They will only hire white teachers. This is not only wrong on moral and ethical grounds, but also perpetuates stereotypes and falsehoods about differences between races.

These schools do this with the belief that Caucasians, especially those from native English-speaking countries, are the best English speakers and therefore make the best English teachers. This is nonsense.

For one thing, English is a main or a second language in many countries of highly diverse ethnic groups from throughout the world, from Antigua and Barbuda to Namibia to Zimbabwe.

Also, what about Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, native homes to many of China¡¯s best English teachers? These natural-born citizens of every color and ethnicity -- Africans-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Native Americans, and European-Americans, and so on, are all native English speakers.

Color means nothing. It is as ludicrous to consider it a qualification as it is a person¡¯s gender.

Fortunately, many schools in China realize this, such as the teacher¡¯s college I once worked for, which had no prohibitions and hired people based upon the merit of their qualifications, not the color of their skin.

Yet backward schools in China cling to their hiring hierarchy based mainly on race. They generally have a policy that goes something like this: Highly qualified white native speakers are at the top, followed by average white native speakers, with a mix of highly qualified non-white native speakers and white non-native speakers (mainly from Europe), battling it out in the middle, and the non-white non-native speakers rounding out the bottom.

This smorgasbord approach ¨C where color intrudes on candidates¡¯ intellect and abilities ¨C loses the point. It¡¯s the teaching and the English that matter, not a person¡¯s skin.

In the same way that not every Chinese person can teach Chinese, not every native speaker can teach English. In a truly equal society, even a native Chinese who can speak English fluently and has top English-teaching credentials should be hired over an inexperienced native speaker with questionable qualifications.

In college, I had a tall European-American as my martial arts teacher and a plump Chinese-American as my social dance teacher. They both were great educators who went the extra mile to meet the needs of their students. They could connect to me. I immensely enjoyed their classes.

What if I would have declared that I would only take martial arts from a Chinese teacher? Or that I would only take social dance from a slender European American? What difference would it have made? None. It would be the equivalent of saying that Yao Ming can¡¯t possibly play basketball in the NBA ¨C for goodness sake, he¡¯s Chinese¡­ not black. You get the picture. Such thinking is just plain silly.

If upon first impression you think that only a white person can be a good English teacher, then you should join the other ostriches at the zoo. They¡¯re lonely with their heads buried in the sand.

But if you -- as a parent or as participants in a school -- insist that teachers of all races be included so that your child can learn about diversity and the different ethnicities as they learn another language, then you are part of progress on this planet.

If you¡¯d rather have a Russian who is white but can barely speak English teach your child than a Chinese who is very capable in English tutor your kid, then you are racially biased, if not a bigot. In that case, I pity you.

While such a concept by parents can be excused as ignorance, that of schools can¡¯t be easily forgiven. Some institutions like to absolve themselves of blame, saying, ¡°The parents demand it. If we don¡¯t follow their wishes, they will go to another school.¡±

Sigh. Recently, two great fighters of morality, Chinese beacon of truth Ba Lin and US civil rights leader Rosa Parks, passed away. They struggled for their ideals, but persevered and gave society a conscience in the process. Schools, as the bearers of civilization, should follow their example.

Schools should first try educating the parents; if the parents don¡¯t budge, then politely hold the door open for them as they and their child leave. I believe a firm stand on principle by itself would inspire the parents to change eventually.

Whites who knowingly apply for and teach for schools with such hiring practices are also to blame. More times than not, they are the ones most capable of saying ¡°I will not work for you because of your racial discrimination.¡± Instead, by teaching at such schools, they are as guilty as the schools because they are benefiting from and reinforcing such bias.

It is hard to determine exactly how much discrimination exists in China¡¯s English-teaching field, simply because there is no organ that tallies such cases. Nevertheless, any amount of discrimination there is can mushroom into full-blown racism if left unchecked.

While education is important in fighting unfair teacher-hiring practices, international experience has shown that only when education is combined with legislation can discrimination be combated. Therefore, I suggest the Central Government take such measures as setting up an agency that has the power to both investigate allegations of racist hiring practices and punish confirmed cases mainly via fines.

Write to Raymond McFarland at mcstephen23@hotmail.com