biyuti:

I had written and entirely less intelligible post about this. Basically it was me rocking in a corner saying ‘No’ repeatedly. As with everything else in this series of posts, please call me out for stepping out of bounds or saying something inaccurate, oppressive, or just otherwise needing to be changed. But. Yeah. I haven’t forgotten about this series.

First and foremost, fellow Asians. Don’t use this word. Just don’t. Don’t use it ironically. Don’t sing it in lyrics. Don’t quote in movie lines. Don’t say it by yourself in the dark. Just don’t use it.

If you’ve somehow managed to get through life without learning anything of america history and slavery, I’m duly informing you that this word embodies all of the hate and racism that allowed the vast horror of the atlantic slave trade to exist. It is hundreds of years of pain, humiliation, dehumanization, and hate condensed into six letters of the roman alphabet in the language of english (and with many variations in other languages).

See here for a fairly good history (I have no opinion about the discussion on the modern usage by Black people at the end of the article, the relevant portion for non-Black people is the beginning, since this is all the word will ever mean coming out of our mouths).

So now you know. This is important because most people make excuses that Asians don’t know how deeply racist this word is. From the moment you began reading this post, you lost any claim to ignorance.

But can ignorance even be a valid excuse? If your non-native tongue isn’t english, where did you first hear the word? In an american movie? By listening to hip hop? Where you also forced to read english literature ‘classics’ like huck finn?

Try to think of one example of the word being used by someone non-Black where the context wasn’t racist as fuck…

I’m coming up empty.

Because even in popular media, the only people saying that word and it not being racist as fuck are Black people. Which should lead you to deduce one thing: if you are not Black, you probably should not say this work, lest you also be seen as being racist as fuck.

You can really only use the ignorance excuse once. Just once. And if you happen to use the word out of ignorance and are called out on it.

Please follow this procedure:

1. Whatever you initial reaction is, don’t do that. Instead, stop and listen to what you are being told (likely, that you shouldn’t be using that word).

2. Apologize. Don’t make excuses, even if it is ignorance. Just apologize. And make it a real one. Because a fellow human being has just told you that you’ve used a word that dehumanizes and hurts them (hint: this is also the real reason why you shouldn’t use the word). So. Apologize. Because this is what you do when you hurt someone.

3. Stop using the word. Don’t do it again ‘cause now you know and you don’t want to hurt people, right?

4. Spread the word. If you hear other Asians using the word, tell them what it means and why they shouldn’t say that.

Things not to do:

1. Make excuses for using it.|

2. Try to defend your right to use the word (you have none, if you aren’t Black).

3. Be dismissive of the hurt you just caused. Because even if you didn’t mean it, it doesn’t erase the hurt and the pain.

(via dumbthingswhitepplsay)

Anonymous asked: Thank you for helping us understand the post. The bullet points confused the heck out of me but when I read the two paragraphs it was easier to understand. lol Honestly, I understood your edit better than the post. Anyways, I will thank you again. :D

No problem! I’m glad I could help. TBH I had to reread a few parts a couple times myself. Thanks for letting me know it was confusing other people probably had the same issue. Again glad I could help. 

• We place a lot of blame on S. Korea when idols do something sexist or heterosexist  *They favor males in power and undervalue women & promote relationships between the opposite sex (NO LBGT people)
• Even though we read about Heterosexism in Korea we don’t have a right to judge them harshly because we don’t live there, some of us might be straight which makes it hard to identify with queer people in Korea.
• When we criminalize S. Korea we make it seem as if queer people in the US do not get discriminated against WHICH IS NOT TRUE. Also it’s very western centric to say because it makes S. Korea seem like they are inferior and the US is superior.
• When you say an idol shouldn’t be held responsible you again make them and S. Korea seem inferior. Also if you use the same logic our celebrities shouldn’t be held responsible when they others.

Cultural differences isn’t an excuse for their behavior, yes it doesn’t have the same impact as someone who knowingly offended people but it’s still wrong. Therefore  can we should still call them out on their wrong doing so they can learn from it and hopefully refrain from doing it again. Ex. Blackface in Korea is still bad but it’s worse when someone in America does it because they should know the history of it.

Using cultural differences is one of things people should be wary of using, yes there are cultural differences but again certain actions are offensive and should be addressed. You can’t just blame everything on cultural differences yet it can’t be entirely ignored.

Edit: I may have over simplified this, there are LBGT people in Korea but the society tends to push heterosexuality. They are making strides just as the US is in trying to be more accepting.

Anonymous asked: I have a question about the post you just reblogged. Is there anyway you could say "dumb it down" for us. I googled the words I didn't understand but that just made my misunderstandings worse. Help!!! Please T^T

It’s fine, I mean now that you brought this to my attention I can help out but PLEASE, PLEASE don’t be afraid to ask if you guys don’t understand something. Hell even I have to reread stuff a few times.

