OUGD603 | Extended Practice | Brief 03 | Research: Online Articles & Blogs | BBC (Our Generation) - Life being British Born Chinese

The realities of being British Born Chinese
https://thetab.com/uk/kent/2017/03/15/realities-british-born-chinese-10380

1. "Basically English" - People will often make casual racist remarks around you, assuming it’s chill because ‘you’re basically English’.
2. Schooling - Going to a private school meant that there was definitely a lack of diversity. Being the only Chinese girl in the class – it went without saying that it was me who had to show the new Chinese pupil the ropes on their first day. This automatically groups you together and forces you to be friends with those of the same ethnic background.
3. Parents - You’d think that living in England their whole lives they’d be accustomed to the Western lifestyle. Yes and no. We sit by the waters of Whitby as they tell me I can’t marry a white man whilst divulging in their favourite meal: fish and chips. 
4. Where are you from tho? - ‘Yorkshire’ ‘No, I mean where are you from originally’ ‘Yorkshire’ ‘I mean where are your parents from?’ ‘Scotland and England’ By this point people just give up and start guessing what ethnicity you are.

Born Chinese, Raised British: On Being More than the Token 'Asian Girl'
http://www.gal-dem.com/chinese-british-asian-girl/

1. On one hand, I understand that it is definitely the positive move towards recognising past injustices or imbalance and attempt to address that in an institution or employment…but…at the same time, I sometimes knew when I was invited to an interview (when they had actually already selected the preferred candidate) or being accepted into a university, because I ticked a box and because they needed to fill a quota.
2. However, the biggest frustration in social situations or meeting people for the first time is the following question: “Where are you from?”. I always reply with the city I grew up in. But no. “Where are you really from?”. I would like to think my first and only answer should suffice. I never thought being Chinese was relevant to a job I was going to interview for, or when I’m in a line at Starbucks, so why should it matter to other people?
3. Being the only Chinese girl in an all-girls school did not have its most pleasant moments in the period of your life where a lot of non-Chinese folk also might not have the most pleasant time at school. However, that anxiety and frustration with race made life much tougher.
4. I somehow internalised not only stereotypical views of what make somebody British but also internalised the stereotyping against Chinese people. I internalised the ignorance and disgust at my own community of people.
5. My shame is no longer in being Chinese. My shame is that I spent such a long portion of my life ignoring, rejecting and resenting my Chinese identity.

Self-Identity of British-born Chinese
http://www.neehao.co.uk/2014/02/self-identity-of-british-born-chinese-by-pearl-chu/

1. Searching for and establishing a self-identity is a vital part of development. For migrants or the minorities in a country, cultural self-identification plays an important role in adolescents’ development as adolescents have to make a choice or strike a balance between the culture of the majority group living in the country and their own culture.
2. A pilot study was conducted regarding the development of cultural self-identification in British-born Chinese young people in the United Kingdom. The study was administered in the form of a self-report online survey that consisted of both open and closed questions. All except for one respondent were second generation British Chinese (parents were not born in the UK).
3. The aim of this study was to provide insight into factors which may be associated with such development. Factors such as self-esteem, subjective wellbeing, and differences between aspirations and expectations for one’s future were looked into. A significant positive correlation was found between self-esteem and comfort level of growing up with two cultures. This meant that the more comfortable one is with growing up with two cultures, the higher one’s self-esteem was, and vice versa. However a causal relationship could not be identified based just on self-report surveys, i.e. we cannot say that having a high self-esteem led to the increased level of comfort in growing up with two cultures.

British born Chinese face cultural challenge
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2016-09/01/content_26672025.htm

1. Britain is home to more than 433,000 Chinese, according to the 2011 census, with about a third of them born in the UK. They often find themselves caught between two cultures.
2. British-born Guo Jinjin, a 20-year-old medical student at Leeds University whose parents moved to the UK from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, said, “When I first found a boyfriend and I was invited to his house, my parents didn’t feel comfortable. “When my parents were younger back in China, they didn’t go to the opposite sex’s house alone.”
3. Tackling cultural duality has an impact on well-being among BBCs, according to Heung Chingchu, who conducted a study at the University of London on the development of their ethnic self-identity.
4. Heung found there was positive correlation between feeling comfortable with growing up among two cultures and self-esteem.
5. Guo Jinjin, vice president of Leeds University’s British-born Chinese Society, said that since the European Union referendum was held in June, she had noticed an upturn in verbal abuse from white Britons.
6. In the same year, the National Equality Panel found that a fifth of Chinese men were employed at management level, a higher rate than all other major ethnic groups in the UK.
7. However, Chinese women experienced a wider gender pay gap than other ethnic groups in Britain despite having higher qualifications.
8. British-Chinese actress Elizabeth Chan wrote in The Guardian, “Although we are the fourth-largest minority ethnic group in the UK, we are virtually invisible in public life – principally the arts, media and politics.”
9. Guo said that for much of her youth she felt a strong desire to suppress the differences she had with her classmates, and didn’t feel she belonged in either the UK or China.
10. “When I’m in China I feel more British, because of the differences in the way I grew up,” she said. “When I’m in Britain I feel more Chinese, because I look different.” For Guo, celebrating her differences came with age. She now feels that she is able to use the access she has to two cultures to her advantage. “Chinese culture has become a bigger part of my life,” she said. “I’ve embraced the fact that I am different. I get to experience British culture and Chinese culture and I think I am a better person for it.”

