Much of China's simmering intolerance is color-based. It is not an exaggeration to say many of my countrymen have a subconscious adulation of races paler than us. The flip side: We tend to be biased against those darker skinned. It's outright racism, but on closer examination it's not totally race based. Many of us even look down on fellow Chinese who have darker skin, especially women. Beauty products that claim to whiten the skin always fetch a premium. And children are constantly praised for having fair skin.
I see it as an offshoot of class discrimination. For thousands of years, those who worked outdoors were of the lower social status. Scorched by the sun, they invariably had darker skin while officials and scholars were sheltered from the sunlight by sedan chairs and fancy abodes. I don't know whether this will change in the future as outdoor aficionados pioneer a new lifestyle with suntan as a badge of honor. It's not going to change overnight, though.
I got my fair skin from my mother and my daughters got it from me. During my college years, I hated it and desperately wanted a tan. My friends, who were spending a small fortune on whitening products, joked: "You are just like those rich kids who want to bring down all the landlords and establish a classless society. You don't know how lucky you are!"
Some may accuse me of blurring the line between a dark-skinned Asian and a black. I'm not. The kind of discrimination Lou Jing must have suffered is beyond what most dark-skinned Chinese can imagine. I really admire her attitude and maturity in dealing with all the not-so-subtle probing and censure. During interviews, she shows she is very positive and not at all bitter about her fate.
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