1. Group members : Kyu-seok Sim, Ha-Yeon Kim, Daeyoung Yun, Hyunmoo Lee
2. Topic : Living as a black in Korea
3. Subject and Purpose of Our Research
As the world is becoming closer and more diverse, South Koreans are experiencing incoming foreigners like they have never before. And as globalization became so obvious, many types of race, religion and nationality are flowing into Korea. As a part of this inflow, nowadays it’s quite common to see black people in many streets of Seoul. Due to this increase in diversity, the Korean society is starting to suffer from some racism problems that seem to come from the misunderstanding about different race, their culture and how to treat them right.
The object of this research is to relieve this ignorance of the black subculture by confronting the common stereotypes that the Koreans have against black people and introducing the subculture in a right way. And although racism on black people has been a familiar and traditional problem in western societies, it’s quite a brand new issue to Koreans and therefore much more future problems might be lurking in the dark. So through this research, we also hope to make some positive influences on preventing some future issues that might occur.
4. Stereotypes of Black people.
1) Black people are violent, aggressive.
2) Black people are not educated well.
3) Black people are strong physically.
4) Black people have great sense of music.
5. Black people are dirty
6. Black people are poor.
5. Plan
We are going to research into the subculture, black people living in Korea, by interviewing some of them.
We are planning to contact 2~3 black people and interview them until the end of second week of July.
Our interview is going to consist of questions about stereotypes of black people, such as we listed above, and personal experiences of some other stereotypes that interviewees have experienced in Korea. Also, through the interview, we want to know what black subculture in Korea is and what its unique characteristics are and so on.
6. Preliminary Research
1) Magazine Article : Korea's black racism epidemic
by Dave Hazzan on February 11th, 2014, GROOVE
Summary:
This article handles about the story of black in korea in various perspectives. There are many examples of experiences that black people have suffering from difficulties of living in Korea. And it tracks the reason why they’re in trouble, where these discriminations come from historically, culturally. And coming to present, the article says the things will be better slightly, but still some problems will remain. From this article, you could get some overall knowledge about black racism, a negative aspect of being in a black subculture in Korea. We recommand you to read the whole article. But if you don’t have the time, you can read only the part of <Monkeys, blackface and watermelon> section to <'Raised' racist> section. This part handle a story of unusual black discrimination from media and track the reason for the discrimination.
Link : http://korea.stripes.com/news/koreas-black-racism-epidemic
2) News Article : 'How black is he?'
by Casey Lartigue, Jr. on June 16, 2015, The Korea Times
Summary:
Even highly educated people can discriminate against black people.
Casey Lartigue, Jr, who graduated Harvard University, had teaching experience in Yonsei University and worked at high profile organizations in both USA and South Korea, is black person. He talked about discrimination he experienced during 1990s in Korea. A Korean professor who is a fan of him has been recruiting him to join her university. To get hired, he had to prove that he is not perfectly black, and also that he is close to white people to faculties. Because of their thinking that black would fight with white people.
Link : http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/06/137_180980.html
3) Blog post : Being Black in South Korea
by Timah on June 26, 2013
Summary :
The writer of this blog post, Timah, talks about living in Korea as a black person in kind of a neutral tone, which is different from many other posts saying in a negative perspective. According to the writer, if you are okay being black in America, then you’ll also be OK in Korea. Some people tend to think it’s much more difficult to be black in Korea than be white foreigners, but the writer disagrees with that idea based on her personal experiences. She thinks that some white people exaggerate difficulties of being black in Korea.
Link : http://livetravelmore.com/being-black-in-south-korea/
4) Youtube Video : Black in Korea: Positive Experiences
Summary :
“Black in Korea: Positive Experiences” is a video posted on YouTube by a blogger and a former English teacher in Korea. The clip shows an interview with another YouTuber called MiaMor, also a former English teacher in Korea. She shares her completely wonderful experience of being in Korea as a black woman and gives her thoughts on what type of people are more likely to suffer from the stress of being in a foreign culture.
Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAhV6DHI0V0
작성자가 댓글을 삭제했습니다.
답글삭제I felt for the first from "Magazine Article : Korea's black racism epidemic" that medias made from Korea sometimes use images from Africa or black-skinned people. I think Koreans are kind of insensitive to that kind of stereotype or discrimination because they have not heard enough and thought enough about those things. And, it is not a very urgent problem in Korea. However, I think makers of medias should adjust to situation of outside if they want to sell their product outside.
답글삭제I am Myeongjin Seo.
삭제It was interesting that actually Charly, who is in the video, was the one who appeared in our group's video(LGBT), too. I knew that she was uploading many part of her life, but I couldn't thought her as 'black woman', when I was doing my research.
답글삭제So, it was good to see her again in this blog, and I really like her interview with her guest 'Mia'.
I definitely agree with Mia's word that traveling teaches us that 'we all are just person, and related' in some way, regardless of our skins, languages, or appearances. I also believe the experience and recognition are the most important things in understanding 'others'. And those two girls are so lovely, personally I think.
I felt sort of sadness since the blacks who thinks the discrimination and prejudice in South Korea is no big deal says that it is because they already felt that way in their country. It seems that the prejudice is structural to them, which may cause frustration.
답글삭제I was also shocked that even the 'educated' people, or organization judges someone based on 'bloods'. As long as I know, the 'educated' people learns about Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts. More funny point was that they 'calculated' how much 'black' was a person. I think it is because Koreans are too heavily educated to be a unified ethnic, therefore having no ability to think of diversity in race or ethnicity.
Hojeong Eom
답글삭제Especially I could learn useful information about black in Korea from the magazine Article : Korea's black racism epidemic. It was interesting that English academies in Korea usually don't hire black teachers not because of their prejudice but because of the prejudice from student's parents. Therefore the academies have to meet the parents' need to make money. This phenomenon shows that although the prejudice is made by the older generation long times ago, that can last and be transmitted into younger generation under the name of education between the parents and the children.
Elena Kim:
답글삭제Korean's perception of Black people may be highly influenced from American media, however, I thought that that would not only be the case of this country but of many other countries around the world which have easy media access. American media tends to be the most well known and popular one and whatever it shows certainly has an impact on other country's views, not just Korea's. However, after organizing my thoughts and remembering about the Korean War and the L.A. Riot, I came to conclusion that because of these two major historical events, Koreans may have the tendency to have a bit more of a negative attitude toward Black people. Although I cannot guarantee this since I have not experienced being in many other nations, I think that at least these two events definitely had a major impact on their view toward this racial minority group and realized how a past occurrence can carry on its effect until today.
[JIEUN]
답글삭제It is nice to ser Charly again. She is in LGBT and black!!!!
When i read the article1: magazine article Korea's black racism epicemic, i felt really uncomfortable. It is because of overgeneralization. In the article, there are so many interesting things such as many examples, interviews, origin! But it can make another stereotype about Korean, for example, Korean hates and ignores black people.
[Yeon-Kyeong Song] I spend about a year studying in England, and I had kind of similar experiences like one mentioned in 3) blog post. I have actually never got any kind of racism or negative reactions about my skin color during the time in England. However I was sometimes asked by people of other skin color how difficult it is for Asians to live in England, or if there was any case I experienced such things. My answer was always "No"or "I have not", but seeing someone being over-careful or sympathetic for me made me feel very weird. Not only direct, negative actions against the minority are discrimination. Being told about the minority factor and considered as a minority-victim, especially when it is actually nothing to do with it, can be another thing to frustrate people in such situations.