I’ll write a summary of the post if that helps just give me a few minutes. 

burtmacklin:

Fuck it. I will make a post about this.

If you are a U.S. K-Pop fan, it would do you well to realize the following:

• Korea is not the only place in the world where institutionalized sexism, heterosexism, etc exist.
• Although you should certainly read up on cultural differences, it’s difficult to make accurate generalizations about the degree to which heterosexism has been institutionalized in a country you do not live in relative to the U.S. without the lived experience to back it up, especially if, in addition to not being Korean, you are straight. Be aware, but don’t be an asshole.
• When you do the above, you run the risk of perpetuating the stereotype that Korea and other non-Western countries are somehow “backwards.” You also risk minimizing the degree to which LGBT+ folks are discriminated here in the U.S.
• When you argue that an idol should not be held accountable for perpetuating an -ism that exists here in the U.S., you do pretty much the same thing listed above, as well as imply that, by the same logic, your fave American celebs should also not be held accountable for perpetuating the same -ism.

I’m not saying that there aren’t instances where cultural differences and mistranslations could result in misunderstandings. You should definitely recognize those. I’m also not saying that cultural differences—maybe even your inability to fully evaluate cultural differences—shouldn’t affect whether or not you choose to forgive an idol’s bad behavior. But your opinion of someone as a person is not the same thing as the decision to recognize their bad behavior as such—blackface without the intent to mock, for example, might be less damning coming from someone who didn’t grow up in a country where blackface, in all its forms, has a well-known history of Being Offensive but that doesn’t mean that person shouldn’t learn that their behavior could a) be considered appropriate and b) offend international fans.

Basically, what I’m saying is that there’s a lot of grey here, and that it would be super, super presumptuous, and assholish, and generally terrible of me to say, “Here’s when this is appropriate to do and here’s when it is it” because I’m not Korean myself, some differences are more pronounced that others, etc etc. But! Everyone should still know that these are among the many caveats to using “cultural differences” as your “oppa didn’t meeeean it” catch-all, and they should be absolutely be considered.

*Bolded for relevancy 

(via aestheticsmaxima)

Saw on twitter.

blackandwhiteomnivouriousbear:

I hope to God for a day we can stop making these.

————-

This petition was created in response to the recent MBC blackface incident.

You can tweet them at https://twitter.com/#!/withMBC  

Currently at 46/1000 signature target.

(Source: fansagainstdiscriminationinkpop, via b-w-o-b)

todiedreaming:

It hurts to see that my skin color is the butt of every joke, well into the 21th century. I refuse to treat South Korea as a child that needs to be scolded and then dismissed under the pretense that they do not know any better. Because they do. And they can no longer hide under the excuse that their blackface is purely for “homage” or “honoring” black people. Because 1) you cannot reclaim blackface as a good, ESPECIALLY when you in particular have overtly presented anti-black sentiments 2) this shit was just racist- no fake homage.

Comedy and racism ARE NOT mutually exclusive, before anyone says anything. 

 I refuse to treat Korea as a country that needs to be dragged around like a child and taught right from wrong. Thousands of years of its own conflict with other countries and cultural degradation should have been enough time to understand that belittling another culture is wrong.

……

This is selective social indignation at its finest. As cliché as this may sound, this is when the golden rule should come into effect: if you don’t want something like this to happen to you, make sure you don’t do it to others.

Another thing that irks me is that some big international sites and just about all Korean based sites will never make mention of this ever happening. They will just go about sweeping it under the rug as if to say that events like these are too insignificant to pay any mind to…

SeoulBeats commentary on ANOTHER blackface incident that happened about 2 months ago.

When Morning Musume members slanted their eyes to “look Korean”, Koreans automatically identified the racially insensitivity in their actions. “Korean netizens realize that the girls were being harmless but are upset that they were not more conscientious of their surroundings.”[x] ”(Korean) Netizens are angry that, “whenever something like this is forgotten, another case comes out.”

As another fan put it:

“So if the South Korean media and public can identify racism and racial insensitivity when against themselves, why can’t they tell that painting your skin to look “black,” for the sake of entertainment is offensive? A person’s ethnicity should never be considered comedic material. Ever.”

Through KPOP you wanted to capture the world’s attention- well know have it and you keep showing your ass. You want to succeed in the Western Market? You want to be taken seriously as a competitor?

Well, guess what. I am the Western Market- brown skin and all. I am one of many dark-skinned consumers that will determine the degree of your success. And until you take me seriously as a human being, you won’t get anywhere.

And if you think that I stand alone as an irrational black person being angry, there’s other international and Korean fans who are calling this racism out. And plenty of other PoC and white allies.

You even have Eat Your Kimchi calling you out on your bullshit.

I am done with people being passive about this.

Please send MBC a tweet about their blackface

https://twitter.com/#!/withMBC [It is of great importance that you be concise and polite- always polite. Cussin’ them out does nothing.]

(via lycheequeso)