The Buddha Sneaks-In!

UK: Anti-China Racism [1971] – Black & White Minstrel Show! (5.7.2026)

. Their body language became coquettish and supposedly seductive – as Asian women were viewed as something akin to prostitutes (being always available for sexual activity). Chinese people (in relatively small numbers) had been in the UK for hundreds of years – but in 1919 the British government ethnically-cleansed 20,000 Chinese from the UK (I think around the Liverpool area) as part of a post-WWI expression of British (racist) nationalism. In 1946, the Labour government expelled around 2000 Chinese people from London – effectively ending the “Chinatown” that existed in the East of that city (Docklands). It was not until 1956 that the Tory government once again allowed British-Chinese to come to live in the UK from the British colony of Hong Kong (creating the neew “Chinatown” in Gerrard Street) – this is when my Chinese grandfather – Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993) – came to the UK. In the clip above, White men are dressed-up as Black men, dressed-up as Chinese men – being neither “Black” nor “Chinese”. The White woman is yellow-facing – being neither “Asian” nor “Chinese”. As no one would employ Chinese people – they had to create jobs. Washing dirty clothes was one of their first industries – but this soon transitioned into selling their ethnic food – which became very successful.

BMA (UK): Examples of Anti-China Racism in Dad’s Army Scripts (1968-1977) – [31/10/23]

The second round-up was perpetuated by the incumbent Labour Party in 1946 – and is the reason a ‘Chinatown’ nolonger exists in East London. During this ‘purge’ – around 2,000 Chinese people were ‘kidnapped’ by the Police (usually ‘males’ on their way to work early in the morning) – and forcibly placed on ships bound for China. Those who had ‘White’ (English) partners were visited by the British Police and Social Workers and were told that they were ‘sexual deviants’ whose ‘mixed-race’ children will be taken away and placed into ‘Care’ – if any legal challenge was raised against this government-sponsored ethnic cleansing.