An international view on racism-Hines Ward/Korea

College Confidential Community
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<p>I found these two interesting articles one day as I was searching for information online about Hines Ward's past. I found them so interesting that I bookmarked them.</p>

<p>I remembered them today as I used them for a response to someones post. It got me thinking again, and I would like to know what you think. I have my own views but I will wait a while to express them.</p>

<p>The author is half black/korean so that explains his views and why the topics are so important to him. While the titles may not express all of the info that the article contains they are very insightful into some very interesting issues. You really have to read both of them to really grasp the issue. And in the second article you can stop reading when he starts talking about Bush and Kanye West as I feel that is irrelevant to the real issue. The articles might upset some people so...</p>

<p><a href="http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2006/02/where_do_korean.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2006/02/where_do_korean.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2006/02/korean_folks_do.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2006/02/korean_folks_do.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I know people are going to probably be too lazy to read all of both articles, so I will sum up what they say so people can comment on them. You should really read them though to get all of the information.</p>

<p>The first article is of a english dictionary that was made for korean middle school students. In it the representations of people and the misinformation are horrendous. The author is stating how these views are shaping how many koreans think and it applies to many asians in general. </p>

<p>Some of the things in the dictionary are representations of anything good and pure being white. Such as under pretty and rich there is a white person.</p>

<p>Under Negro they have a black person with a bone through his nose. </p>

<p>Under Cotton they have a black person picking cotton and the sentence "Negroes often pick cotton".</p>

<p>Under Native they have another black person with a bone through his nose and a spear.</p>

<p>Under White they have as an explanation sentence "the whites were often attacked by the indians". WTH.</p>

<p>There are also some other things if you take the time to read them. I suggest you read that one first as it might explain why many people have certain ideas.</p>

<p>In the second article the author is explaining how mixed race people are being fetishized in the media. Daniel Henny a half white/korean model is toted as having the "best of both worlds". </p>

<p>But on the other hand it goes on to state that in Hines Wards case everyone praises at how his korean blood is what pulled him through his hardships. And his other half is rarely ever mentioned. He was toted as the pride of Korea and yet he is also considered the lowest of the low because of his mixed blood.</p>

<p>He also goes on to make some other good points. Going to Japan and reading some other information on other Asian countries this seems to be an issue that is all over Asia and not really centralized to Korea.</p>

<p>Like when you might have a penpal overseas in Asia but when they find out your not white and your any other minority be it black, hispanic, or even another asian, a lot of people stop contact.</p>

<p>My question is what do you think about this and how do you feel the two articles are related? How do you think it got to this point?</p>

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<p>i read an article about hines ward in the paper how when he was a kid at his korean church they got him to play for their basketball team because he was good at sports and when they won they wouldnt let him come up with them to get the award and so his mom like cussed them out
his mom is pretty cool
its like before he got MVP they look down on him and now that he's made them more famous they like him, he was in korea trying to get them to treat mixed people better</p>

<p>its a lot easier to be 1/2 white+1/2 korean than to be 1/2 black+1/2 korean. i dont think its just korean people who have a problem with it, its just everyone around the world treats black people pretty bad. i think white people are associated with power thats why they like mixes who have white blood in them.
also asian people have always liked white skin like they're always trying to lighten or make their face brighter thats another reason they could prefer white over black</p>

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<p>Yeah it seemed he had a hard life. </p>

<p>I also read that when his mother went back to Korea for a funeral the relatives spit in her face. And whenever they went to a Korean restaurant in AMERICA the people would avoid eye contact, stare, look in disgust, or just flat out ignore her and Hines until she had to make her presence known.</p>

<p>It seems she got pretty good at cussing people out.</p>

<p>And after that basketball incident she made the rule that Hines could no longer hang out with any Korean people because of how they treated them. She also worked 3 jobs to support him.</p>

<p>The main issue I see is that there is a blatant hate for him just because he is half black. Koreans and other Asians don't even have that much interaction with black people, but I have heard them do things that mirror what was happening in Jim Crow times. How did it get that bad?</p>

