IShowSpeed has been sharing his once-in-a-lifetime experiences on his social media platforms. At just 20 years old, the YouTube personality has become an elite level streamer and influencer, with a net worth of a whopping $10 million. But despite his dedicated global fanbase, the Ohio native shared some disturbing, and controversial, content from his trip overseas that has generated buzz online.
As opposed to his typical funny and unpredictable travel excursions, his welcome to China was met with greetings... with a side of racial slurs.
While recently exploring China, he encountered “fans” who used the N-word or exhibited racist behavior towards him.
“I’m racist!” one Chinese woman screamed at the influencer. “You’re racist?” he asked dumbfounded in a clip shared online. “Yes! I hate n*****s. I’m a n****r killer. I’m so sorry about that!” IShowSpeed was understandably baffled, but the woman added how she loves his “girlfriend because she’s white people! I love her. Yes, that’s true, I’m so sorry about that.” He asked if the woman speaks English, to which she confirmed, and doubled down on her blatant racism.
It is well-known that China has significant issues with racism and has been racially insensitive towards Black Americans. A now-deleted Instagram post from Livebitez captured footage of young foreign fans hurling racial slurs at Speed while trying to take pictures with him.
This isn’t the first time Speed has faced negative racial encounters while traveling. In another instance, he was called the N-word during a freestyle. “You know I’m Chinese, you Black,” one Asian man rapped to a hip hop beat playing in the background. “But I can speak Chinese, you a n****r.” IShowSpeed immediately interrupted the man, asking, “Why y’all keep saying that s**t? Why you keep saying n***a?!” The man replied, “Please bro,” before saying the slur again.
Oddly enough, despite some locals calling him the N-word, they were still seemingly ecstatic to meet him.
Speed handled the challenging moments gracefully, but his Black followers couldn’t help but give China the side eye. The online streamer was praised by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for his international efforts, but during his stay, he faced blatant racism. Speed managed to navigate these egregious and heinous situations, but why must he endure this in 2025?
We understand that China exists in its own world, and many people live in this propagandized bubble, which, unfortunately, could be difficult to escape. However, with a growing population of Black people residing in China (which has a population of 1.4 billion, and pre-pandemic Black people made up about 500,000, or 0.04% of the population), one could only assume that the country will adjust to less racially biased societal norms and embrace more inclusivity. I suppose that is just a reach.