When it comes to people writing offensive or disrespectful remarks about other people I usually don’t take it to heart unless it involves me. Calling someone fat, ugly, untalented or whatever is just seen to me as disrespectful but not enough to warrant my personal attention and input. If there is one area that I feel inclined to talk about is whenever people say racist comments about other races. Maybe its because I am African American and have had racist experiences before, but the idea of demeaning someone because of their heritage does not sit right with me.
One of the main reasons I’m writing this article now is in response to racist comments said about Korean-American rapper Tiger JK’s one year-old son Jordan. Jordan’s mom, Korean-American rapper/ singer Tasha aka Yoon MiRae, is half Korean half African American, making him about a quarter African American. Tiger JK brought his son onstage for a Korean television show and afterwards, Korean netizens made hateful comments towards both Tasha and Jordan because of their heritage.
Before I continue, I realize I am using Korea and Korean netizens as the basis for this piece, but I do realize that the situation is prevalent in all parts of the world. Even in America, the melting pot of the world, you have racist people who say openly racist comments on national TV. Yes its true that we have sizable populations of various ethnic groups, thus giving a say for the groups being targeted by the comments, but that doesn’t mean the comments aren’t said at all.
Many people have commented on the fact that Korea is a homogenous country where most of the population is “pure” Korean, making most people unaware of how racist their comments are. Although it is true that Korea is mostly homogenous does not take away from the fact that people should know better. Entering 2010 we have the Internet, satellite TV and YouTube, there are more than enough outlets available in the world to give people an idea of the existence of other races. You would think by now that with these new openings in communication people would be more ignorant than just racist, believing the images on TV were the proper projection of how people act.
Along with that projection, you also have people saying that since Jordan is a quarter African-American he will be a great rapper. Newsflash: your race has absolutely nothing to do with your talents. The argument is as simple as bringing up Asians being good at math, Latinos with big families or any other stereotype there is out there. The stereotypes just give us excuses to 1) justify our own lack in talent in a particular area and 2) rationalize and predict why someone is or will be better than us.
Another area of annoyance is other people’s reactions to the whole story. Just going with the English language comments posted you get different views of the situation. Maybe it has to do with my “racial sensitivity” but some of the comments seem ignorant in their own way. The majority mentions how Jordan doesn’t even look mixed or how his hair isn’t even nappy. Like I said, I am sensitive to racial ideas, and the majority of what is being said makes it sound like the netizens are racist because Jordan doesn’t “look” as mixed as some people. It is as if his look has anything to do with what is being said about him. If he was darker and had more “westernized” eyes would it be acceptable to talk about his racial heritage?
The general consensus should just be that people are racist. Not that Jordan is a naturalized Korean citizen meaning he is a “Korean.” Not that his parents are celebrities. Not that he doesn’t fit into the stereotypes and hateful comments being directed towards him. No, people just need to see what is being said and call it how it is. There is no explanation for it or any other time it occurs.
Tiger JK and Tasha are both Korean musicians, and although they are both bilingual, the majority of their music is in Korean. I have absolutely no idea what they are saying without translations or subtitles on their music videos. Does this mean I look at them or respect them any differently? No. Tasha’s song “Black Happiness,” a song in full Korean and became one of my favorite songs even without knowing what was being said. The delivery and feeling of the song made me fall in love with it. After learning and reading the translated lyrics talking about her life growing up in Korea as a mixed person just made me respect her, her music and her story even more. I never looked at her or Tiger JK as just Asians rapping or having an advantage of being mixed. They, along with their son Jordan, are still people and should be looked at and respected as such.
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