<p>Hi i'm an international student from Hong Kong planning to study in the US. I have heard, from a lot of my american friends that there tends to be quite a lot of racism towards Chinese people in the states. Now i know there is definitely racism, but i was wondering how serious it is?</p>
<p>I’ve lived in the US as a Chinese American for 10 years and the racism honestly isn’t too bad. It usually in the form of stereotypes. But honestly, which race doesn’t get its fair share of those. And not all the stereotypes are bad i.e. being intellegent and hardworking. </p>
<p>As for discrimination, I rarely see it, although that might just be because I’m just a student and haven’t entered the “real world” yet. Maybe someone with more work experience can give you input.</p>
<p>Anyways, my two cents is that some racism is bound to occur anywhere where you are the minority. In the US, its just a minor inconvience and unless you are interacting with bigots, you shouldn’t even notice. People you’ll most likely surround yourself with, degree holding educated people, are even less likely to express racism. </p>
<p>Sent from my HTC Vision using CC</p>
<p>there’s definitely discrimination in the US, but very little of it is geared towards Chinese people. of course, it also depends on the area you’re planning on going to</p>
<p>@stressedouttt</p>
<p>Who are they geared towards? I will be at major states i.e. California and various places in the east cost. However, during my uni life, i would like to travel around the US</p>
<p>You’ll be fine. Stereotypes, yes. Racism, not very common among those that are younger, smart, etc. which you’ll probably be surrounded by as you attend school in the US.</p>
<p>Just stay away from the South. (Jk, I don’t really know about the South. I just know racism is more prominent there.)</p>
<p>I’m African-American, and I’m telling you that it really isn’t anything to be afraid of lol…</p>
<p>I haven’t really seen any major racism towards Chinese people… except maybe the “asian driver” stereotype…which even my Chinese friends say is true… (LOL)… </p>
<p>Whatever you do, if you want to integrate, please do not live in a Chinese or Asian enclave when you come here… I know far too many people who are insular and never get out, as a result they never see what American life is actually like…</p>
<p>
This bugs me because it implies that American life must necessarily consist of non-Asian activities, when in reality there is no one single “true” American “way-of-life” - though the media would like you to believe otherwise (and buy into the aforementioned way-of-life).</p>
<p>That being said, as an Asian born in California, most of the major urban areas in California have high Asian concentrations. That is also true for major urban areas in the East Coast, but to a lesser degree. Most other places, Asians can be quite uncommon to find.</p>
<p>I’d say there isn’t outright racism in urban areas - there really aren’t any common racial slurs against Asians, nor outright discrimination, but stereotypes are very pervasive, even in California. Spoken and unspoken stereotypes might include mostly being academically focused, nerdy, and socially awkward; mostly being something of a fetish (girls) or mostly being simply unattractive (guys); spending a lot of times playing video games (guys), etc. These stereotypes do affect how other people behave around Asians, I believe.</p>
<p>Overall, the situation is much better than that of other minorities, but not a perfect one either.</p>
<p>Honestly, there is a lot of prejudice towards Chinese people, but people from Hong Kong are obviously seen differently than people from mainland China. </p>
<p>Hong Kong is much more “westernized” than the mainland. To my knowledge, people in Hong Kong don’t smoke in elevators, don’t walk/run backwards, don’t blatantly cheat and might actually hold a door open for a pregnant woman pushing a stroller. Parents in Hong Kong also don’t encourage their children to urinate in the street. </p>
<p>Either way, if you make an effort to adapt to the culture and interact with people who are different than you, no one is going to give you a hard time. Also, don’t walk around with an umbrella in the sun. Buy sunblock if you are that concerned.</p>
<p>I would say that there is little racism toward Chinese people in most parts of the United States.</p>
<p>However, there are obviously exceptions.</p>
<p>I remember some asian girl on CC posted a message that she was in South Carolina, and a school bus with young kids went by, and the whole bus taunted her and yelled racial comments at her.</p>
<p>But at least in the big cities, I would think that you would have little problem.</p>
<p>Some stereotypes are inherently racist - they apply a generalization to perceived members of a race. </p>
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<p>To the OP: you’ll face prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, and racism in the US. It’s a fact of life. </p>
<p>The magnitude of the issues? I think it’s not very useful to characterize the magnitude of racism because some people take it in stride; they’ll laugh along with the stereotypes, while others might take them personally. Overall it probably won’t be a huge issue. Being able to take jokes is good. But being able to stand up to blatant and repeated attacks is similarly invaluable.</p>
<p>As an Asian American who’s moved all around the country (but lived predominantly on the pacific northwest region of the states), there is, without a doubt, racism and discrimination not just toward Asians but other ethnicity as well. Others have already pointed out, a lot of people tend to discriminate indirectly and unintentionally, through stereotypes. Some common stereotypes I’ve encountered are: All Asians are smart, awkward, and don’t know how to have fun; Asians can’t drive; etc. </p>
<p>It’s just a part of society, though, and it depends on who you interact with. Even in a liberal city as Seattle, I’ve encountered some very rude and prejudice people but that’s a few in a handful of people. Most people who tend to discriminate toward others tend to do so from the lack of education on social topics.</p>
<p>I have to admit, though, I get so annoyed when people come to and ask me: Hey, are you North or South Korean? Hmmm, I don’t know. Take a guess 
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<p>It’s the ugly truth, but discrimination is very prevalent all around the world. Just surround yourself around a diverse group of people, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. You’ll be surprised to find how many open-minded people are in this country. Also, don’t hesitate to meet people beyond urban areas. My most tolerable and intelligent friends happen to come from rural areas.</p>
