Lao Wai in Reverse

Lao Wai in Reverse
juanisaac Jun 30, 2013 22:43

Writing about ethnicity and race is a tough subject for people in the United States and other parts of the world since you can always offend someone somehow. Immigration and interaction of different people bring debate if not outright strong emotions.

 

Universities in the United States offer degrees on subjects like Black Studies and Mexican-American Studies, for example. Europe itself struggles to balance nationalism with ethnicity as they deal with Muslim and African immigration issues. In Asia this is negligible as one is Japanese or not, or is Chinese or not. Korea was called the Hermit Kingdom since it tried not to deal with outsiders for much of its history. Japan closed itself off from the rest of the world until 1854. China has a 90% Han majority that outside of coastal towns and Central Asian trade routes had little or no contact with foreigners until recently.

 

In China if one is a foreigner they are most likely called first Lao Wai, loosely translated as foreigner, and second an American. Canadians, French, Spaniards, Chileans, white South Africans, Irish, and others with Caucasian features are called Americans; they are the "other Americans." Some non-Americans get offended and explain where they are from, while most just accept the fact. Looking at the other side of the coin, a similar mistaken identity exists in Latin America. If one has Oriental features, one will be labeled as “Chinese” no matter what part of East Asia they are from.

 

Alberto Fujimori former President of Peru, el Chinito source:http://www.sitiosargentina.com.ar photographer unknown

Japanese, Koreans, Cambodians, Vietnamese etc. are often called Chinese, Chino in Spanish or the friendly diminutive of el Chinito, the "little Chinese person." One of the most famous examples of this label is Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru. He is second generation Peruvian of Japanese descent.

 

The media and Fujimori himself referred to his person as el Chinito. Certain cities in Mexico like Manzanillo and Mexico City have residents from Korea and Japan, and more often than not these people are referred to as Chinese, or Chinos and Chinitos.

 

I witnessed this at a semi-professional soccer match in California where a forward from Korean parentage surnamed Park was referred to by the fans as el Chinito. Throughout the match fans kept yelling in Spanish "pass it to Chinese" or "the Chinese is open." After I explained where the player was from, some of the fans said, "He looks Chinese to me."

 

The reason for these cases is that for people in Latin America, China is the biggest point of reference to catalogue people. Since China is one of the largest countries in the world, and the second biggest in Asia behind Russia, Latin Americans refer to oriental featured people as Chinese. The United States has a powerful cultural projection around the world and is another large point of reference in China. A look is what suffices for many, even though a further observation of other features and the sound of the language may provide further clues.

 

In China, Caucasian features render one as an American and darker features as one from Africa. Today, though, many countries have mixed populations and anyone with any features can come from anywhere.

 

Mr. Wang Fei on vacation in China. Photo by Wang Zuo Chuan

Wang Fei is a Chinese born trader who works in Ecuador. He speaks fluent Spanish and deals with local people and people from other Asian countries like South Korea and Japan.

 

As a foreigner in Ecuador, he is known by two names: Adriano his Spanish name, and el Chino- the Chinese man. However, Wang can attest that the Japanese and South Koreans in Ecuador are also called Chinos. With Wang Fei the label is correct, while with the other Asians it is incorrect.

 

Outside of neighbors that have more cultural and ethnic similarities, China and Latin America have more of a history of dealing with the Europeans than each other. Even though Latin American has a longer history of racial mixing, it has had less interaction with the Far East. Yet these stereotypes in both China and Latin America will take a long time to disappear, if ever.

 

The people at the soccer match will keep referring to the Korean forward as the el Chinito in Spanish, and the Chinese to foreigners either Lao Wai or "Americans." The "other Americans" in China and the "other Chinese" in Latin America can commiserate with each other.

 

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3 Comments

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Riskytee

I partly agree with what the writer said but i believe that if we are to learn well and correct ourselves from being the dark hearted beings we have transformed into. The whole world could avoid all these little mistakes and live among each other peacefully and happily. I as an example was born from a place where i would never make any silly mistake to point one to where i see his or her appearance looked like. We have been taught well enough to know thats very offensive. I grew up to see my granny looking fair as an European and i remembered asking my mum if really that was her mum, lol. And she said yes and explained to me why she looks different. Then later before i completed my basic education, i have already been taught how manners can affect and hurt! i would and can never refer to one as anywhere until i greet and ask politely where he or she is from! Thats the right way! Thats how its done! I wouldnt like to talk much about this here except to say if we can learn and stick well to what we learnt, then there wouldnt be an excuse and need for all those explanations. I have been in China for almost 10yrs and had seen what happens to and between different races when they are referred to different origins due to their appearances. Somebody should tell me how a Chinese feels when called or referred as a Japanese or an American(USA) a Canadian or a black American (USA) called an African! Hell will break loose. But see what happens when reversed, a black African an American, a Canadian an American, a Japanese a Chinese! See the smile one could find of their faces! So in short good manners can heal and plant happiness. So let us learn to grow!

Jul 09, 2013 12:51 Report Abuse

WCG

Well one things for sure, because China has such a large population, if you don't know where the Asian person is from, China is statistically a safe bet.

Jul 03, 2013 08:46 Report Abuse

flyingheart

There are large populations of Uighurs and Huis and Kazakhs in where we live. They are considered "minorities" in China but somehow dominate some areas of our Northwestern region. Interestingly, we Han people still call anyone that looks different Lao Wei Zu (old Uighur) or Lao Hui Hui (old Hui) and take secret pride in being a much more civilized majority. These terms are not necessarily offensive but nevertheless indicative of how ignorant we humans can be. Maybe such ignorance stems from our desire to maintain our national or racial attributes - and from the lack of a global insight which the author of this blog tries to infuse into his readers.

Jul 02, 2013 14:16 Report Abuse