답글삭제Minseok Lee
답글삭제I would like to think that I have lots of foreign friends. That is partially due to my time in Singapore. However, just like in Korea, there are not many black people in Singapore, whether they are from Africa or America. Therefore, I have very little exposure to black people, and because of this, I think I hold lots of stereotypes about black people compared to people with other ethnicity. Thus I am grateful that your group is doing a presentation about them. Also from this post, I am amazed how some black people had pleasurable life in Korea because just like me I would have thought that many Koreans have less exposure to blacks, leading to much discrimination.
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답글삭제I thought discrimination towards the black keep weakening in South Korea, but after reading this post I realize that it still remains a lot around the society. The most impressive post was column written by a partly-black(?) professor. I've never imagined that the color of skin can even affect as an obstacle when the qualified are employed as professors! I've read the news that some private academies or institutes prefer to the white American because of the prejudices parents might have. Those prejudices might be rooted from ignorance. However, professors would definately know and encounter the black a lot. It was so sad that they failed to get rid of their own biases toward the black despite some experiences. The first article was also very interesting that it reveals hidden biases rampant in Korean media. The black are cool, soulful and love hip-hop music: these are quite positivie things, but it does not mean that these are not stereotypes, but most people including me do not notice these as stereotypes that should be revised. Therefore, these are "hidden biases". Korean media should be careful when they describe other races. Lastly, I've heard about LA riot before but I did not know why it happend because it outbroke before I was born. As minorities in U.S. society, I think there is a way both Korean immigrants and the black coexist and help each other.
답글삭제p.s. As one of the big fans of BEAST, it was surprised that the writer of the first article mentioned Kikwang. I saw it before and I did not think it as a expression of hidden bias or hatred because he just mimicked "Michol(마이콜)", a character of famous (and quite old) animation "Baby Dinosaur Doolly". Maybe that character, "Michol" implyed some biases South Korean had toward the black on 1980s.
While reading article 1, I reminded of my past memories in the English Academy. When I was an elementary school student, I heard some parents complaining about the fact that their children's teacher was Canadian or gyopo. They wanted to have white U.S. teachers, and they thought those are more qualified than others. I'm not sure but I think it was hard to see black teachers in Korea because of this perception by some parents. When I grow up, I met a black teacher in another English academy, and her skills were good as she was the chief foreign teacher of that academy. In fact, she was the only black English teacher I've seen in my life among a lot of foreign teachers, and it makes me feel black people are disadvantaged to be hired as a English teacher in Korea because of something else than their teaching ability.
답글삭제It was also interesting to say black people saying they were not discriminated at all in Korea. In blog post 3, the writer says she is OK, but other people asks her if she is not OK, which is very disturbing to her. In this regards, it might be dangerous to generalize minority groups in Korea must have hardships, as attitudes like 'oh, I'm sure you have difficulties, and I understand it all' may be uncomfortable to some members in the minority group.
I have experience that when i were on airplane, a girl who was has to seat next to black man, wanted to change her seat to other person. Other guy changed it fastly and understood her feeling and sentiment. She didn't talk a word with the black man but she just felt unconfortable being next to her. This shows our racism. I agree people thinking if a black person is intimate relationship with white person,or have a lover who is white, we would not be afraid of them. Closeness to white people are what we consider and evaluate black man.
답글삭제First impression is very important. We have learned in media that white is good and pure, black is bad and dangerous. This conception has reminded on us so our unconcious thought dominates our behavior and attitude toward black people
답글삭제[LeeGyeongGeon]
답글삭제Reading 1) magazine article and 3) blog post, I could realize that stereotype between two groups can be made by whom are not directly relevant to both, e.g. South Korean people, black people, and white people. Stereotypes of South Korean people toward black people have been made by white people. And, stereotypes of black people toward South Korean people also have been made by white people. It's quite shocking.
I felt that we should be careful not to make stereotypes between other groups. Otherwise, it may influence them greatly. And I guess that one of the main reason why stereotypes are formed can be a arrogance of privileged people, e.g. white people. After reading this post, I'm very worried about stereotypes than ever before