Chinese families live in every community in the UK. Some of the smallest, remotest villages in the UK will still have one Chinese takeaway. And yet we and other East and Southeast Asian minorities are consistently under-represented in the media and in positions of power – in businesses, in the judiciary, the legislature and most other institutions of note.
Hey, have you seen the Chinese family in Eastenders? No? That’s cos they don’t exist – it only started in 1985, maybe they just didn’t get around to it yet. Oh wait, how about the East or Southeast Asian celebrity that’s taken part on Strictly Come Dancing, the biggest show on TV? No? Having just completed its 19th season maybe they couldn’t find anyone…
And on and on it goes. I have young, mixed-race children and their own experience with a lack of representation moved me to start a petition to ask CBeebies to feature a storyteller who was from an East or South East Asian background on their flagship CBeebies Bedtimes stories. They’ve filmed over 800 episodes featuring many diverse guests, Marvel superhero actors, Hollywood stars, Olympic champions and many more. But in the 4 years my kids have been watching them at bedtime, not one has been someone who looks like them.
And my point here in case it wasn’t clear, is representation matters. Without it those of us who look different to most people in this country can never feel like we truly fit in. We will always feel “other”. It’s one of the most basic examples of white privilege. Those with children who are white can confidently walk into any bookstore, or even a small rack in a supermarket with children’s books and find a story where the main character looks like their kid.
This is something that never happens to me.
I can’t adequately explain how my heart breaks when my little girl turns around to tell me no one looks like her, as she looks to find a book to read. Or when she says she’s going to pick a CBeebies bedtime story with a reader that looks like me – and the best she can do is a white woman with dark brown hair.
It angers me how I can come to be in my fourth decade here as a British Chinese and still be faced with this lack of representation at such a basic level. It’s hard not to conclude how we have all failed badly when not only has this not been addressed but it’s still not even widely seen or acknowledged as a problem.
It’s not enough that we are trundled out like exotic specimens to celebrate Lunar New Year or that our food is widely consumed and enjoyed. Cultural appropriation is exactly this – cherry picking the parts you like of a culture whilst doing absolutely no work on trying to raise that culture as a whole or helping to address the challenges they can face in a society.
So how to change this? Do things like sign my petition. Actively consume media that features East and Southeast Asian artists and actors. Sign up to work with organisations tackling representation and anti-race hate initiatives. For example Campaign Against Racism Group (co-founded by two members of Chinese LibDems) or besea.n, a grassroots advocacy organisation shining a light on British East and South East Asians. Buy books that feature East or SE Asian characters
There are some trends to make me optimistic. The success of Squid Game on Netflix or the popularity of K-Pop bands BTS or Blackpink, all riding the Hallyu wave, have become global phenomena. It took till 2021 to have our first Asian Marvel superhero – Shang-Chi – and 2018 to have our first Hollywood Romcom where the leads were Asian – Crazy Rich Asians – but it does mean my kids can begin to see people like themselves on the big and small screen and in the music they listen to. But we have so, so very far to go.
As Chair of the Chinese LibDems I am proud of the work we are doing reaching East and SE Asian communities in the UK, to increase the number of elected East and SE Asian politicians as well as bring issues impacting our communities to the fore. We welcome any Lib Dem regardless of background so please come and join us. We need all the help we can get!
* Sarah Cheung Johnson is a councillor on South Cambridgeshire District Council and chair of Chinese Liberal Democrats.
24 Comments
Sarah, why ruin a terrific piece with reference to white privilege? In your piece you say every minority has been regularly seen on television, but yours, the concern and purpose of this eloquent and angry polemic.
The word privilege is used in ways that regularly offend people. A white and poor working class person , especially, young and male, is far less privileged than an ethnic minority barrister or finacier with rich middle class parents.
Advantage, yes, in some instances, though less than ever. Privilege, no, as it implies it is better to be white, in itself an extension of thinking that fosters prejudice.
It is a shame Liberals do not realise, nuance counts.
I back your opinion on the argument you make, but regret that element, as I increasingly realise, as a white, middle aged, middle class university graduate, the minute an employer sees I am over fifty, oh, forget it!
On the subject of minority representation, as described here, my view is that you are correct, Sarah, and it is something that needs to be dealt with.
As member, writer, co-ordinator, of the Ustinov Prejudice Awareness Forum, I am conscious of the fact that the work of individuals, whether such as Sir Peter Ustinov, as a UNICEF Ambassador,the founder, or any of us who come after his work, much effort to combat prejudice, is based on fighting ignorance. This knows no national boundaries, no ethnic ones either. It is found everywhere.
