It’s not easy being black in China. Meet four expats who are changing perceptions one success at a time.

Dalian made David Zere feel like a star. “People were stopping their cars in the middle of the street to talk to me. Adults were asking for my autograph. At the bar, girls were throwing their numbers at me,” says the Eritrean-American from Seattle.

Zere’s parents, who had lived in Beijing, told him the Chinese weren’t racist but he never expected a welcome like this. What he didn’t realize was that people were mistaking him for a Brazilian soccer player who had just joined Dalian’s team. “I was the drop of ink in the milk,” Zere recalls.

When he moved to Qingdao the following year, the party came to a screeching halt. “I saw the harsh reality,” he says. “In Qingdao, the men love to drink … and they get drunk. They consider themselves to be warriors. Someone was always picking a fight with me.” Zere now lives in Shenzhen where he runs Advanced Training Solutions, a corporate training company, and is developing an online media company.

Unfortunately for Zere and thousands of other African-American and African-Europeans in China, there isn’t yet any Chinese-language equivalent for “Black is Beautiful.” Color matters. And people with darker skin, including other Chinese, often find themselves on the short end of the aesthetic stick.

“You have to embrace China,” says Quinton Daniels, founder and president of the San Francisco-based software product R&D outsourcing company, Permirus. Daniels, a finance and marketing graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, says he loves living here, despite color issues. “I pick up words,” he says, “I know when people are talking about me. I hear them say ‘hei ren’ [black person].”

“I’ve been using the toothpaste Darkie for five years,” Zere says, referring to Darlie (formerly known as “Darkie”) Toothpaste, and known in Chinese as “Hei Ren Toothpaste.” Darlie’s emblem is a caricature of a smiling black man in a top hat. “What's that supposed to mean, that you too can have white teeth like a black guy? That guy looks like Uncle Ben!”

“You get these types of images every day,” Daniels says. “I’m becoming desensitized but I’m not at the point of acceptance. I’m much more aware of race here then I’ve ever been; I'm reminded of it all the time.”

Though Zere cites numerous examples of African-American employees being discriminated against by both Chinese and expat employers, Daniels says work has been pretty smooth. He’s spent the last four years shuttling between San Francisco and Shenzhen, developing companies on both sides of the Pacific. “I've got money in my pocket so most people tend to treat me pretty well,” he says. “It wasn’t until I started dating Chinese that I really felt Chinese attitudes towards people with dark skin. It starts when she has to tell her friends about you. You wouldn’t believe the stereotypes and misperceptions they come back with.”

While dating has been a challenge, Daniels says he’s been treated with the utmost respect by nearly everyone he’s worked with. “The racism I’ve experienced dating has not really impacted my overall impression of China,” he says, “I embrace these daily challenges.”

Discrimination is by no means limited to race. China has issues with skin color, even amongst Han Chinese. The preponderance of facial-whitening creams and umbrellas on sunny days reveal an adulation for white skin and a fear of pigmentation. Not only is dark skin anathema to mainstream conceptions of beauty in China, but Chinese people with darker skin often suffer passive discrimination at the hands of other Chinese.

This may be why for fair-skinned African-American Dana Burton, from Detroit, race is not an issue. “In the States, people always asked me, ‘what are you mixed with?’ Burton says. “In China, most people don’t consider me black. They tell me I’m not black. But they ask me why I have hair like a black person.”

Since arriving in Shanghai in 1999, Burton has been one of the pioneers of China’s hip-hop scene. Working with marketing and advertising agencies, he's developed an urban culture niche for sourcing talent, managing artists and producing events. His road shows, fashion shows and in-store events range from KTVs to clubs to universities and include events for Adidas and the U.S. State Department.

Though Burton is thrilled with the development of his career, and hip-hop in China, he doesn’t think things are changing much for people of color. “No matter how popular hip-hop or street culture or basketball gets, it’s not really affecting people’s perceptions of race. It doesn’t extend past the sub-culture. It's not changing things on the ground … Most Chinese are turned off by black skin,” he confesses. “It’s very deeply embedded in people’s minds. It’s part of the whole socialization process.”

