Last September I wrote a post, "Can a Black Man be Chinese?," that attracted a fair amount of attention. I followed this up with a briefer thought, "Can a Black Woman be Chinese?" Interestingly, Evan Osnos, at the New Yorker, has an article, "The Promised Land," (registration required for web access) in this week's edition that speaks to some of what I was discussing last fall. He also has a video and an audio interview (both of which can be accessed without registration!). Lots of good stuff.
Clearly, social interactions between Chinese and Africans are increasing. Mixed marriages are happening. Children are being born. Down the road a few decades the racial possibilities of Chinese-ness may well have expanded to include African-Chinese.
Also, last June the blog, Fools Mountain: Blogging for China, had a translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily article on "Chocolate City," the African secion of Guangzhou.
And another also, Osnos adds a few more items on his blog.
As an interesting sidenote, in South Africa, a Chinese person (who was in SA before 1994) is legally black.
Posted by: Glenn | February 07, 2009 at 01:23 PM
I remember watching the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony and noticing the difference between the American team and the Chinese team as they walked in.
I think it's pretty incredible that Lopez Lomong, the guy who was the US flagbearer. He was a refugee from Sudan in 2001 and he wasn't even a US citizen until 2007, just barely 1 year before the Olympics. And he got to represent the United States in front of the world.
Would it be out of the question for a Uighur or a Tibetan to carry the Chinese flag? Possible... but doubtful.
Posted by: Daniel | February 10, 2009 at 01:57 AM