<p>There was also a story about when Hines went to Korea to visit half black/korea kids. He talked to one little girl who was SO CUTE, about her experiences. She was in ELEMENTARY school and the kids would pull her hair and say she had nigger dog hair or something like that. They would beat her up and refuse to talk to her. AND THE TEACHERS KNEW THIS WAS GOING ON THE WHOLE TIME. They would just watch and do absolutely nothing about it and just intervene when it got too serious. Her own grandparents refused to take her outside because "of the shame" as they say.</p>

<p>Its really sad.</p>

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<p>Just out of curiosity, why are you interested in this topic?</p>

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<p>Because it was so mind boggling to me that this was happening and no one even really knows about it.</p>

<p>It is so mainstream to believe that white people are the most racist people in the world and they are the only ones who can be truly racist, but then I found out about this. When you first think of Asia you don't usually think of a hell for anyone that isn't Asian or White but that is exactly what it is for many people.</p>

<p>I read a story about a Nigerian couples kid that was growing up in Japan. They caught their daughter putting makeup all over her body so that she could look white because the Japanese kids made fun of her everyday because they said her skin was the color of dog crap.</p>

<p>I've heard of people being outright rejected for a english teaching job because of their skin color in Asia. They tell people to their face "you're perfect for the job but your black/hispanic and that wouldn't go over to well with the mothers."</p>

<p>There are ads in Asia for English teachers and on them they say "Blond hair and Blue Eyes" are required.</p>

<p>Chinese media straight up called Condoleeza Rice an ugly black gorilla or something like that when she went over there for talks.</p>

<p>When you're own grandparents won't go outside with you because you're mixed that is ridiculous.</p>

<p>When most mixed half black/asian kids are given to adoption there is a huge problem. I read about about an orphanage in Korea that houses about a hundred half black/korean kids. And they are having a hard time adopting them because people say they don't have the clear asian skin. Thats some ********.</p>

<p>It is a huge problem in 2007 for mixed kids in Asia. They are being treated like black people were being treated during before the civil rights movement and sometimes worse. And these are kids. </p>

<p>I just found it very interesting and troubling that while black people in America complain about their problems so much, and always talk about helping their brothers and sister all over the world(and many black people consider mixed children black, the one drop rule is still in effect), nothing is done for these kids. I doubt most people even know these kids have to go through it and it seems no one really cares.</p>

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<p>I dont think theres much can be done about it. People always focus on differences and try to find a reason to hate you. I mean people have always been racist and even though they act more politically correct theres still that distance they put between themselves and other races. Its just how we are. I mean i used to be really really sensitive about those things but once you realize nothings going to change deep down inside of people, it gets a lot easier.</p>

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<p>i can't stop laughing at the dictionary seriously I think its funny as hell.</p>

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<p>I know I was laughing so hard when I first read it. Especially at the Negro part. He has a bone through his nose and the sentence example is "He is a negro". Until I found out they actually thought black people were like this, than I was just in awe.</p>

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<p>Are you serious? That's what Koreans think? In South Korea? Wow seriously I thought Asians had brains. I'm thankful that Indians aren't this way. Also is negro allowed to be used in Korea?</p>

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<p>Yes! That book was not a joke. It is a RECENT REAL dictionary used to teach Korean middle school students English. How that was allowed to be written, published, and handed out to students as serious literature is your guess as much as mine. You would think that someone would be like "hey this doesn't seem right", or probably someone did and just didn't care.</p>

<p>And in Korea because everyone is Korean they are a lot less race sensitive and can and will tell you that they won't hire you because of the color of your skin and there is nothing you can do about it.</p>

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<p>yeah he was in korea and made a huge donation that helps mixed children. im korean and i admire him not of his race but his athleticism. i dislike racists like seriously..</p>

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<p>As a korean-american do you see that many other korean-americans hold the same views or is it something that really only applies to asia.</p>

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<p>no clue. im different compared to other korean americans. </p>

<p>sorry if i offend people but most korean americans were born in america because their parents came to the US for the american dream. but they come for the education then move back to korea. when they arrive in korea they basically say "*&^% america!" and they curse america especially president bush. i on the other hand am more patriotic and i will pledge my allegiance to the US forever. </p>

<p>i tell you its very hard trying to compare views from korean americans and koreans in korea.</p>

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<p>wow, you must really hate asians...I'm asian and I have many black friends.</p>

<p>But seriously, blacks are treated bad in Latin/south America. Even in the soaps there you see white/native south American mixes, never black people. </p>

