Kenyan Human Rights Expert Critiques Freedom of Assembly in America

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Kenyan Maina Kiai, released on 27 July 2016 his report on this subject following an official mission to the United States from 11 to 27 July.

While many Americans will resent a report that is often critical of the situation in the United States by an outsider, it is important to remember that the United States government routinely critiques the human rights situation in every country in the world, except the United States, in the annual State Department Human Rights Report and numerous country specific statements. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the views of Maina Kiai, it is useful to consider how others see us.

Self-Employed Africans and Chinese in Guangzhou, China

The UCLA International Institute published on 1 October 2015 a study titled "Entrepreneurship and Interracial Dynamics: A Case Study of Self-Employed Africans and Chinese in Guangzhou, China" by Min Zhou, Tao Xu, and Shabnam Shenasi.

The study examines how interacting social forces shape interracial relations and mobility pathways for migrant entrepreneurs in Guangzhou.  It suggests that interactions between African and Chinese entrepreneurs are economically interdependent and socio-culturally contentious processes, shaping a myriad of intersecting identities and creating room for cooperation that transcends race, class, and migrant status.

China: Embracing Africa, But Not Africans

The Diplomat published on 29 January 2015 a commentary titled "China: Embracing Africa, But Not Africans" by Paul R. Burgman Jr., a  graduate student at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. 

The author argued that China must still convince Africans that its interest in their continent is authentic.  He suggested that if you scour the internet under the keywords, "Chinese prejudice against Africans in China" you will find a litany of blogs and articles on the experiences of young African migrants, students, and travelers, many of whom are proficient in Mandarin, as they recount their experiences in China.

Chinese-Ghanaian Employment Relations

The 2012 edition of Ethnic and Racial Studies contains an article by Karsten Giese and Alena Thiel titled "The Vulnerable Other--Distorted Equity in Chinese-Ghanaian Employment Relations." It analyses Chinese-Ghanaian employment relations from the perspectives of psychological contract, cross-cultural equity expectations and foreignness.  Mutually contradictory, culturally grounded expectations regarding their employment relationship are central to the understanding of conflict between Chinese employers and Ghanaian employees.