The Case of the Infamous N!gger Part 3:Korea

  I use to think Korean people were walking around saying the word nigga freely.  The only reason I didn't jump to conclusions was because the word black in  Romantic languages (not to be confused with romantic love) sounds like the derogate word nigger. Thus, I would look like an idiot if they were merely saying the word black in Korean.  A few years ago I was on a train to Seoul from Pyeongtaek and two older ladies were throwing the word through the air like The Last Poets. I nearly lost my shit!  Luckily my boy JC (not Jesus Christ) spoke Korean and explained with hysterical laughter what they were saying.  The Korean words for "I" and "me" sounds vaguely like nigga.
  There is a word that does exist in Korean that doesn't exactly mean nigger. The word Com Dunni (meaning black skinned person in a negative connotation) was first used by Korean royalty to describe a feudal workers complexion or skin pigmentation. Globalization has allowed the word to encompass any dark skinned person. Com Dunni is used for people of African descent in Korea and in the U.S. because we are generally the darkest people.
  Once I was called Com Dunni by a student and again I almost went ape shit (probably shouldn't refer to myself going ape shit).  My boss destroyed the student and sent him back to my classroom in uncontrollable tears. In fact he didn't come to school for the entire week.  When he returned to class he was my best student!  An old man called me com dunni when I didn't know what the word meant.  I remember people being appalled and embarrassed.
  One night in Hongdae a drunk guy called me a nigger in Korean because he thought I couldn't understand him.  There was some kind of fury in my eyes and his friend being sober realized I could understand his friend. He quickly said I'm sorry in Korean and rushed his friend ahead of us.  I wanted to beat him and at the same time I hated that I allowed a word to have power over me. Luckily, for him my boy John Lieu talked me out of being deported.
  Korean Americans pose a different set of problems when they used the word nigger in any form because they know the history of the word. Being a Person of Color they also have been treated like niggers.  Personally, I would rather people who are not of African descent to not use the word.  A Korean American got into an altercation and used the word nigga as a black dude would have.  Once the guy realized the power of the word he begin to taunt my boy with it.  At one point I had my boy restrained but at the first usage of the word nigga even I was about to beat his ass. Nigger is still a powerful word....