Has the devil got hold of their hearts?

A screenshot of netizens' discussion after the event of Zhou Liang called players from Jiangsu province subeigou (North Jiangsu Dog) during a live broadcast of a match between the Shanghai and Jiangsu teams.[Photo/Agencies]

Russell Peters, the Canadian stand-up comedian of Indian origin, said during one of his talk shows: "Terrorists hate Americans. Indians hate each other". He might have spared Indians the ridicule had he known the depth of hatred among Chinese, as manifested in regional discrimination and sentiments.

Such discrimination, aimed at inciting hatred against people from certain parts of the country, is ubiquitous in our daily life and on the internet. Sometimes subtle but most often blatant, such discriminatory attitude tramples on the dignity of the victims and tears apart the fabric of society.

Sociologists believe this type of discrimination stems from a sense of superiority that some people have as a result of the wealth gaps among different regions. As the saying goes, "Guangdong people consider all outsiders poor, and Shanghainese see all non-natives as country bumpkins". But there are factors other than economic, such as ignorance, prejudice, stereotype, or just hate for hate's sake, behind such discrimination.

In one prominent case in October 2014, Zhou Liang, a Shanghai-based soccer commentator, called players from Jiangsu province subeigou (North Jiangsu Dog) during a live broadcast of a match between the Shanghai and Jiangsu teams. The derogatory term coined by Shanghai people several decades ago to refer to their compatriots from the neighboring province in the north is no less abusive and insulting than the N-word.