So what if I know more about dangling participles and comma splices than the typical white American? I’d be unqualified to teach English in China because of my skin color.
An article in the L.A. Times reports on the blatant job discrimination going on in China against Chinese Americans for ESL teaching positions. The overwhelming majority of language institutes prefer to hire white instructors. I would blame them, except the patrons of these institutes have white fever, loving all things blond haired and blue eyed, and the racist supply must meet the racist demand.
“I’ve had to deal with Chinese parents who have the mentality of ‘White is right,’” Benjamin Newbry, associate director of the Princeton Review test-preparation company in Shanghai, told reporters. “It’s just the idea that somehow if you’re white, it qualifies you, and skills don’t really matter. Being white becomes a plus on your job application.”
Or you don’t have to apply at all. Matt Froude, a 27-year-old white Australian was approached on a bus one day in Shanghai and without more, received a job offer to teach English.
The Chinese want to be taught by white people. When the English teacher isn’t white, “Chinese parents aren’t shy about complaining.” Newbry said these parents often “were up in my face” and could get “pretty aggressive when it comes to their kid’s learning environment.” Drawing in some of my experiences with the uncouth, overbearing, and tactless mainlanders I’ve met, I have a feeling Newbry’s comments are an understatement of what really goes on.
When interviewing the parents about their preference for white teachers, one parent unabashedly said, “Of course.” His rationale: “Their pronunciation is more precise.”
Are there laws in China against race discrimination? On paper, sure. Yet employers explicitly state age and gender requirements on job postings. What’s more, the applications for teaching positions at these language institutes require photos. This requirement is why someone like Jennifer Ashley, who graduated from Cal. State L.A. with a degree in English didn’t get hired–she’s a dark-skinned Eurasian and her photo would have clearly shown that.
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21 Comments to “Chinese-Americans Not American enough to Teach English in China”
Bertie wrote:
One time I was out at a sushi restaurant, and my friend voiced her concern that the people rolling the sushi appeared to be Hispanic and not Japanese. I was like, are you kidding me?
People are retarded.
Posted on 07-Nov-07 at 3:22 pm | Permalink
Jesse! wrote:
Yeah this is old news, but you’ll also find similar positioning the other way around. When I was learning Mandarin here in SF, we had one white teacher and one Chinese. Perhaps with some irony, I learned a bit more from the white teacher since he had also learned Mandarin as a second language i.e., he had experienced what I was going through and struggling with…
I’m actually a big proponent that the first year or so of foreign language instruction should be taught by “one of your own” who has also learned the foreign language like you… then later maybe transfer to native speakers to get the accents and such right. There are exceptions to this of course… but that’s how I’ve learned best.
In China and Asia generally, you see that American media has done a good job letting everybody know that if you are American, you are white. If not, you’re sorta fake American. Also, people are retarded.
Posted on 07-Nov-07 at 4:43 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Bertie – well, I remember going to a Chinese restaurant in San Antonio (Texas) and all the waiters, waitresses, and hostess were Hispanic. That was weird. And more recently, I went to a Din Tai Fung in Arcadia (California), and all the cooks in the kitchen appeared to be Hispanic as well.
I don’t think people are retarded – they are just have a certain expectation when they go to eat at an “ethnic” restaurant, one just assumes that people from that ethnicity work there.
I mean, wouldn’t it seem a little odd if you went to a Mexican restaurant in let’s say Kansas, and everyone you saw working there was Asian?
As for the Chinese preference for white people teaching English in China – personally, I wouldn’t take too much offense. I mean, I would feel sorry that an Asian-American would have a harder time finding a job teaching English, but I would just expect that.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 12:03 am | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
Dude, a Hispanic guy can roll sushi just as well as a Japanese guy. One’s race does not determine the awesomeness of one’s sushi rolling skills… nor does it determine one’s awesomeness in speaking and teaching English. These narrow “expectations” should not prevent people from gaining employment, because they’re irrational.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 3:16 am | Permalink
Xxxtine wrote:
*sigh* …. people are retarded.
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 6:52 am | Permalink
TheChanster wrote:
You know…it seems like all the Mexican places I frequent here in nyc are run by Chinese…do you guys in Kansas actually have authentic Mexicans making your burritos? or are they all just working in Chinese restaurants too?
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 10:49 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
Chanster!!!! Where have you been??? No word from you in months and then you show up on 8Asians?!?
Posted on 08-Nov-07 at 1:49 pm | Permalink
Brian wrote:
What the–?? And the Mandarin Chinese teacher in my high school was white.
Posted on 09-Nov-07 at 2:14 pm | Permalink
Lily wrote:
It’s not just China. I’ve seen this in the US as well, in English / TOEFL classes. The teachers are all white. Not just white, but pale white.
Posted on 24-Dec-07 at 9:52 am | Permalink
James wrote:
So what if non whites have trouble getting hired teaching English in China? Those chinese schools only pay like 500-750 bucks a month. It’s not like teaching English in China is a glamour job. You can flip burgers in any McDonalds here in the U.S. and make double that. All those whitties who teach English in China = ppl who can’t cut it in the U.S.
Posted on 24-Jan-08 at 4:18 pm | Permalink
jason wrote:
gosh..now i’m a bit worried..i’m thinking of applying for a english teaching job in shanghai…i’m chinese-canadian…sigh…what kinda world is this…
Posted on 03-Dec-08 at 3:17 pm | Permalink
Teaching English in China for Non-White, Non-Native Speakers | Middle Kingdom Life wrote:
[...] Chinese-Americans Not American enough to Teach English in China [...]