<p>@angryelf: Yes, HK is more “westernized” but that doesn’t mean the rest of China is exactly how you describe them. My family is from the mainland originally and we don’t do any of that you have listed and am offended you would post something like that in a way that could be read as describing the country as a whole. </p>
<p>Honestly, not a lot of people here are racist and if they are they tend to only show it when they have their friends with them or are on the internet where they can totally hide themselves. Ignorance tends to travel in packs as I have noticed. </p>
<p>If you’re going to live in California I wouldn’t worry too much at all, it’s where me and my family lives and I haven’t faced anything of the sort personally. My father did face a bit of it when he first came here, but that was 20 years ago and even he says that America has changed a lot now. People are a lot more open than they used to be. </p>
<p>Stereotypes will always follow you no matter where you go, even separate cities within a country will stereotype people from another city, so we can’t really escape that. California is a state with a lot of different ethnicity within it, and a lot of Asians lives in Cali as well. I’m sure if you’re true to yourself and put yourself out there to make friends you’ll feel accepted in no time.</p>
<p>Good Luck and welcome.</p>
<p>@supergirl313 - I am first-generation Chinese-American. You say actions of some people cannot characterize a race, but some actions do symbolize the attitude of a society. Take, for instance, the news article about the baby being run over in southern China several months ago. Here’s the link if you’re interested: </p>
<p>[YueYue</a>, Chinese Toddler Run Over in Street and Ignored, Dies - ABC News](<a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/yueyue-chinese-toddler-run-over-in-street-and-ignored-dies/]YueYue”>YueYue, Chinese Toddler Run Over in Street and Ignored, Dies - ABC News)</p>
<p>The actions of the passersby (not one, mind you, but many) clearly show a flawed societal attitude. It’s an attitude of apathy and “mind your own business.” When I saw that article and video, I was ashamed of being Chinese. Could this have happened in America? One can only speculate, but here, at least the social attitude is not apathetic. Rather, it is sympathetic.</p>
<p>I am an Chinese American in the south (part of the US). As a southerner, there are not much racism, so you don’t really have to worry about it. Make sure to integrate to everyone, including people from the same place as yours. I am not trying to be a racist but I have been seeing some people from Hong Kong tend to stick with people that are not from the same place and dislike people from the same place. Please don’t do that.</p>
<p>There are some stereotypes toward Asian Americans…
- Hardworking
- Not assertive
- No leadership talent
- Have flat eyes (If you tell 100 people outside of your race to draw an Asian without flat eyes, 50 of them would draw him with a flat eye.)</p>
<p>Beta test if I can type Chinese here…
如果你看到這句, 即是…</p>
<p>Assertive 的意思是不害羞, 不兇惡, 及正面。</p>
<p>ptontiger16:
If you win a car in a casino, many Asians would not cheer for you because the fact that they did not win a car. There are many Americans (incl. Asians) would be happy for you, as they don’t care “mind your own business” doctrine.</p>
<p>There is a bias in the US against China. Most of it involves the poisonous products that have infected our country that originate in China. When one country appears to be importing spoiled food, poisoned pet food and baby formula and defective medical devices people do tend to get their backs up against the perceived offenders. </p>
<p>[DECKER</a> & TRIPLETT: China’s poisonous exports - Washington Times](<a href=“http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/15/chinas-poisonous-exports/]DECKER”>DECKER & TRIPLETT: China's poisonous exports - Washington Times)</p>
<p>^By your line of reasoning, we should also be extremely biased against Japan for importing those faulty, homicidal Toyotas.</p>
<p>I do not think there is racism at all toward Chinese on behalf of the white people. It is basically against white and Chinese. In admission, Hispanics and blacks are given priority. They can get in on far lessor standards. I find a certain amount of racism against me, as a white person, because I am white. I have a very very close friend who is half black and half white who has been on the receiving end of racism by other black people. I have brother married someone who is hispanic. But when we have family get togethers, the children from his inlaws (who are mostly hispanic) have verbally attacked my children for their race. </p>
<p>Many of my children’s friends, possibly more than half, are Asian. My daughter’s first boyfriend was Chinese. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I have helped. You can PM me if you wish. People do not like to admit that there would be racism against anyone who is not Hispanic or black, but most of the racism is directed toward white people or Asian. It is very politically incorrect to admit that.</p>
<p>I will add, in the north, (Minnesota is where I was) I never saw any racism at all, between any races. Now that I live in the south, I see a lot of hate running around. When a Hispanic person was appointed superintendent, the black people skipped school and took to the streets to riot. They made a lot of racist remarks and made it clear that they did not want anyone who was Hispanic to lead their schools. They declared she did not belong here. She was legal, that was not the issue. But, they just did not want someone who was Hispanic. </p>
<p>I am really only around educated people now. We have a lot of Asian in our circle. Racism just is not a part of the more educated groups. I am just saying…you are not likely going to find a problem with racism at the better schools.</p>
<p>ptontiger16:</p>
<p>I didn’t say we should be racist. Just that racism exists, and what the source of the racism is. The OP asked a legitimate question and I feel that many on this board are giving a very dishonest answer to the OP. </p>
<p>The truth is that all of these incidents have made a number of Americans distrustful of China. If the OP asked a question he/she deserves a real answer. The real answer is that not all Americans are racist against the Chinese but some are, and the basis of the racism is rooted in recent incidents where Chinese products have been found to be defective in a deadly sort of way.</p>
<p>Whether Americans SHOULD be racist against the Chinese is a completely different topic and should not cloud the OP’s post. I’m sorry if it offended your sensibilities but the OP asked a question and deserves an answer.</p>