As a performer, writer, as well as motivator, campaigner, I know language counts. Increasingly, the word “oriental,” has been replaced with the description, “Chinese”, with as a token to even smaller numbers, an added, “etc”. This fuels lack of understanding. The old word might well be inacurate or disliked, but the new use of Chinese is inappropriate often. Many of the same race, are not of the same national heritage at all. But people from various countries other than China, are inappropriately referred to as “etc.”
I belive that as China is, mostly dealt with as a foreign country of great power and poor record, this adversely affects those of the same minority who are British. Ironic, as they are as likely to be of heritage from Hong Kong, the leading victim of fear of the might of China!
For East Asians to agree on that language issue, a new consensus can lead to a stronger stance, on a justified concern.
It must be difficult for any group that is less than 1% of the UK population to feel that it is adequately represented in the UK media. The issue of books stocked in a bookshop is particularly difficult since bookshops wish to offer for sale those books that would appeal as widely as possible. I believe there is only one MP of Chinese heritage in the House of Commons which is only a fifth of the number that would represent that proportion in the population. I suspect a similar pattern in local government. Hopefully you will consider standing as a candidate yourself…
Thank you for highlighting my white privilege in this Sarah. My two children have never had any problem seeing people that look like them on TV, and have a diverse range of characters and occupations to pick from as done by people “like them”. Privilege, indeed.
It always strikes right to the heart when our children are upset and there is nothing we can do to help, so it must have been heartbreaking to hear that from your daughter.
Lorenzo, sadly your white privilege is plastered all over your two comments.
Rather than deflecting from the issue at hand, why don’t you do something useful and sign the petition.
Too much to ask?
Will, unfortunately, you say this, as so many do, who use that phrase, by not knowing anything about, or, asking about, my background, let alone dealing with the bulk of my comments!
My point is, that Sarah, in her article, is saying that all minorities other than those from East Asia, in heritage, are shown in tv, film, entertainment, books. She does not say that only white people are, indeed, knowing our culture is very diverse, in the inclusion and enjoyment, of very many from verty many ethnic groups, is obviously the case.
I thus said above, that to imply, by one comment, that it is about only whites, is not her point at all. Of course advantages, to being white are in built historically, in some circumstances. In culture, in the UK, and now, this is not true,as it was, and yet, clearly, as my two contributions show, I agree with Sarah about the lack of representaives of East Asian background.
I can asure you, my own very many efforts, rewrded or otherwise, and very many disappointments, often or not, have, neither, had anything to do with my being white, or having privilege!!
As someone who has known real hardship, has a wife with permanent disability issues, has lost my house, survived unemployment at length, after the car accident that has meant those said disabilities, I , like Sarah, am fed up with the streotryping of people, whose circumstances are about more than one label!
Lorenzo.
The fact you feel compelled to turn a post about the lack of representation of East and SouthEast Asians into yet another rant about your personal lack of privilege is indicative of that privilege.
White privilege does not mean that all white people are privileged. It means that regardless of the individual circumstances of any individual white person, if that person was instead black, or Asian or mixed race, their individual circumstances would be worse.
White kids can grow up in awful circumstances. But they don’t also have the added awfulness of turning on the CBeebies bedtime story and feeling like an outsider in their home country. So much of the world is about white people – can we let Sarah and her kids, and other kids who look like them, have just this one thread without making it about you?
Mary
I did not, in my first post, go on a rant! Or my second! I made one point that is often felt, rarely said. Male, white, privilege, as words, stereotype, and identify in a superficially biased way.
And why is it not about me, if, as a white person, my colour is being used, your words”yet another,” instance of it, to make those like me, feel guilty! I do not agree with emphasis on collective guilt. I also do not think Sarah was trying to make me feel that. But I did try to allude to the fact, it is often, other minorities who ignore smaller ones. As much as do the majority.
As ever in this debate, my detailed comments are ignored. I didn’t ignore the detail of the article by Sarah. I do mention one thing that I think is leading to an issue that ought to unite, actually, sometimes, divide.
And I care so much re:these issues, I work at it, culturally, professionally. As a Liberal, as a Democrat, I see people as individuals with many characteristics. Colour, race, merely two of those. I feel great understanding towards the representaion of minorities in culture. It is my field. And as someone of Irish, as well as half Italian background, have had more than enoogh of stereotyping since childhood and “italy in the war,” jokes!
