Race in Korea: bad, but better? (Korea Times, November 20, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Shin Chul-ho's "Racial discrimination in hiring teachers" reminded me of a pleasant Korean-American teacher I worked with in the 1990s who said she was delighted to meet me.

The reason? She said she couldn't wait to meet "the black man who wasn't really black." Educated, good credentials and not a criminal is what she and the Korean employees in a special three-day program I had designed were told about me. "He's black, but not really black,” my recruiter friend told them and other clients. “When you meet him, you won't even remember that he's black."

Because Koreans I talk with almost automatically tell me that things are similar in other places, I gleefully concede without argument that Koreans aren't alone in tripping over racial language or of being outright prejudiced.

Back in America, I would occasionally have Caucasians tell me that I "just happen to be black." Just happen to be black? According to my birth certificate issued by the state of Texas, both of my parents are "Negroid." So I don't just happen to be black, at least according to the state of Texas. It would have been a surprise, if not a miracle, if I had been anything else.

During the 1990s, Koreans who were less certain than Texas about my racial background would tell me about how dangerous, terrible and dirty blacks are. I remember during the 1990s when newspaper ads in local English language newspapers openly sought white and blond teachers.

A Korean friend at the time was so outraged about a TV commentator repeatedly calling a black woman ugly (she was singing in Korean on the show) that he called the station numerous times to complain. Caucasian friends said that Koreans told them they would shake with fear and cross the street at the sight of a black person.

A Korean friend who was the manager of a hagwon asked me if I knew any white American teachers she could hire. She insisted she wasn't racist, said she greatly admired me. She was worried about her job because her students had been complaining about her hiring Brits, Africans and Australians.

I applied for a part-time job on a TV show seeking someone to talk about sports in English. I had been a sports editor on the Harvard Crimson and I am still a sports nut. A representative of the show called asking if it was true that I am black (I never got a call back). I received similar calls, mainly from Korean-Americans who said they didn't want me to waste my time waiting.

Of course, whenever I mention this kind of thing, I am reminded by Korean friends and talking buddies about the racial homogeneity of the country, notorious crimes committed by black soldiers ― and I remember the fury about a special on the 5th anniversary of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles in which some blacks bragged they had "won" because Koreans had abandoned their businesses.

There is enough history to justify almost anything so I don't argue. Still, I'm not sure how to answer blacks who email me, asking about Korea's current racial climate and if they should seek employment here. Terrible and great? Bad, but better?

As my own visa expires next year, I realize that I am not immune to the concerns I am emailed about sometimes. I try to keep things in perspective. Blacks I would run into during the 1990s had worse stories than my own.

One friend who was a fluent Korean speaker told me he was leaving Korea out of disgust after overhearing so many racist comments in Korean. My handful of slights didn't seem worth mentioning based on stories I heard from others, especially when I had so many many positive experiences.

In some cases, the compliments that sounded awkward were meant to be compliments, I know. I will never forget the friend of a lady I was dating in Korea years ago who, after meeting me, gushed to her lucky friend, "He's not black. He's cute!" I’m sure the state of Texas would have disagreed with the first statement, but it seems that more Koreans would agree with the second statement these days.

The writer is a Visiting Scholar at the Liberty Society in Seoul. He can be reached at caseyradio@daum.net.

The Korea Times,

Incident

BY COUNTEE CULLEN

Once riding in old Baltimore,

Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,

I saw a Baltimorean

Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,

And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out

His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

I saw the whole of Baltimore

From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there

That’s all that I remember.

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

Last weekend: Suicide, Kim Young Ha, NK

Credit: Joanne Cho Event 1: Friday night I went to a talk given by Fulbright junior researcher Joanne Cho. She did a great job putting together statistics about some of the most commonly cited reasons that so many Koreans commit suicide. Probably the most provocative tidbit: Cho watched 86 dramas from the spring of 2012 to now, she says that 63 had "scenes depicting or discussing suicide" in a favorable light (as a way to solve problems, that troubled people can be forgiven for their sins and are even seen as sympathetic). Another interesting tidbit: While it is often cited that Korea is number one in the world in suicide (among countries reporting reliable statistics), what I had not realized or had forgotten is that Korean men are number 8 in the world compared to men in other countries with reliable statistics, Korean women are #1 in the world when compared to women in other countries. My questions for the speaker: 1) What was a finding in your research th...

Why I won't go to North Korea (Korea Times, December 27, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. “Have you ever been to North Korea?” This is the question I am almost always asked here in South Korea when people learn that I have become an activist for North Korean escapees. My response is curt: “No.” “Do you plan on going?” they ask next. My answer remains the same: “No.” When they start to ask a follow-up question, I cut them off: "No." People are often just trying to make conversation, I know, but I am blunt for a reason: I am not interested in going to North Korea as long as North Koreans are held captive. I could go one day, but for now, I can do without a government-guided tour by " men-stealers and women-whippers ," to borrow a phrase from American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. I don’t mean to criticize people who have gone to North Korea for political, educational, business, religious reasons or just plain curiosity. However, some people push me on the issue, ― and I push back. A good friend wh...

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

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