After the phony fireworks and the phony singing, how could Chinese Olympic organizers possibly top themselves? With phony Chinese!
OK, that’s a slight distortion. But a slighter one than, we’re learning in dribs and drabs, pervaded the production of the ceremonies. According to Reuters, a segment of the festivities that the ceremony’s media guide described as “Fifty-six children from 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster[ing] around the Chinese national flag, representing the 56 ethnic groups” actually featured mostly kids from China’s majority Han group, dressed in the garb of China’s other ethnicities.
Of course, we must remember that there are cultural differences involved here, and that what you and I might recognize as “misleading” may, to another culture—oh, to hell with it. Whatever the intentions behind the stunt, it pretty much hangs a light on the fact that, when you take people’s countries away and systematically repress them, they may be less inclined to lend their children to dress up for your parties.
And yes, the U.S. has historically done terrible things too. Which is why I tend to think that if we had white kids dressing up as Sioux children in our next Olympics, people might make a bit of a thing about it.