If more woke up to people being individually diverse, we might get more progress, than “woke vs reactionary”!
Sarah
Thank you for writing this, and for starting the petition which I have signed and shared. It is powerful and distressing to read your experiences of being a parent of mixed race children as they are growing up and not seeing people like them in their world of TV and books.
There are plenty of other ways to campaign against other forms of privilege. If I want to find out about those I can. It isn’t your responsibility to point them out here! Thank you for pointing out other ways people can actually help with this.
Members of my extended family are Hong Kong Chinese.
((I lived in Tokyo as a child.))
Is one of the reasons people of Asian origin are less visible/spoken about in the UK is that they rarely complain or break any eggs, in spite of the difficulties described in the article?
Lorenzo has also made a good point about the multiple national backgrounds of UK citizens with Asia origins.
Maybe the Chinese are not adequately represented in our countries media, literature and entertainment but I expect we would find the same about non Chinese in China. I would hope there is no deliberate campaign in the UK to cause this.
Sarah, I am sorry your children feel this way, but they also have an advantage in that they are experiencing two cultures and hopefully two languages. I live in Spain and it is wonderful to see the young English children speaking two languages. The vast majority of British Children get locked into one language and we tend to be lazy about learning another.
As Lorenzo implied the English have traditionally made jokes about all sorts of “foreigners” and I have just been reading ghastly we treated the Irish.
Using terms like “white privilege” and “anti-race” do not endear people to your argument. If you feel you are unrepresented then get more represented by becoming councilors or members of Parliament. I am sure our party would welcome more involvement from Chinese people. We have an Englishman on the council in our local town and that has helped us work better with the Spanish community.
Thank you Sarah. I’ve signed the petition. As you say, representation matters.
Thanks Sarah. You’ve given us a good reminder of how important it is that representation includes everyone. You make a good point about how widespread, and integrated, many South East Asian families are in the UK especially in more rural areas that are still mainly very white, and perhaps we sometimes take that for granted.
I have signed your excellent petition and hope you have great success with it.
Good article with a fair point well made.
As a person of privilage all beit from a working class background, I recognise the picture painted. With a person of that heritage as a family member who suffers from abuse on the street from time to time I wholeheartedly agree that we need to pay attn to the change required. Broadcast media can have a big impact in this as can the written word.
Appreciate the fact that Chris, Trevor, read my comments, finding something other than my one and original response, that has been over emphasised, noticing another one worth thinking about .
I care a lot about us, all, seeing the whole person. Of course one aspect is the outward described quality, whether by ourselves, individually, or fellow inhabitants of our country. But we are more than the sum of parts, more indeed than those parts. I identify with and empathise with people beyond race. I do not need a hero to be a white man. But obviously for me, seeing most are that, means I can understand the lack of the hero being, say, a South East ASia origin, woman. But I , as a progressive, white man, who takes these things seriously, am not part of the problem, nor is Chris, or Trevor. We could be part of the solution, if we could see each other as friends and allies.
An interesting idea here…https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/14/white-privilege-is-a-lazy-distraction-leaving-racism-and-power-untouched
Sarah, thank you for this article. I have signed the petition.
After reading the article, I tried to think of any examples of Chinese characters in children’s books, films, television etc published or made in the UK, and the only example I could immediately think of was Harry Potter’s girlfriend, Cho Chang. And Cho is probably a far from ideal representation for Chinese girls. It has been suggested that Cho Chang is not really a name that a Chinese person is likely to have, indicating poor research by JK Rowling. Perhaps more seriously, Cho is portrayed rather superficially. Her role in the series even seems to be presented as being just a distraction to Harry, delaying the moment when he finally realises his feelings for Ginny, the white British girl who Rowling signals, right from book one, is the girl Harry is *meant* to end up with.
Chinese young people deserve better representation. Hopefully your campaign will play a part in redressing this
Catherine Jane Crosland 18th Feb ’22 – 3:12pm:
…I tried to think of any examples of Chinese characters in children’s books, films, television etc published or made in the UK,…
There’s always Tiger Lily! She was Rupert Bear’s best human friend and made frequent appearances in the Daily Express serialisations, annuals, and both TV series and animations over many decades…
Tiger Lily:
https://rupertthebear.fandom.com/wiki/Tiger_Lily
…I tried to think of any examples of Chinese characters in children’s books, films, television etc published or made in the UK,…
Or Missee Lee from Arthur Ransome’s Missee Lee, the 10th novel of his Swallow’s and Amazon’s series. A swashbuckling female pirate.
