Ep. 8: (Mandarin) "Chinese son-in-law" 中国女婿 Morgan Jones talks being Black in China/US

Chinatown 2.0

Morgan Jones is a Black American that previously spent six years in China as a radio host, movie production assistant and EMBA English teacher. He is a “Chinese son-in-law” (中国女婿), a self-described Tiger Dad (“虎爸”) and a fluent Mandarin speaker.

He got his EMBA from Cornell and bachelors from Middlebury College, or 明德大学 in Chinese.

This episode was recorded in Mandarin. We discussed Morgan’s adventures in China, takeaways from his marriage to a Chinese woman, his relationship with Chinese in-laws, growing up Black in the US, and other American race issues such as affirmative action and recent police involved incidents.

We discussed:

* Host of a jazz radio show in Shanghai
* Teaching English to execs 20 years his senior at Nanjing University EMBA program
* Learning about Nanking massacre as an assistant for Chinese movie production
* Personal experience of semi-discrimination against Blacks in China
* Reaction to detergent commercial that turns a black person into a white person
* Minor cultural difference with his Chinese wife
* Relationship with Chinese in-laws, especially when it comes to getting their help in raising grandchildren
* Self-branded Tiger Dad
* Recent and past race related tragedies and conflicts in the US
* Call for stronger focus in building community relations in police departments
* Growing up Black in America
* Affirmative action (CA Prop 16 re-allowing racial preference to raise black/latinx representation in public colleges)