Chinese Britons have put up with racism for too long
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/11/british-chinese-racism

1. Chinese Britons are often referred to as a "silent" or "hidden" minority. For although we are the fourth-largest minority ethnic group in the UK, we are virtually invisible in public life, principally the arts, media and politics.
2. On the surface, the Chinese seem relatively content and well-to-do, with British Chinese pupils regularly outperforming their classmates and Chinese men more likely than any other ethnic group to be in a professional job. Consequently, we are often overlooked in talks on racism and social exclusion.
3. Sadly, the British Chinese are reticent about speaking up for themselves, and simply do not have the numbers to make the same noise the black and south Asian communities do, whose vociferous and galvanising voices have been making waves against racism for decades. Racism is one of those horrendous, soul- and confidence-crushing things that, when faced with, you'd much rather forget or pretend didn't exist. So we tend to brush it off, pretend it never happened, or laugh along with the rest rather than come across as bad sports. We Chinese have become dab hands at this, living up to the stereotype of the smiling but silent Chinaman.

Young British Chinese pick and mix cultures in UKhttp://www.britishfuture.org/blog/young-british-chinese-culture-uk/

1. In comparison to their parents, young British Chinese have a better grasp of the English language, and have more exposure to the various cultural outlets and experiences enjoyed by other young people in the UK. They often watch the same popular TV shows and blockbusters as their non-Chinese counterparts, thus creating a sense of belonging in the country.
2. At the same time, Asian cultural outlets are still a big feature, creating an interesting fusion of cultures. The nature of this has changed over time. For the 20 somethings of today, many have memories of a childhood spent watching TVB, a Chinese satellite channel available in the UK. This channel brought Chinese language entertainment and news to many homes that had parents from Hong Kong.
3. So how does a Chinese heritage and leisure interest affect a sense of identity? If we are talking about feeling British we should consider the importance of varying experiences in time, space and place. Compared to their parents, young British Chinese fit in more comfortably from having the social skills and understanding of culture in the UK. They have their own relationships, meaning investment in the country. There may also be attachment to culture and people outside the UK; this can give a different worldview and set of interests, but does not in itself mean detachment or alienation.
4. Whilst British-born Chinese enjoy a range of hobbies that cannot be considered ‘Chinese’, it is also difficult to categorise all their interests as specifically ‘English’. Many grew up with parents from a different cultural background and may therefore know a different range of stories, entertainments, customs and interests. Individuals may identify most closely with their family, but as they grew up in the UK they are likely to know a range of people from school and the local community. There are undoubtedly experiences of not fitting in too; examples of racism at school or in the takeaway.
5. All these different connections, between what British Chinese have been exposed to at home as they grow up and what they have experienced later, has created an interesting identity. With greater freedom to choose and socialise, and of course question, British Chinese have drawn from what they know. It’s an exciting moment as a variety of cultures has created a sense of change and provided a platform for exploration for many young British Chinese.

British Chinese people say racism against them is 'ignored'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30538929/british-chinese-people-say-racism-against-them-is-ignored

1. Michael claims a lot of racist attacks go unreported, because of widespread mistrust in the police. He also believes there are cultural reasons for it: "Essentially Chinese people don't like to worry other people.", "There's a mindset within the Chinese community that we need to keep our business within ourselves, within our own family unit."
2. Sara, who didn't want us to use her real name or to be identified, is 24 and describes herself as British-born Chinese. She says there's a double standard when it comes to people using the word "chink". "It's just become such a norm that the N-word or the P-word aren't allowed but people feel they can use the C-word," she says. "A lot of Chinese parenting traditionally had 'tough love' and we tend to divert a lot of negatives away and use that energy to drive us forward - but it doesn't mean we're not still hurt by the abuse."
3. She says she regularly reported the racist abuse her family experienced to the police. There have been court cases but no-one has ever been convicted. "We'd go to court, testify, but nothing would ever come of it," she says. "It got to the point where we started losing faith in the police."
4. It seems her experiences are not uncommon. Police reports and research into workplaces involving Chinese people suggest takeaways are the most likely outlets where racist attacks happen. Simon Hu, a manager at Chinese restaurants in Wigan and Liverpool, tells Newsbeat it is also common for takeaways to be vandalised.
5. Ronny, 25, grew up in the north east of England and says he was one of 10 or 15 Chinese people in his town at the time. He describes his experiences growing up as "quite suppressive and humiliating". "I've definitely become more cynical towards other people," he says. "I still feel the air of intimidation and suppression. I still get that negative feeling around me wherever I go."
6. Research published last year by the British Chinese Project suggests there's a general belief in the Chinese community that reporting crime is futile, with almost half of 520 survey respondents stating they "did not trust the police to deal effectively with their case".