Although Burton says he personally doesn’t experience discrimination, it affects him. While on a China tour with a four man hip-hop crew from Washington D.C., Burton saw how hard adjusting to Chinese sensibilities can be. “One of the guys was about 6’2” with dreadlocks,” he recalls. “He looked like Snoop and people were staring really hard. Chinese tend to keep their emotions inside and are often unaware how their expressions appear on the outside. He was really uncomfortable. In American inner cities, looking at someone for over three seconds is a violation. It’s hard for someone coming from such a hectic environment … My thought is, in China, when people stare at you, just smile and say ‘Hello.’ They’ll pretty much always smile back.”

Andrew Ballen, a New Yorker of mixed Jamaican-Central American ancestry, has his own approach. “Chinese are hierarchical,” he says. “They create rubrics and as a Black American, I don’t fit. They tend to look up to Americans and look down on blacks. So in those few moments when people are trying to categorize me, I try to peel off the layers of onion skin and show them who I really am.” Frustrated by perceptions among America’s elite that African-Americans only get into good schools because of quotas, Ballen dropped out of Duke Law School and came to China in 2001. “I didn’t want to be the best Black lawyer. I just wanted to be the best me,” he says. “So I thought, what the hell, I want to go so far off the beaten track that nobody could ever say I got where I was because of any system. Nobody ever said, ‘Go to China, everybody’ll love you over there.'”

But love him they do. Another key supporter of Shanghai’s hip hop scene, Ballen has parlayed his wit, pluck and charm into developing and hosting Dragon TV’s travel show “Getaway,” whereby he traverses the countryside getting to know local people. His company, Ballenwest, is courting new investment and in addition to importing coffee and opening cafes, he's looking into the equity side of television property and media events.

Ballen’s success in China may be due to his belief that he has a chance to make a positive impact. “My attitude is: Give me time and I’ll prove my worth,” he says. “Everyday I can break down one of those barriers that keep people apart. It’s my motivation. Being able to change minds, to give people a sense of who I am, is what gets me out of bed in the morning … Once you get down to the really human level, common interest, culture and lifestyle matter much more. Color is definitely not the most salient characteristic.”

Discrimination is an age-old problem and though Ballen doesn’t see any sweeping changes in perception yet, he says things have improved: “There aren’t enough black people in China for any kind of sea change but Chinese people are getting more accustomed to seeing us. And as China continues to improve relations with African and Caribbean nations, there are definitely more opportunities out there.”

by Brandon Zatt

Queen B hits Shanghai

Despite reports on the ground detailing the questionable treatment of people with black skin in China, no one denies the incredible popularity enjoyed by African-American pop icons, athletes and movie stars here.

An amble through any Chinese city yields up wall-sized images of National Basketball Association stars like Kobe Bryant, while Shaquille O’Neal is a regular visitor to Beijing as part of his new multi-million dollar partnership with Chinese sportswear company Li Ning.

Black pop stars are no less admired. Fans were falling over themselves to get will.i.am's autograph when he visited with the Black Eyed Peas in 2006 with rumors swirling of a return trip later this month. More recently, high profile shows by Public Enemy and Talib Kweli have put black superstars firmly on the Chinese pop culture map. On November 5, uber-diva Beyoncé Knowles makes a landmark appearance at Shanghai's Grand Stage, becoming the highest profile black performer to play a solo show in China. With her hot lyrics, million dollar smile and billion dollar booty, her show promises a spectacle never seen before by Chinese audiences.

In an interview with City Weekend earlier this month, the B evinced her usual mix of charm and confidence about the upcoming show. "It's one of the few countries that I have not had the opportunity to travel to and experience. I'm so honored that China is welcoming me as well as my band, dancers and staff,” Knowles says. “I'm very excited to meet the fans and embrace the culture." And, no doubt, be embraced by a billion fans in return.
–Jenn Wong