Korean Racism

By Deauwand Myers

It's often asked: how are black people treated in Korea? Is Korea "racist? The answer, like most things, varies from person to person.

I should start by saying, born and raised in South Carolina, you'd think I'd have a sad and vast array of racist experiences to draw upon. Peculiarly, quite the opposite. So rare have I experienced overt forms of racism in my childhood and college years, I have to rummage through the decades to find an example.

The notion that Southern whites are somehow exceedingly racist, whilst those elsewhere are much more enlightened, is patently false. Chicago has one of the most virulently racist and violent police departments in modern American history. LA and San Diego, cities in the liberal bastion of California, also have reprehensible records regarding their interactions with racial minorities.

White supremacy, like patriarchy, misogyny, and xenophobia, is part of the human condition. It does not adhere to geographic boundaries. So let's please dispense with this myth. Further, plenty of white Southerners have a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of race.

Perhaps through luck, class, and privilege, I don't have horror stories to tell you. Police officers have always treated me kindly. Classmates did not ask me ridiculous questions. Racist slurs weren't hurled at me hither and thither. Surrounded by whites: in my neighborhood, secondary, and tertiary education, there was many opportunities for me to be subjected to these. Further, plenty of African-Americans have a great many traumatic experiences to relay for those who care to hear them, and the empirical data tells us that, in aggregate, America has institutionalized racism, particularly against black and brown citizens, in ways too varied and vulgar to enumerate here. I cannot, and would not, deny that.

But as for me, no. Micro-aggressions aside, I haven't much to say as far as personal anecdotes in this regard, which makes my experience living in Asia all the more fascinating. I really didn't experience racism until living abroad. In Japan, China, and Korea (I've lived in all these countries), I saw, and still see, the insidiousness of white supremacy play out in an often overt fashion.

I've never experienced any physically violent instances of racial animus whilst living in Korea, or in Asia more broadly, but my, the written and spoken examples of it are stinging and vibrant in my memory.

Even now, Korean contractors and employment agencies warn black and brown foreigners that, particularly (but not exclusively) at hagwon (private academies), being anything other than white is seen as undesirable.

It's fairly common knowledge now that too many Koreans view whites as the authentic, normative, representative state of being American, or a member of the British Commonwealth.

Explicitly, employers request white men and women, even with a certain eye color (often blue) deemed as a plus. Americans and Canadians of Korean descent are seen as insufficiently capable of speaking English, never mind some of these folks' ancestry in said countries goes back farther than their white counterparts, or their attendant education, talents, work ethic, and supplemental credentials may very well outstrip their white counterparts. In America, for example, Asian-Americans (including of Korean descent) consistently perform better in educational aptitude and socioeconomic achievement than all other racial demographics. And yet, skin trumps merit.

This story isn't new, but in the twenty-first century, it's tiresome; and none of this is by accident. Koreans consume Western media, like the news, TV shows, and movies. The representation and depiction of racial minorities is near nonexistent or negative. Blacks are too often portrayed as violent, criminal, uneducated and undesirable. Asian men are perpetually portrayed as emasculated, asexual or sexually impotent, unattractive, nerdy, and socially awkward. Asian women are objectified as sexually pliant, cold, calculating, and soulless.

It takes critical thinking to interrogate these stereotypes, and to unpack the dangerous tropes they employ. The disenfranchising/dehumanizing effects such evil visit upon those subjected to it are real and damaging.

But having lived in Korea for several years now, gainfully employed, and (sadly) acclimated to some Koreans' reactions and presuppositions about me and people of color, I can say its…lost the satanic sheen and offensive quality it once held.

Further, though I have only nice things to say about my own few interactions with American law enforcement, there is always a possibility I'd be killed in my native country by law enforcement at any time, and without recourse. Stares, slurs, and (possible) lost job opportunities and relationships aside, I have no fear of my life being so unceremoniously, violently ended in Korea. In real, physical ways, I am safe. Here.

And let's be honest, to be black is to be female or Jewish: it is always and forever a kind of curse. The severity of that curse changes its scope and scale depending on the locale.

Deauwand Myers holds a master's degree in English literature and literary theory, and is an English professor outside Seoul. He can be reached at deauwand@hotmail.com.