University of Hong Kong’s first course on race and racism helps students tackle tough topics with sensitivity
- HKU lecturer Michael Rivera launched ‘Making Race’ course in 2022, which aims to teach students how to talk honestly about racism
- The course was first taught in September 2022 to 29 students majoring in subjects ranging from biology to history and anthropology.
Despite being born and raised in Hong Kong, Filipino-Chinese Michael Rivera says he still needs to change the way he interacts with different communities or risk being marginalised because of his multi-ethnic background.
“I grew up here in Hong Kong. I have a Filipino dad, a Chinese mother and went to international schools,” said Rivera, who has a PhD in biological anthropology from the University of Cambridge and teaches the “Making Race” course at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
“But I felt I still had to ‘code-switch’ to navigate between different communities and groups of people.”
Code-switching can refer to when a person downplays their racial or ethnic identity to better fit in.
The 32-year-old added that he had to be Chinese in certain walks of life and Filipino in others, but it was rare that he could ever be his true self: Filipino-Chinese.
The “Making Race” course was first taught at HKU in September 2022 to 29 students majoring in subjects ranging from biology to history and anthropology.
The course finished its second semester in December 2023 with 27 students, with those enrolled including Hongkongers, Pakistanis, Britons and Germans.
The course focuses on the global history and theories of race and how it has affected the world and specific areas of society, such as gender and class.
Throughout the semester, students are exposed to ideas about apartheid, Islamophobia in the United States, the Third Reich in Nazi Germany and events that could have normalised racism, such as how anthropologists once thought skulls had a racial identity.
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Rivera said his goal was to teach students how to approach sensitive topics and to also make them understand how ideas of race were formed overseas and constructed at home.
“All of us in that room came from different backgrounds, and we looked at the same subject matter from different perspectives, which led to vibrant discussions about sensitive topics,” Rivera said.
“So with my students in this class, we tried to tie [discussions about the history of race and racism] to local issues. I feel like Hong Kong needs this education.”
Rivera said that while Hong Kong was commonly portrayed as an international city, many problems around racism and discrimination still existed.
People from ethnic minority groups often faced discrimination in the workplace or did not have equal access to education, healthcare or housing, he added.
A survey conducted by the YMCA of Hong Kong in 2022 revealed that more than 60 per cent of the Hong Kong youths agreed that people from ethnic minority groups experienced discrimination or unfair treatment.
For Rivera, racism in Hong Kong is more covert than direct.
“I understand that, for example, some people [in Hong Kong] would view Filipinos as mainly domestic workers or people who work in the catering industry,” he said.
Riveria pointed to specific events or instances when racist attitudes became obvious, referring to the discrimination and marginalisation of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority groups during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also noted the negative portrayal of people from ethnic minority groups in local media.
In 2022, Hong Kong actress Franchesca Wong darkened her skin to play a Filipino domestic worker in TVB’s television series Barrack O’Karma 1968 – a move she later apologised for.
“I think that marginalisation or discrimination can happen to any one of us,” Rivera said.
“A lot of people here in Hong Kong might move away for work or study and there’s a chance it could be the first time they realise how relevant race is. I hope I can equip my students with the knowledge of how to talk about sensitive topics surrounding race.”
The scholar said that although one course would not rid Hong Kong of racism, further discussion about sensitive issues would help.
“A lot of my friends, colleagues and students, they have a lot of trepidation entering into this kind of discussion, because they’re scared they’re going to offend someone,” he said.
“They also don’t want to talk about terrible instances of genocide, slavery, the Holocaust during World War II, because it’s almost like giving power to them and legitimising them.
“But by talking about it we can avoid the problems we experienced in the past.”
Hongkonger Sonia Dhillon, 21, who took the course as part of her undergraduate degree in language and communication, said studying race and racism were beneficial to society.
“I think courses like this and wider teaching on race and racism can benefit myself and the wider society to a large extent,” she said. “Oftentimes, the topics of race and racism are avoided due to various complications and clashing perspectives.
“However, the course illustrated that understanding and discussing are necessary steps for society to take to overcome complicated issues that come with said topics.”
