Africans in Beijing Speak out About Discrimination in Guangzhou
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Just days after a widely-shared China Daily op-ed garnered attention for its Chinese author telling foreigners that discrimination against them in China is, "in general," a figment of their imaginations, discrimination against black and African foreigners in Guangzhou became so bad that even a McDonald’s in that city began touting a sign stating that "black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant."
A video posted on Twitter reveals that McDonald's in Guangzhou has is refusing black customers
As of Monday, McDonald's corporate had stepped in, apologizing for the incident and closing down the offending restaurant for half a day for diversity and inclusion training – a move nearly identical to a decision made by Starbucks in the US following a racist incident in one of their stores in 2018, except that the coffee giant went as far as to shut down all of their stores at the time.
Though an international brand participating in discrimination demonstrates just how widespread that discrimination has become, it is hardly the most extreme example in the city. Just a few days prior, Africans were reportedly evicted en masse from their apartments in Guangzhou, which is home to the largest community of Africans in China. Many evictees were forced to sleep on the street.
These cases are apparently rooted in the fear that business travelers might have spread COVID-19 to African communities, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of imported cases have not been from foreigners at all, but from returning Chinese citizens.
The problem is fortunately not as severe in Beijing, but African community leaders in the capital have expressed solidarity with African residents of Guangzhou, and soundly admonished the discriminatory practices."I am obviously gutted," said one Kenyan woman, who spoke to the Beijinger on the condition of anonymity, and who works in media in Beijing. "For so many years, many of us Africans have called China our second home. We pay taxes and contribute to the Chinese economy, but to see black people being targeted like that – it makes me really angry." She went on to say that plastic statements of equality simply will not cut it while real discrimination is happening.
Moreover, some black residents of Beijing have felt the reverb from Guangzhou in a very real sense. Another Kenyan woman told the Beijinger that the neighborhood guards at her Shunyi apartment complex informed her that "people of [her] color" were sick [with the coronavirus] if they were coming from Guangzhou. "The comment was irritating," she said, "because I was not even aware of what was going on in the south at that time." The woman was also asked to vacate her apartment by her landlord who stated that they wished to repossess the property. The tenant added that she is not sure whether the request is racially motivated.
Meanwhile, a black American living in Beijing, who also wished to remain anonymous, reported that he was harassed while waiting outside of a police station to register his new residence after moving. "This woman came up to me and started asking where I was from, but when I got up to answer her she started saying, 'Keep away! Keep away!'"Beijing-based Zimbabwean activist and educator Samantha Sibanda speaks out about the discrimination that Africans face in China
Not everyone is surprised by these stories popping up in a crisis. Samantha Sibanda, founder of the Appreciate Africa Network in Beijing, has dedicated her time to changing perspectives on Africans and recognizing Africans in China who do great things, and has already spent an entire weekend back in 2017 meeting with photographers of an exhibit at the Hubei Provincial Museum that compared African people to animals. "The things that are happening now that you see in the news are the same things I have seen happening to Africans in China for years now," she tells the Beijinger.
For Sibanda, the coverage coming out of Guangzhou is not an opportunity to draw attention to that discrimination, but yet another way in which mass media is training people to see Africans. "You see pictures of Africans sleeping outside – now this is the picture of Africans in China. It's just like when they write about Africa, they show pictures of children with flies in their mouths to say 'this is Africa.' Where is the good Africa?"READ: "To All Young Graduates, Do Not Forget That Africa Needs Us''
Images: CGTN (via YouTube), Black Livity in China (via Twitter), China Daily
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