Is Racism Creeping In to Product Choice?

Racism is defined as, "a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior".

China and India have earned themselves a reputation for producing poor quality products. Often these products have been made by exploited workers in bad conditions. Those workers were not earning a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

So a healthy dislike of the “Made in China” and “Made in India” label has developed amongst many consumers in the West. Healthy because it sends the message to these manufacturing countries that we want good quality products made by well-treated people earning fair pay. (Whether or not we are willing to pay a higher price for that is another issue.)

However a problem has slowly developed in the West. It’s similar to the adage that to boil a frog, you don’t drop him in boiling water. We started in the lukewarm water and over time have learned to distain the “Made in China/India/Asia” label. The temperature has been rising all the while. To the point that we no longer care if the product is of exceptional quality, or made by workers in good conditions earning fair pay. All we know is if it’s made there, we have contempt for it.

If there is no other reason, other than the race of the manufacturers, to have distain for a product then it boils down to racism. As far as I can see it stems from the definition, the idea that one’s own race is superior.

Sadly I’ve witnessed this attitude in my own industry of footwear in Australia. (For the record, we make most of our shoes in our workshop in Taipei. We do make some in Australia under another brand.) The truth is that the majority of people making shoes in Australia couldn’t even get an apprenticeship with the good shoe-makers in Asia (of which there are many). The average Australian footwear skill level, knowledge and experience are so far below their counterparts in the East it’s laughable.

I know this is a sensitive issue. I’m not Australia-bashing. I’m not considering economic issues. What I want to do is call attention to an un-Australian issue that will continue to grow unless we shine a light on it. Next time you read an article or see an interview where the Western shoe maker infers that their rough shoes are somehow better just because they were not made in Asia, your radar should go up. That is racism. We don’t need it.

Judge products on the merit of the products and company that made them...not geography or race.