Lou Jing

Lou Jing (born 1989), also known as Vicky Lou, is a Chinese talent show contestant from Shanghai. She was born to a Chinese mother and an African American father. Her father left China before she was born and the two have not remained in contact. Her mother raised her as a single mother. She entered the Shanghai-based Dragon TV's Go Oriental Angel talent quest in August 2009, where she became one of the five finalists from Shanghai.

Dubbed the "Black Pearl" and "Chocolate Girl" on the show, her rise to fame culminated in heated discussions in the Chinese blogosphere. While some comments on internet forums expressed support, some commenters insulted Lou and her mother with racist remarks. Her attention in the media opened serious debates about racism in China and racial prejudice.

Fame and racist uproar Lou entered Shanghai's Go Oriental Angel program in August 2009 and reached the top-five in the Shanghai region. Initially hosts of the show were baffled by her skin colour and questioned her background and the origins of her father. Through the exposure she received on the show, she gained attention as a human interest story and granted several interviews to television stations. The media attention resulted in mass discussions on the Chinese language internet, but soon spreading to the English language internet and media. Rumours flared on cyberspace, allegedly citing a press report, that Lou's mother engaged in an extra-marital affair with an African American, resulting in the birth of Lou. Subsequently, a blog entitled "Could Lou Jing's dad be Obama?", where the author of the blog used many sarcastic remarks to ridicule Lou, received particular notoriety. Another blog, titled Lou Jing's American black father and Shanghai mother, appeared on Tianya, a popular Chinese internet forum, and garnered over 40,000 hits, with many vicious racist attacks made on Lou based on her dark skin. Racial slurs such as xiaoheigui (小黑鬼 xiǎohēiguǐ; lit. Little black devil) were made about her. Other bloggers wrote comments such as "Numb! This bitch still has the audacity to appear on television! I don't know what to say! One cannot be shameless to this kind of level!" Lou initially did not discover these comments on the internet until her friends contacted her with messages of support. She also remarked that it was the first time she has experienced such racial hatred in her life. "The whole thing was a big bomb to my family and me, and it caused great harm," Lou told Neteast News on Sept 14.

On August 31, 2009, someone posted a "Four Point Announcement" on KDS (a Shanghai local forum) under the name "Lou Jing," which led more controversy to this incident. The post titled "I am Lou Jing from ‘Oriental Angels’, I am making an announcement here" claimed that "I am a native Shanghainese." The "Four Point Announcement" later attracted more online attacks against Lou, saying that she is the racist one. However, in the interview with NetEase, Lou Jing proved that the announcement was fabricated.

China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou remarked that the backlash on the internet was caused by numerous factors, including China's homogeneity, her "non-Chinese" appearance and her mother's associations with a foreigner, but more relevantly, her dark skin from her father. Zhou opined that China's intolerance is color-based, where people value lighter skin and thus discriminate against darker skin. He further commented that this trend is "not totally race based," as the Chinese are biased against other darker skinned Chinese, especially women, and that he believes this to be an "offshoot of class discrimination" because historically, lower class laborers who usually worked outdoors often had darker skin due to constant exposure to the sun. Zhou was one of several media commentators in China who responded to the hostile reactions in the blogosphere. Zhou wrote that it was "high time [we] introduced some sensitivity training on races and ethnicities if we are going to latch on to the orbit of globalization." She replied, "Isn't it kind of stupid to say it now since China is America's biggest creditor?"

Personal Lou Jing has a very close relationship with her mother, a native Shanghai woman. Her mother appeared at all of her shows in support of her. Lou had a timid personality before appearing as a TV contestant, and is sensitive towards outside criticism, though she maintains an air of optimism. Lou Jing speaks fluent Shanghainese and Mandarin.