Koreans Struggle With Racial Identities

There's a great article in the New York Times about how Koreans are struggling with their homogeneous race society.

Check out the article here. (An ID and password are possibly required. It's free to do. If you don't want to sign up, you can't read the story, maybe. Sorry.)

On July 10, an Indian professor was riding with a Korean female colleague on the bus when an older Korean man started making racist remarks toward him. It turned into a big deal and the Korean media latched onto it.

The man used the typical "I'm old and drunk" defense, but prosecutors are pushing ahead to press charges of contempt against the Korean man. It's the first time such charges have been applied to a racial discrimination case.

The Indian man, Bonogit Hussain, has faced discrimination like that every day in Korea. So he's basically used to it.

And while Westerners from places like America and Canada face some discrimination and taunts, it's nothing like other Asians face in the country. Many Koreans view these incoming Asians like Many redneck Americans view Mexicans.

The other Asians come in and work as cheap labor in farms or factories. This sprouts cries of, "They're trying to take our jobs," from the blue-collar Koreans.

From the story:

'South Korea, a country where until recently people were taught to take pride in their nation’s “ethnic homogeneity” and where the words “skin color” and “peach” are synonymous, is struggling to embrace a new reality. In just the past seven years, the number of foreign residents has doubled, to 1.2 million, even as the country’s population of 48.7 million is expected to drop sharply in coming decades because of its low birth rate.

Many of the foreigners come here to toil at sea or on farms or in factories, providing cheap labor in jobs shunned by South Koreans. Southeast Asian women marry rural farmers who cannot find South Korean brides. People from English-speaking countries find jobs teaching English in a society obsessed with learning the language from native speakers.

For most South Koreans, globalization has largely meant increasing exports or going abroad to study. But now that it is also bringing an influx of foreigners into a society where 42 percent of respondents in a 2008 survey said they had never once spoken with a foreigner, South Koreans are learning to adjust — often uncomfortably.'

I've faced discrimination in my time, but it's more in the form of jealousy and spiteful envy rather than a hatred. I feel really sorry for people from other Asian countries who come here, work hard and send money back to their family, only to be faced with these threats every day.

Hye Yun and I never had any real problems. The biggest time we faced and taunts is when Korean guys got drunk and all of a sudden grew a set of balls. But if they were confronted, they usually deployed the "I'm strong and want to fight this American but my girlfriend can easily hold me back" strategy.

I don't know if it is the same for these foreigners from other Asian or even African countries.

The main issue is that Koreans are in a real identity crisis. Many young children still give the brainwashed one-bloodline spiel to the western teachers. But most Koreans I know who are university-age or older, usually just say the one-bloodline thing as a joke. People around my age know times are changing, and most seem happy to go along for the ride.

In America, and certainly in Canada, we're very much used to the mixes of people. They call America a "melting pot." That says all you need to know. Our countries certainly dealt with racism historically and still have embarrassing spots to deal with. Only time and generational changes can get people past it. Even that won't always be enough.

But until the majority of Koreans can look at other people as equals, there will still be major problems here.

So the government is currently trying to pass an anti-discrimination law. Critics argue about how to settle on what is considered discrimination. It's a sticky time and will certainly lead to more WWE-style fights in the national assembly.

While it would be nice if people just started getting along, a law in South Korea may be necessary until people's views change for the better.