Blacks banned from bars during the Olympics?
BY NSENGA BURTON
Special Op-Ed to the Atlanta Voice
What do Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Jason Kidd have in common? They are the starting five of the 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball team and none of them will be admitted to any bars in Beijing because they are black. No, this is not fiction – it is a fact as reported by the South China Morning Post (7/18/08). Beijing authorities have forbidden bar owners to serve blacks during the 2008 Olympics.
How hypocritical is it that the host of the largest international sports competition in the free world would ban an entire group of people based on race? This blanket discrimination is couched in the idea of ‘controlling’ Beijing’s problem with prostitution and drugs, which is primarily driven by Mongolians. Somehow, this policy smacks of impropriety, pun intended, and underscores China’s continuous policies of discrimination. You would think with the global embarrassment over the mistreatment of Tibetan Monks, faulty consumer products, and the suppression of information about deadly diseases, that China would have figured out by now that the systematic exclusion of an entire group of people, many of whom have histories of horrendous discrimination in their home countries, would not reflect well on the mainland. Further, I was not aware that blacks owned drug trafficking and prostitution worldwide. Amsterdam anyone?
Let’s get this straight. Black people can participate in the games, add money to the economy in ‘permitted’ spaces like hotels, lodges and restaurants, but they cannot go to a bar, which may be located in a hotel, lodge or restaurant. This is outrageous. Would the world stand still if in 2008 the United States was banning entire populations of people based on perceived ideas about race?
Pretending to control drug trafficking while controlling the movement of black folks is out of control. To define an entire race of people as drug dealers and prostitutes is unacceptable. I guess this is what you get when an international committee overlooks a country that has transgressed human rights without recourse. The world community needs to unite against this injustice and demand that China allow all Olympic participants, athletes and visitors alike, equal access to all venues.
As China prepares to take the world’s stage in celebration of athletes all over the world, and by extension their people, it is tragic that they have decided to add blanket discrimination to the many offerings during this year’s Olympic games. Perhaps our expectations of China are too high? It is kind of ridiculous to have the expectation of moving freely in a country that does not allow its citizens to move freely. Complicated countries have complicated practices. The fact that Beijing is being allowed to ban all blacks from any place or event, without rebuke or scorn, is maddening. Will the world stand by while China further institutionalizes another human rights debacle? (Source: RushmoreDrive.com)
Can you ever find anything good happening to the Blacks it seems you are always just looking for problems to complain about and no matter what, you are never going to be happy with the world or the United States. GET A LIFE.
Wow. China is a backward country, that’s all there is to it.
@Phil: Stop discrimination and racism and there will not be a need to report on it. There is plenty to be said that is positive about the Black people. Descendants of great Kings and Queens. The info is all there. Use some of your extra time and energy to research the good news. In fact RushmoreDrive.com does a good job of making it easy to surface this kind of information. Best of luck in your rise from ignorance.
*A recent article in the South China Morning Post alleged that the Chinese government had ordered Beijing bars to ban blacks and other “undesirables” from entering during next month’s Olympic Games.
The article came to our attention through the comprehensive black search engine RusmoreDrive.com.
The article stated, quote:
Bar owners near the Workers’ Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises … Security officials are targeting Sanlitun (district), which Olympic organizers expect to be a key destination for foreign tourists looking for a party during the Games. The pledges that Sanlitun bar owners had been instructed to sign agreed to stop a variety of activities in their establishments, including dancing and serving customers with black skin, they said.
Chinese officials denied the report right away and so far there is very little evidence to support the article’s claims. A blogger called Beijing Boyce talked to a few bar owners in Beijing’s Sanlitun area who said that they had not been ordered to keep black patrons out.
An African-American sports reporter for China Central Television named Tony Perkins told Beijing Boyce that he had not been discriminated at any of the bars.
The South China Morning Post acknowledged the lack of proof for its original report and offered this explanation:
“Further investigation found that not all bars in the newly revamped area known for its nightlife had been ordered to refuse black customers, suggesting police are targeting specific bars.”
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, who will be in Beijing next month for the Games, stated:
“The Olympics is a global event for peace and unity, and I would expect the Chinese Government to accept all people. We’ve been down this road before and I thought we were past that.”
Might pay to check your facts before publishing this kind of thing….
Phil you are one stupid man. Maybe we should deny you and your family the right to go where you please based on your race and see if you don’t complain. Unless you have been through some of these kinds of situations KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!!!!! Speaking just shows how dumb you are! People like you is part of the reason this country and other countries in this world are so full of hate. Ignoring the problem does not solve the problem. WOW what a stupid man! It is amazing that you have made it this far in life so far.
To the 1st comment: it shouldn’t matter whats reported, injustice is injustice. Can a person whose not Black ever understand the issue? Doubtful, unless you’re indigenous to Australia or America. You, sir, need to get a clue & library card. GET SMART… When it rains on one man’s house, it rain’s on all.
My question is how could this miss the International media over the course of the games? Anotehr example of the corporate owned media filtering stories tha don’t fit status quo politics…WAKE UP BLACK PEOPLE, WE ARE AT WAR!!
An Australian man was recently refused entry into the USA – for reasons as yet still unclear – he had no criminal record, he had friends to stay with and a return ticket.
Firstly he was thought to be a security threat … Once they realised that was not the case he was then refused entry on the basis that the USA officials thought he may work illegally. After being held in detention for a couple of days he was then sent home. He is not allowed to return to the USA. Why? Well that is the question.
What China is doing is attrocious – but so is what the USA is doing to prospective tourists.