Bordering Two Cultures As A BBC (British Born Chinese)
https://thoughtcatalog.com/jennifer-leung/2015/02/bordering-two-cultures-as-a-bbc-british-born-chinese/

1. What does it mean for you to be British Chinese? It simply means I border two cultures. I grew up in a Western country with all the youthful looks that my Chinese roots gave me. As a result, I’m exposed to the advantages of both cultures. Do I think it would be easier to be simply English or Chinese? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m here to eradicate stereotypes of what it means to be British or Chinese.

What It's Like Being A BBC (British Born Chinese)
http://www.justjemini.com/2016/09/being-bbc-british-born-chinese.html

Oh, so what are you? Are you Chinese? Yes. But you speak really good English? So? I was born here. Oh, so you're English too? Ermm you can say that, yeah. So one of your parents is white? Wtf? No. I'm so confused. I'm Chinese but I was born in England, you moron."
Growing up and being raised in two different cultures can be pretty exhausting - especially in your younger years. You'd spend your days at school and even in your part-time work explaining to people who and what you are. Whilst trying to find your own identity by figuring out the balance of 'am I more Asian?' or 'am I more Western? So, what is it truly like being a British-born Chinese?


My tricky relationship with my British Chinese identity
https://www.varsity.co.uk/features/11965

1. I’ve spent years trying to walk that tightrope – trying my hardest to avoid becoming a walking stereotype, to draw attention to the parts of me that defy that stereotype, and to not let my ‘typically Chinese’ hobbies define me and my personality. At the same time, though, I’m also trying not to be embarrassed of my heritage, and to take pride in my identity if I can.
2. Finding a sense of identity is a bewildering and frustrating process even without these considerations and anxieties, but that’s the challenge that all BBCs – British-born Chinese people – are inevitably confronted with as they get older. The realisation that you’re not like other kids comes quickly: playground teasing about your name, about your ‘slant eyes’, people constantly asking you if you speak any Chinese, and so on. You can try and shake it off, but of course it always comes back, and so, growing up, your experiences are always tinted by a sense of being different. 
3. We’re everywhere and nowhere, visible and invisible. What’s more, because we’re so much smaller than other BME groups, there’s a severe lack of British Chinese presence in mainstream media and culture. 
4. There are no British Chinese icons you can look up to, no wider cultural community that you feel like you’re part of. Instead, you just have many kids going through a lot of the same experiences but who have no way of building a substantive dialogue about it all.
5. Growing up in modern Britain, these things can seem outmoded, but most importantly they are different. Being Chinese makes you different. No one at school talks about eating moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, or learning the vocab for next week’s Chinese test, so you don’t either. You want to fit in. You want to fit in so badly that you don’t build an identity on your Chinese-ness, although you may have Chinese friends, and you may be very involved with the Chinese community. You find ways to minimise it, to differentiate yourself from it. When your teenage years come around and you start rebelling against your parents, all of this becomes even more justified as a way to get back at them.
6. The result of all of this is that many British Chinese kids are in a strange limbo between their senses of Britishness and Chineseness. Some people are more receptive to their Chinese upbringing as kids and have embraced that from the beginning. To others, their only attachment to the Chinese community is vestigial.
7. Most people, like me, are somewhere in between. We care about our Chinese heritage, but are busy with work or study and don’t have the time or energy to dig any deeper. We’re sort of but not really bilingual. Our lives are defined by code-switching, swapping out Chinese words we don’t know for English equivalents, speaking different languages depending on whom we’re talking to. We’re more settled now – the alienation we felt in childhood doesn’t bother us as much – but we still feel a bit like outsiders, and we wonder if that feeling will ever really go away. Finding your identity is a confusing process for any young person. For British Chinese kids, though, it’s just that little bit more confusing.

Ethnic Cognition and Affect of British-Born Chinese Children
http://roar.uel.ac.uk/6552/