A thread of the “lighter moments” of discrimination I experienced in China. https://twitter.com/cnnafrica/status/1248922295470624768">https://twitter.com/cnnafrica...

(Incident 1) I was minding my business at the grocery store. This woman walks up to me and sticks her hand in my hair. I turn and ask her why in chinese. She laughs and walks off. I turn and realise her son just took a picture of me. They’re both laughing and pointing.

(Incident 2) I went climbing up Mount Tai. I was the only black person for miles. At the top of the mountain, the Chinese man giving our tents refused to give me one even though I’d paid. He gave everyone else.

When I demanded my tent, he showed up with a tattered tent with a broken zip. I insisted on a good one like everyone else had. He refused. Now here’s the gag. My so called friend who was acting as my interpreter at this point decides I’m being too fussy.

Says I should just use the tent like that. So I say to him why don’t we swap seeing as we’re all managing. They ended up giving me a good tent because I made it clear that no one on the mountain would sleep that night if I didn’t get the quality I paid for.

This particular incident hurt because I realised even my supposedly liberal friends who you think would stand up to discrimination sometimes do nothing when it comes time to step up.

(Incident 3) On the train with some black friends. We’re talking to ourselves as people come, stare and take pictures without consent. We say nothing. Out of nowhere, this guy comes to us and is like ”shut up. It’s against the law for you to talk on the train”https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Eyes">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Eyes">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Eyes">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Eyes">

(Incident 4) this happened to some friends of mine. They were not allowed into a nightclub because “no blacks”. They left and went somewhere else. Again the gag is instead of their “non-black” friends that they went to stand up for them, they went ahead into the club anyway.

I called this thread lighter moments because I didn’t suffer anything that I couldn’t fight off. There are those who are suffering outright indignities in China. This treatment of Africans is not new, it’s time African govts start speaking up for their people.

Being in China as an African can be terrifying. Best case, you’re dealing with people staring and taking your pictures for God knows what. Worst case, you’re being kicked to the streets despite posing no health risk to anyone.