Political correctness and being self aware about how one labels and describes a particular group or class of people is a trait that takes most societies a considerable amount of time and discipline to master. Americans have come a long way since the days when the "N" word was casually spoken, when women were told to stay in the kitchen, and when newspapers talked about Chinese coolies like they were lesser humans. Our society still suffers from discrimination, narrow-mindedness, and bigotry that festers in the minds of the less educated and ignorant - you'll be surprised how ill informed and hateful many 21st-century Americans are - but despite this, because mainstream media find its way into every facet of our lives, most of us are at least aware of what is socially acceptable and what is not. A country boy from Wyoming might hate homosexuals but unless he's some religious fanatic, he'll probably not casually advertise his prejudice views on national television. No restaurant in New York will advertise the fact that they don't want to serve Puerto Ricans - although a troubled restaurant manager may genuinely dislike Puerto Ricans, he is still aware of the social backlash from his political incorrectness and blatant discrimination.
Where am I going with this? I just want to bring light to some of the absurdities that I have heard and seen in China, even within the intellectual crowd. Its not the blind hate that's most shocking (the US has plenty of that) but the incredibly immature reasoning that they use to judge people which shows their lack of education and exposure to different peoples, cultures, and lifestyles - like when toddlers speak their mind.
For example, I have been told by a pair of waitresses that they dislike African men people because their skin looks dirty. I have been told by government workers that China does not have any gays. I have walked into bars with signs on the front that say, ribenren bu rang jin, No Japanese Allowed. I have been told by my teacher that beggars are a pathetic people. I have had taxi drivers openly tell me that their wife is a sanba, an idiot housewife.
Perhaps I am spoiled, naive, an American suburban-raised college graduate who was to young to remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Perhaps China is a just a developing country with developing thoughts and views and they don't know any better. But with the cities modernizing and developing their economies and infrastructures at rapid speeds, will education and open thought be able to catch up - or will it be many more decades before we see pluralism in China?
Here is an advert I saw on the subway for a mobile phone game, and yes, those are Arab men throwing bombs.
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