Can a Chinese/African-American Contestant Become a Chinese Idol?

Lou Jing is a typical young 20-year-old woman from Shanghai who speaks Mandarin with a heavy accent, and a hint of the lilting tones of the Shanghai dialect. She was born from an unmarried couple with a Chinese mother, and a father of African- American descent whom she has never met. As a girl of mixed race, brought up by a single Chinese mother, struggling to gain acceptance in a deeply conservative, some would say racist, society. "When she took part in an American Idol–esque TV show, Go! Oriental Angel, last August, Lou's appearance on the show not only boosted viewer numbers but also sparked an intense nationwide debate about the essential meaning of being Chinese." Many believe because she is not Full Chinese, she should not be "allowed to compete on a Chinese show, or at least not selected to represent Shanghai in the National competition." Because she doesn't have the "usual Chinese" fair skin, which is one of the most important factors for Chinese beauty and "her mother and her biological father were never married; morally, the argument goes, this kind of behavior shouldn't be publicized". And that she shouldn't have been put on TV as a young "idol." One of the most popular posts about Lou Jing on the KDS Life forum asked in mock seriousness, "Is it possible that she is Obama's daughter?" Another poster said, "I can't believe she's so shameless that she would go on TV." Most of the critics are agreed on one point: that this black woman cannot be regarded as a "real" Chinese. "Through this competition, it's really scary to find out how the color of my skin can cause such a big controversy" said Jing. "When I meet somebody for the first time, they'd often ask me how I can speak Chinese so well, and I tell them, 'Because I'm a Chinese — of course I can speak my mother tongue well,' " To show that this is not a new issue here is another example of these racism and society problems. "Last year, Ding Hui, a young man of African-Chinese ethnicity, caused a stir when he was called up to the national volleyball team, prompting much soul-searching about whether the athlete should be allowed to represent China alongside pure-blooded Chinese competitors. Eventually, Ding Hui did go on to play for the national team."

I believe that the quotes "Is it possible that she is Obama's Daughter?" and "I can't believe she's so shameless that she would go on TV" from KDS Life forum, are very racist and show the flaws of the Chinese society, where children must have married parents, who are both Chinese, and because of her race, she and her mother were not accepted lightly in the Chinese Society. I also think that just because her father was of black decent does not allow for people to judge her and call her a "black woman [and that she should not] be regarded as a "real" Chinese.