people.
There are countless comments like above with only a few neutral comments, but mainly saying it’s not the girls fault…
Why all people in here are like this? What kind of world is this!!!!
Her mother, I don’t know. But everyone is discriminate against blacks? If her father is white, what will you say then?
People, please be kind, girl herself is not wrong. Why can’t she go on TV? F* that, I cannot help but to curse. I think even she is a little dark, but very cute~
You guys are a group of twisted people.
Lou Jing wrote a post “I am Lou Jing from ‘Oriental Angles’, I am making an announcement here” on KDS on August 30th
1. My father is an American, not African
2. I am a native Shanghainese
3. Parents’ fault I should not be responsible for, I am innocent!
4. Solemnly Protest against acts of racial discrimination by some of you, my skin color should not be the target of attacks! I will retain the right to take legal actions!
http://www.chinahush.com/2009/09/01/shanghai-black-girl-lou-jing/
* Pictures of Lou Jing
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/ShanghaiGirl2.jpg
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/shanghainese-luo-jing-fancy-dress-280x373.jpg
http://www.chinahush.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/20090901blackgirl02.jpg