Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wo buxihuan hanguoren]

We all know that Korea is like 30 years behind the West when it comes to tolerance, acceptance, and comfort.

I showed this to my Korean friends, and they thought it was hilarious, guffaws galore. Weird though how the West has changed in like 40 years; I like to think that Korea is on the same path, but man, this vid is off the hook:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qITFrGhg2S4

The weird thing is that when my Korean mates were laughing at this I was actually thinking that it was highly representative of your average Korean office worker (if you've been here long enough you will know what I mean, and if you don't, then your peepers have been shut and, well, good for you I declare).

[jajdude]

Sad, but true. Good post.

yes

[PeterDragon]

I think I already know the awful answer to this question, but were the Koreans laughing at it because they actually see black people that way? ("Funny because it TRUE!") As opposed to the camp value, I mean?

As an interesting aside, that horribly racist cartoon was made by the the same guy who created Woody Woodpecker.

[jajdude]

Racist, or true? Why would they make a cartoon like that to begin with? And yes, agreed, Koreans find that funny, but isn't it racist when we think we are miles ahead of them by condemning this stuff?

Heck, I found it kind of funny, myself. Hehe.

[komerican]

integration is dead in the US. People are more segregated now. There was a recent article in the New York Times called "The End of Integration", by David Brooks. It talks about how America is as segregated as ever and how most people do not believe anymore that integration works.

Americans are for multiculturalism because it's not really multiculturalism it's more monoculturalism with the west coming out on top, i.e. NY and Californian culture. If korean culture could be dominant in a multicultural world I'd be for multiculturalism too.

No American ever voted for having millions of illegal and legal non-white immigrants entering the US after 1965. The people who advocated the 1965 immigration law promised that they would keep the same proportion of races that existed in the US at that time, namely, 90% white and with little black immigration.

The civil rights movement was forced on the white majority by blacks who threatened to burn down US cities if they weren't granted civil rights that were guaranteed to them legally anyway. The largely complacent and indifferent white majority middle-class did not fight for black civil rights and watched the whole thing on TV. The US was also the leader of the "free world" and was embarrassed by the advent of TV pictures of the plight of black americans. You can't decry soviet human rights abuses when TV shows your own citizens being abused nationwide and for a lot longer.

Multiculturalism exists in the US because there are blacks who were former slaves. Without these blacks the white majority would never have had to nor would they have ever wanted to grapple with the issues of race and diversity.

sorry but whites have no standing or moral high ground to lecture to others about race or multiculturalism.

[korian]

call me what you will, but in reference to the title of thread, i really don't get it. what does this cartoon have to do with 'is this where korea is now?' especially with the little caveat at the end about office workers.....

good lord, is that not office workers the entire world over? i mean there was even a movie in 1997 called 'clockwatchers', describing the boredom of office life and ways the characters could make the day pass quicker.....

so i still don't get the reference to korea in the title thread

edit: i see, the reference to koreans' attitude to blacks and/or foreigners and/or multiculturalism.

the bit about the office workers at the end threw me, a bit unrelated but what the hey....

[faster]

[reactionary]

You're being contradictory there, komerican. You start by saying "I don't want multiculturalism unless Korean culture can be dominant." OK, well, you have to realize on the whole, Koreans make up a very small proportion of the US population. Frankly, I'm surprised by the increase of exposure Korean culture is getting recently (Rain, Stephen Colbert, popular tv shows).

Then you go on to say immigration from nonwhite countries was a surprise! The immigration reform in the 60s ABOLISHED immigration quotas from specific regions/countries. Now, if you say some politicians "promised" no nonwhites would come, well, come on now, who would believe that? Did they dislike the huge influx of Asian and Latin Americans after-the-fact? Sure, perhaps.

But let's say we only had white immigration. Even that is a feat that could not be done in Korea. People from several European countries living together without overt dispute/discrimination (anymore at least). I'd like to see Korea handle the immigration of millions of Chinese and Japanese.

I like your faith in the power of protests, but, again, you seem to harbor some anti-white sympathies and you ignore the well known fact that it was not only blacks who were supporting the civil rights movement - while whites just "sat at home watching TV." Don't distort history. But yes, blacks were a big target of Soviet propaganda and rightfully so.

Probably the strangest thing you say is that the US supports "monoculturalism" - or the culture from NY and California. Well, you just named two of the most diverse/multicultural states in the country. What does that mean if it is those two states' culture that are mainly represented in the media? If anything, we look down on people who come from less diverse states - they are written off as unsophisiticated hicks.

[reactionary]

And another t hing, look at how well Latinos (the new minority) are represented in our culture today. I would hardly say they have been delegated to the sidelines or pushed into obscurity.

Can't forget the widespread and increasing occurrence of intermarriage, either. I think something like 1/5 of Latinos marry another race.

Integration is dead, my ass. Just because Koreans segregate themselves into their enclaves in Orange County or Queens doesn't mean every race does the same.

[indytrucks]

[PeterDragon]

In all honesty, I think that New York culture is actually a very global culture rather than a "white" or "American" culture. L.A. culture is at the very least bicultural--- Western white culture and Hispanic/Mexican culture blend there.

If Korean culture wants to "dominate", it'll have to be far more inclusive of "foreigners", as American urban culture has done. As it stands, Koreans treat all foreigners as permanent outsiders. They're not necessarily unkind to foreigners, but they don't do much to reach out to them or include them either. And inclusion is needed to become truly global. How can people from other parts of the world embrace a culture that doesn't embrace them in any way?

I also disagree that America has no integration. It's certainly more segregated than we'd care to admit. But even in the face of physical segregation, there's cross dialogue and some notion of the fact that we are all Americans, even if we're another nationality as well. A first generation Indian in Milwaukee would also be seen as American as well as Indian. That's a form of integration. An Indian family that's been in Korea for generations is still a "foreign family". Is that integration?

As someone who tries to combat his own racism, DOESN'T see racism as "normal", and cares about the opinions of people who would simply be dismissed as "foreigners" in Korean culture, I DO feel I have the moral high ground over many many locals I've met here. I apologize if my statement in the the last post sounded like a generalization. I was referring to the Koreans who watched that youtube clip, not ALL Koreans.

[vox]

[jdog2050]

[Zulu]

[tigerbluekitty]

Nah, America is as integrated as ever and will continue becoming more and more integrated. Americans are taught by their school system and by society that RACISM IS WRONG and not to discriminate based on skin color. This helps Americans to be more accepting towards people of different races.

Does the Korean school system and society teach its people that racism is wrong? Not from what I've heard. I think Korean society promotes nationalism and racial superiority towards anyone who's not Korean.

It reminds of this one post on Dave's a few months ago about a racist Korean comic about black people. In Korea that kind of thing is totally accepted and no one will complain about it. But if that comic was run in the States, it'd cause an outrage and possibly make national news.