<p>Asians aren’t really that racist…it is just that much of Asia has a colonial history, some of it under white rule. For example the Phillipines was under Spanish rule, Indonesia under Dutch rule, Hong Kong under English rule, Shanghai under French/English rule, Tawian /macau with Portugese influences. American forces went into Korea and told Koreans the whiter you looked the better. The white people affected common culture in asia there and taught everyone that the closer you were to white the better. With Golbalization this has since started to change.</p>

<p>But it isn’t a one way street. Blacks make fun of asian people’s eyes all the time where I live. I know an Asian journalist who went to Africa and the villagers threw stones at him but not at the other white co-workers. </p>

<p>Dude, at least Korea is changing. Russia, on the other hand, isn’t. Russians have more racist attacks.
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4969296.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4969296.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5173458.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5173458.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>But seriously, most Asians born and raised in America don’t think that bad of black people. I should know, I’m one of them</p>

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<p>i dont know about that...i think people a lot of people just follow their parents view, and a lot of times their parents can be kind of racist</p>

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<p>"once you realize nothings going to change deep down inside of people, it gets a lot easier."</p>

<p>TITCR.</p>

<p>"As a korean-american do you see that many other korean-americans hold the same views or is it something that really only applies to asia."</p>

<p>I have never, ever seen an American born person of Korean descent act this way.</p>

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<p>i've seen some very racist korean-americans...</p>

<p>...but every race is racist to some extent, so...</p>

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<p>I thought only whites can be racist. Did miss a memo?</p>

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<p>Racism against blacks is quite common in East Asia. It has been a problem in Japan as well.</p>

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<p>kenshi –</p>

<p>You do realize that most of the preconceptions that Asians in Asia have of blacks come from Hollywood and the American music industry (hip-hop and rap).</p>

<p>And it’s not that simple. Asian countries, particularly ones as homogeneous as Korea and Japan have discriminated against everybody (the Japanese even against indigenous populations such as the Ainu and Okinawans).</p>

<p>The Japanese have long discriminated against non-Japanese Asians such as Korean-Japanese who have been living in Japan for generations. </p>

<p>It has only been with the rising popularity of K-pop in Japan that some of these attitudes have changed (somewhat) – shows the influence of the media.</p>

<p>Along these lines – the Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh, had to hide his half-Taiwanese heritage (just like Ted Williams hid his Mexican heritage).</p>

<p>In Korea – bi-racial children of white and Korean parents have also long been discriminated against, so it’s not just a bias against children of part-African ancestry (tho, yes, children of part-African ancestry have had it worse).</p>

<p>But unfortunately, this bias against blacks is seen pretty much everywhere.</p>

<p>In the Caribbean, Central/South America and Mexico – blacks are seen at the bottom of the totem pole – so much so that Hispanics with black or partial-African heritage don’t consider themselves to be “black” (note that in Latin media, all of the stars are white Hispanics and the only roles that darker Hispanics get are those of maids, etc.).</p>

<p>Also, note how (former) President Fox and the Mexican media defended the American outcry over the issuing of “sambo” stamps which portray blacks in a rather demeaning manner.</p>

<p>And this stuff also happens in “enlightened” Europe. Black futball players have long been harassed with monkey/ape noises and the throwing of banana peels onto the field of play. American DaMarcus Beasley recently was recently the victim of such racist taunts.</p>

<p>And let’s not forget that Hines Ward also suffered from racism here – he was taunted so much about his Asian features that he one day told his mother that he was “ashamed to be Korean” (years later, he tearfully apologized to her for that). Ward has even been taunted by opposing DBs (during NFL games) who have called him “chink”, etc.</p>

<p>Hapa stars such as Daniel Henney are a new thing in Korea (btw, one of the biggest k-pop stars is half-black) and are pretty rare – hapa celebs have been much bigger in SE Asian (such as Thailand with the “leuk kreung”). </p>

<p>The irony here is that Henney had to go to Korea to get a career as an actor and he didn’t speak a lick of Korean (btw, Henney, who also grew up with racist taunts, nevertheless, considered himself white – it was only when he visited Asia during his career as a model that he discovered the other half of his heritage).</p>

<p>Henney has subsequently been contacted by Hollywood, but for parts he has no interest in playing (since they just happen to be the same 'ol stereotypical Asian roles).</p>