Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HardyandTiny]

[peppermint]

I've seen the elementary school textbooks here. They portray black people as fur and loincloth wearing, semi-humans. Think that could be a part of the problem?

[Gwangjuboy]

[Mosley]

Going back to the Hollywood bit: yes, there are many negative stereotypes of blacks, but for many years black "heroes" have emerged(e.g. Denzel Washington's characters). Why don't Koreans buy into that? I'm no defender of Hollywood, BTW.

[paperbag princess]

in my experience some koreans are just plain ethnocentric. they don't like anyone who's not korean.

i've been making my kids colour the skin of people in the activity books different colours (purple, black, brown, yellow, etc...) the first time they were like "no teacher, no!!!" but now they seem to be better about it.

[Tony Danza's Houseguest]

I'm friends with a doctor who said to me, "I'm afraid of people with blonde hair and blue eyes." So I think Korean fears run the gamut from light to dark. When one lives in a closed society for 600 million years or however long Korea's been around, it tends to lead one to draw conclusions based on anecdotal, TV evidence.

Oh wait, we all do that, because we are all a-holes. Yes, every one of us. Except me, because I am a superhero a-hole.

[VanIslander]

I also think it's because Koreans don't see many black people and have an us/them mentality very similar to that of many in small prairie towns of Western Canada where I travelled through with a member of the Canadian rugby team, a second generation Indo-Canadian with the Sikh headband. The locals freaked out as if they expected a violent protest to break out against Hindu rule in their homeland of central India.

It's ignorance and sterotyping and an inbred fear of the unknown.

Here's hoping the younger generation become even more cosmopolitan with their outlook.

[Seoultrader]

My theory - when you see a guy walk over a strecth of white-hot coal, it's freaky, right?

Same with negros. The most powerful force in the solar system throwing its rays against the planet and ABRAKADABRA, no sunburn for Tonisha.

Odd tho, everytime I ask my black pal if I can scramble eggs on his belly, I get a weird look.

Blame it all on the white man, I say.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

[Seoultrader]

[Butterfly]

[Mosley]

I was hardly suggesting that Hollywood was the only or even the dominant factor in shaping Korean opinions in this regard. But I've heard Korean public school teachers(!) say the most outrageous things about blacks based on the fact that they're, well, black. After admitting that they've either never met a black or "my uncle tells me about them-he lives near Itaewan'', they without fail fell back on "but in the movies...."

Had to laugh about "other Asians tend to be more upfront and honest...." I take it you've never tried to get an honest answer from a Japanese vice-principal....

And you(I hope I'm not misunderstanding you) come dangerously close to saying whites are by and large closet racists....

[kangnamdragon]

I have Korean friends who actually want black friends. I guess they are looking for something different and "unusual".

[Butterfly]

[kiwiboy_nz_99]