Chris Moore is right in noting that the Chinese rarely complain or kick up a fuss or even engage in self promotion; it is out of character with the traditional Oriental psyche; we just get on with it oftentimes inconspicuously and without soliciting attention. In fact there is a general reticence about attracting too much attention. Deep within the oriental psyche is a suspicion of talk. “He who speaks, does not know; he who knows does not speak” (Lao Tzu). In a Westernised world that valorise articulate speech and oratorical prowess, over action, the Chinese invariably lose out.
Thank you Sarah, I confess I had not considered this specific issue. As I read your article I reflected on what seems to be a high East Asian representation in classical music; I also questioned whether there is under representation in business and finance (perhaps at the top there is).
You are right recognisable identity does matter from a young age (so I have signed your petition), I remember the delight my own children took, when very young, in the French speaking character of Tilly from Tots TV. My eldest who has a comprehensive knowledge of children’s literature confirms that there is a problem, though she wanted to emphasise the diversity within the category of East and South-East Asian. For older children she recommends the book Chinglish>/i> by Sue Cheung.
Alan Mak is an East Asian Tory MP. The first in Parliament I think I am right in saying. You funnily enough don’t mention him in your diatribe about representation. Irony much.
I think the East Asian community have been so readily accepted in Britain precisely because they don’t attract attention to themselves and they don’t try and change the culture they have become part of. Also, many are quite conservative in their mind sets. Probably why the first East Asian MP is a Tory!
Trevor Andrews – I’m sure you mean well but let me address the comments individually:
“Maybe the Chinese are not adequately represented in our countries media, literature and entertainment but I expect we would find the same about non Chinese in China. I would hope there is no deliberate campaign in the UK to cause this.”
Are you saying it’s not a problem here as the reverse is true in China? Firstly, not all Chinese people actually come from China, so it’s not exactly the direct comparison you think it is. This kind of “what aboutery” is quite unhelpful. There is no deliberate campaign but neither is the fact we are under-represented acknowledged.
“Sarah, I am sorry your children feel this way, but they also have an advantage in that they are experiencing two cultures and hopefully two languages. I live in Spain and it is wonderful to see the young English children speaking two languages. The vast majority of British Children get locked into one language and we tend to be lazy about learning another.”
So here you’re basically saying, I should be happy with a status quo because hey, look they have two cultures to access, it doesn’t matter that 1 of them doesn’t feature people that look like them. My children are wonderful for many reasons. It doesn’t mean I can’t want more for them. I would suggest in future when a parent, be it someone white or of ethnic minority, say they are fighting for something for their children that you don’t go on their post and tell them how lucky their children are to say, be born in a democratic country, or have a parent, or have an indoor toilet. It’s both insensitive and patronising.
Responding to Trevor Andrews:
“Using terms like “white privilege” and “anti-race” do not endear people to your argument. If you feel you are unrepresented then get more represented by becoming councilors or members of Parliament. I am sure our party would welcome more involvement from Chinese people. We have an Englishman on the council in our local town and that has helped us work better with the Spanish community.”
Firstly, it’s not my job to endear myself to you. This is another example of the white privielege that you object to that you think it’s the job of ethnic minorities to be the main ones who campaign for anti-racism, and they must do so in the way that pleases or “endears” themselves to white people. Suggesting how I might do this is an example of “tone policing”. I would personally suggest you examine why this term might trigger you and would highly recommend you read Layla Saad’s book “Me and White Supremacy” (and if this doesn’t appeal to you – I’d understand that you are not actually interested in being an anti-racist yourself)
If you had made it to the bottom of the article you would see I AM a directly elected LibDem councillor and Chair of Chinese LibDems. I am working hard to support someone who will hopefully be our first MP from an ESEA background. Thank you for pointing out “Our party” would welcome my “help” – I can assure you I am already working on this – I find your suggestion that I’m merely writing articles instead of actively campaigning myself to actually change this slightly offensive.
Kyle Harrison – firstly this is a short article, it’s not meant to be an exhaustive list of East Asian representatives. As a LibDem, not highlighting a Tory MP that has done little to nothing to further the concerns of the ESEA community is surely not surprising. As for East Asians being “accepted” because they don’t attract attention to themselves and don’t try to change the culture – this is PRECISELY what I am trying to combat here. The onus isn’t on immigrants to be “accepted” it’s for everyone to work towards representation. It’s also a huge stereotype that all East Asian’s are like this, which I find insensitive.