Dirty and Smelly

It's Time to Prohibit Racial Discrimination by Law

The only surprise with the prosecution's recent indictment of a Korean man on charges of racially discriminatory remarks is that it was only the first such move.

Given the frequent complaints among foreigners about both verbal and behavioral racism in the workplace, on public transportation and in the street, judicial restraint is only natural ― if belated. The court must also mete out stern punishment as a warning to all other potential perpetrators.

It is easy to brush aside the episode as momentary mischief by a drunken man, who allegedly called an Indian professor ``dirty" and ``smelly" in a bus late last month. It is not easy, however, to deny a deep-rooted sense of racism among us, particularly against black people coming from poorer countries.

Koreans' xenophobia is no news, but it is cowardly that they have double standards in dealing with foreigners ― a groundless inferiority complex with regard to white people and an even more absurd superiority complex in relation to colored people. The nation's long history of suffering from foreign invasion and its recent spectacular economic growth might have combined to result in a pitiful mixture of inferiority and superiority.

In any case, racism should have no place in today's Korea, in which the world's lowest birthrate threatens the sustainable growth or even its very existence after several decades. Demographic experts forecast Korea will be a country of immigrants, a section of society who will account for up to 10 percent of the population by 2050.

The current situation can hardly be more lamentable. In a country where four in every 10 rural bachelors find spouses in Southeast or Central Asian countries, one-third of biracial couples divorce ― due mainly to violence by Korean husbands. As much as one-fourth of the 100,000 children in such multicultural families do not receive a regular education, largely because of cultural and language barriers, as well as social alienation.

People, of course, tend to shun those who are different from them, which is why racism has been such a long, universal problem since the beginning of history.

Again, however, Koreans can ill-afford to discriminate against foreigners as merely surrogate mothers or labor to be exploited, as some do in extreme cases. It has only been a few decades since Koreans themselves suffered from discrimination in their chosen homelands in America and Europe.

It is a shame the nation has no legal system to ban racial discrimination, as seen by the latest episode in which the prosecution booked the Korean man for contempt. Both the influx of foreigners and mounting concerns about racial conflict show the time has long past to leave this matter to individual awareness or good intention.

So it is a hopeful sign that some lawmakers are moving to enact a law against racism for implementation next year at the latest. The National Assembly should throw its full support behind them.

The proposed legislation may not drastically reduce discriminatory practices but at least it could mark the beginning, and change people's mindset to one that sees racism as a ``dirty, smelly offense."