Free throws and chicken

  The most awesome thing about living in Korea is that I can unabashedly enjoy chicken and watermelon in public
without the fear of being stereotyped. There is literally a chicken spot on every corner. It is in effect, a black man's heaven. Please don't get me started on Korea's love for watermelon either. Because it rivals the black man's love. It's not because I'm genetically pre determined to love chicken but because I genuinely love a fried flightless bird. Besides, who the fucked decided to pin a food that humanity largely consumes on Black Americans. It would be both pathetic and awesome if food producers breed chicken for the sole purpose of black consumption.
  But you can't elude racial stereotypes all the time. Back in April I was in Seoul looking for a Brooklyn Nets hat. Not because Brooklyn is my favorite team but because I'm a Jay-Z dick rider. Honestly, if Jay made a vile of diamond encrusted baby piss fashionable, I can't say that I wouldn't consider doing it as well. So as I'm walking to the NBA store there is a crowd of people outside shooting free throws for NBA merchandise. My girlfriend, MK Ultra, turns to me and asked if I wanted to shoot.
  There was a part of me that really wanted to shoot the damn free throws. An overwhelming part of me didn't want to shoot because I'm a poor free throw shooter. Internally, I had likened it to eating chicken publicly. Had I been in America, I would have shot the ball without any preconceived ideas about my ethnicity and basketball. Let's venture for a moment into the outcome of both making or missing the free throws that will somehow judge the worth of an entire race.
  Had I made the free throw, then it will have been expected. "Oh, he's black he should have made it. Black people are good at basketball." It would have been dismissed as a normality without taking into account that I'm a poor free throw shooter. If I had missed the free throw then it would have been a shock. Missing the free throw would have been seen as an anomaly. You may be surprised but when I tell Koreans that I can't dunk or dance they look at me with disbelief followed by the phrase "try it".

  So, I didn't shoot the fucking free throws. My decision not to may have something to do with being Black American. To be more specific it may have everything to do with being an ethnic minority in America. In the U.S. I took care on how I was/am racially perceived. And in Korea, I'm still a minority. I have to be aware of how my actions are perceived as a U.S. national as well as a black person. When you are a minority, sometimes something as trivial as shooting free throws can be unnerving.
  Minorities in the U.S. charge the white majority with not being able to fully understand some of the hardships or insensitivity they face. Until one has become the minority can one begin to understand (i.e. religious affiliation, sexual preference and living abroad). While living abroad, I have heard white Americans say aloud "damn, now they are going to think we're all like that" or "I hate when white people do stupid shit in Korea." As a minority living in both America and Korea, I understand their frustration.  I would hope that white americans would take this experience back to the West.
  But there is still another avenue yet to be explored. Perhaps, if I had shot the fucking free throws and missed (as I probably would have) not a single fuck would have been given. Perhaps, nothing would have been concluded about me regarding my ethnicity. Perhaps, I would have been that dude that shot and missed so badly that the ball hit a lady in the eye. Perhaps...

Obama Teacher

In 2008 and 2012, the United States elected then reelected it’s first Black American president. Having lived in Korea before President Obama’s global prominence, black people were ethnically identified by Koreans without regards to the complexity of the African Diaspora, as simply African. After the election, black men were simply, Obama. Hell, even my Mexican American homie has been called Obama on the regular. He definitely doesn’t resemble President Obama.
The problem many westerners have in Korea is not being able to tell the difference between ignorance and outright racism. To be honest the line can be moved, blurred or nonexistent. Being called the most famous black man in the world or being called Flava Flav is a no brainer as to which to take offense to. Brad Pitt or Robert Downey Jr? Well, I guess Robert DowneyJr., isn’t such a fuck up anymore. Pointing at a Korean man and calling him Kim Jung IL is indeed racist. Even if he does look like Mr. Kim, it is an unsavory observation.
I contend that Korea has some serious racial undertones but not on the scale of apartheid South Africa or the U.S. during the Civil Rights era. There are unmistakeable instances of “live and direct” racism. While some may point out that Korea is just highly Xenophobic, this brand of Xenophobia errors on the side of racism. Take for example, what I affectionately call the racial totem pole for foreigners. Foreigners all experience overt or covert forms of racism. In Korea, no one is excluded. The racial hierarchy in Korea has white people first, then all other westerners and rich nations, then at the bottom are people from poor asian countries and poor african countries. Even within the totem pole there is a totem pole.
It is way too easy to have a “damn, that was racist” moment in Korea or anywhere in the world for that matter. Back in 2009 an Indian man, Bonojit Hussain, was verbally assaulted by a Korean bus driver. The driver went on to ask Hussain’s Korean female acquaintance “how does if feel to date a black bastard?” When they decided that they had had enough of his vitriol language they stopped the bus to report him to the authorities. Upon filing the complaint the police told him there is no racial discrimination in Korea. 
Korea isn’t exactly going to the Hang River for a “picnic” and ending the evening with hanging a foreigner from the light post either. I’d liken Koreans to that of any indigenous people that saw white people for the first time. I can imagine that some people probably worshipped them, some were frightened and some just wanted to know  what the fuck are they? On some accounts, the racism in Korea is comical. When I’m greeted with a mechanical “yo, wassup man”, Koreans look as if their brain is malfunctioning when I simply reply, “hello, how are you?” I suppose by me being black American I should indulge them with a caricature of blackness.  
On the basketball courts throughout Samsung country, Korean men innocently make the statement that black men are naturally great players. They have not been exposed to the reality. Black men that are great at any sport are great because they practice every single day. For some it is a way to escape economic hardship. I assure you there is no “basketball gene” that allows black men to leap out of the gym in a single bound. Hell if they are misguided about genetics and physical ability I’d be frightened about their thoughts on genetics and intellects. But my all time favorite is when someone replies, “you’re nothing like what I see on T.V.” Need I say more? Instead of getting angry and bashing old men with one’s rocks, foreigners should take the time to educate by an explanation or through actions when possible.
While adults are usually better equipped to handle the harshness of racism, biracial children are not. Children of biracial families have a difficult time dealing with a hostile environment. In May, a teen who had a Korean father and Russian mother was indicted on 11 counts of arson. The boy’s father was killed in a car accident in Moscow and was abandoned by his mother. The boys paternal grandparents brought he and his brother to Korea. According to the 17 year old, in the eyes of Korean students he was neither Russian nor Korean and was bullied with physical or verbal. The teen stated “when I look at the fires I feel good and my anger goes away.” Sure arson shouldn’t be condoned but couple his daily dose of racism with the recent death of his grandmother, one can see why the teen is retaliating.
The question isn’t whether of not Korea is racist because of it’s perceived ethnic homogeneity. The more accurate question is how will Korea combat racism as it continues to develop socially. In the west overt racism is taken so seriously that anyone accused of racism can lead to a loss of business, the lost of a job and being socially ostracized. Today multi ethnic children are not considered Korean by society. Even though they culturally identify as Korean. Korea must learn from the bloody civil rights era in the U.S. and take the painful necessary steps to incorporate multi ethnic people into society. If not, the social climate will be a fiery one in the coming decades.