Posted on 18-Dec-08 at 11:47 pm | Permalink
steve wrote:
@Jesse!: It’s not “the other way around.” White people have no disadvantage in securing jobs teaching Mandarin in the West especially at the university level. And the Asian parents over here aren’t going to complain.
At my college for foreign language classes you had attend discussion classes in conjunction with a lecture course. The lecture could be taught by anyone who is an effective instructor but the discussion should be taught by someone who possesses proper pronunciation skills. And it’s rare to find non-Asians who not only have the pronunciation skills but also have the knowledge to explain “real world” phrases or pronunciation. From what I gather, westerners are hired in China to teach discussion style classes not to explain the intricacies of English to some kid who can’t understand English.
@John: Let’s not change the subject from native English speakers of Asian descent not being able to teach English in China to it’s odd to see Latinos working in Asian restaurants in America. Asian Americans teaching English in China shouldn’t be viewed as the equivalent of seeing non Asian geishas in Japan. If it is the same thing then Asian Americans have no business Americanizing and fooling ourselves into thinking we can be “American.”
You’re missing what is really going on here. It’s not simply about expectations. People in China are getting white washed and white people are there to help glamorize western culture. And Asian westerners certainly cannot glamorize or fetishize western culture as well as a white person no matter how well we speak English. Private English speaking schools or the business of teaching English in East Asia is never simply about teaching English.
@James: First of all, you’ve given the figures for the lowest salary bracket meaning the salary that Asian westerners would receive if they could find a job. True English teaching jobs don’t pay much anyway but the cost of living is so incredibly low in China and the cost of living is so high in NYC, LA, SF that you’ll actually earn much more teaching English in China than you would working at McDonalds in big city America. Plus some of those schools in China give you a free apartment with all utilities paid. And remember, the reasons why Asians and non Asians go to China to teach is not simply an issue of salary anyway. For instance, white people certainly have their extra privileges in Asia. Asian westerners definitely lose out.
Posted on 05-Jan-09 at 9:25 am | Permalink
CaliStunna wrote:
Yes there’s many Hispanic (or simply Mexican) cooks working at restaurants. There’s tons working for Panda Express. Probably because the owners can pay cheap labor.
Reminds me of Joy Koy’s joke of thanking the Mexicans for cooking Orange Chicken.
Not sure how I feel about CBAs being discriminated in China because they are not White. Is the same thing happening in other countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, etc?
Then there’s the case of going to another country to learn English. Other Asians, such as Koreans, also have been going to the Philippines to learn English.
Posted on 05-Jan-09 at 2:57 pm | Permalink
mike wrote:
If someone asked me to choose a sushi chef out of say
Japanese, chinese (mainland), hispanic, korean, or white,
I would pick Japanese (because he’s japanese) and will take sushi rolling way more seriously than all the other choices.
2nd: Korean (Cause he looks japanese) and they make Kim Pap, a relative of the sushi family: (tight sushi rolls are important)
3rd: white (cause the white man is serving the asian man)
4th: Hispanics (they don’t want to lose their job so they have to give a good product)
5th: Chinese (Cause he doesn’t give a sh*t how the sushi looks, and cares only if it sells)
Posted on 12-Feb-09 at 9:38 pm | Permalink
Jennifer Ashley wrote:
Did the person who wrote this article even read the L.A. Times article she cited? I was interviewed for, and quoted in the article, and I did not say that I wasn’t hired, nor am I a dark-skinned Eurasian. I am, in fact, relatively fair-skinned and I was, in fact, hired. My contract wasn’t renewed at the end of the year (until the school in question realized that foreign teachers weren’t flocking to it), but it’s really hard to say whether that’s due to the fact that I’m part Asian or some other reason. What I told the reporter, who I felt was eager to put words into my mouth during the interview, was that I thought I had done a good job at the school, taking on extra classes when another teacher quit, never missing a class, etc.
Posted on 16-Feb-09 at 12:52 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Not Enough Foreigners Learning Chinese, say Officials wrote:
[...] When I applied for a teaching post in China, they rejected me because my Chinese was too good. They did however, take the French guy. He was [...]
Posted on 18-Mar-09 at 4:10 pm | Permalink
nemogbr wrote:
I go to a Japanese Restaurant Franchise in London, called Benihana.
The Chefs are Filipino.
We even got them to a party and they were showing all the filipinos how to roll sushi.
Posted on 27-Apr-09 at 3:20 am | Permalink
bonkers wrote:
cr f hspnc r jpns gy rlls my ssh.
hspncs wll sy fw wrds lk mg ndly, ndly, whch wll dsrpt th sprt f th ssh rll.
Jpns ppl wll d crmns fr ch ngrdnt ncldd n th rll.
wnt t knw f ‘m gttng th fll jpns ssh xprnc.
Dnng s ll bt th xprnc nd f nythng s ff thn th xprnc, tst, nd cstcy f tng ssh bcms dsppntmnt.
Posted on 29-Apr-09 at 8:05 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Shut Out at Home, Americans Go to China wrote:
[...] plenty of opportunities in China if you want to teach English in China, but for many Chinese, they would prefer to learn Chinese from a non-Chinese/Asian Americans. I really wonder if the majority of Americans who go to China, especially those who do not know [...]
Posted on 17-Aug-09 at 7:02 am | Permalink
jcheuk wrote:
but what if i am Chinese-American with a total American accent, a horrible Chinese pronunciation and couldn't understand half of their complaints?
nooopppeee.. i have a feeling that they would be still prejudice!
Posted on 13-Sep-09 at 2:08 am | Permalink
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