I am well aware of the fact that darker skin color is associated with poverty too. But isn’t that another form of discrimination? Isn’t that discrimination based on appearance? Also, I think you got me wrong at some point. I never mentioned the US in my post as a country where discrimination is rejected. Even though I will not agree with you that racism is rampant in the US. This is not accurate. Although there are still many racist people in the US, mainly in the southern part of it, being racist is not considered a normal behavior in that country. And please don’t think I am American, and this is why I am defending North Americans. For your information, I am not American. I’ve travelled to many countries. I’ve lived and studied in the US. I can tell you, as an African Caribbean person, I’ve never felt any sort of discrimination while I was there. If anyone had that feeling, they had kept it for themselves. Nobody was openly racist to me. But for my time in Korea, I’ve had countless experiences of people being openly racist to me and to my friends. Again, understand that I don’t have anything against Asians or Koreans. I have Korean friends who are open-minded enough to admit this is an issue; and they are working hard so that their children do not go that way. These are people I respect. For the rest, I just feel sorry for them as they’re far behind in this 21st century.

@DENNY

Well, perhaps you don’t realize it, but your comment is very racist. Let me make a point for you as it seems that you don’t have enough information about the world.

1) The reason why people usually associate poverty with black people is because western media project that image of them. If you launch Google Images and research the word “Poverty” 90% of the pictures you’ll find are pictures of black people. In other words, the media are putting into people’s minds in the world that if you’re black, you’re necessarily poor. Do you know that there are also a lot of children dying of hunger in India, the Philippines, Thailand, China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc? The only thing is that these are not the pictures you will see on the Internet because those countries control what image is projected about them in the world. In Korea, and I’ve seen neighborhoods that are no different from what you’d see in Haiti or any of the so called “Poor countries” in the world. But you’re never see those pictures on the Internet, because they will hide them. You’ll only see pictures of the nice places because they want people to believe that everything about them is perfect. I have pictures that I’ve taken in Haiti, and when I show them to people, they can’t believe that those places exist there. Why? Because everything they’ve hear about that country is negative. Nobody ever showed them a nice picture of Haiti. This is the truth, my friend. This is the unfair world we’re living in.

2) If some countries such as Haiti are poor today, it’s also because some other countries such as France, Spain, the US and England have exploited them for centuries. Stealing all their riches and leaving them with nothing. Go to Spain, you’ll see many cathedrals with gold altars, some of them have walls plated with gold. Do you know that most that gold was taken from Haiti?

Finally, you seem to agree with Asians that it’s normal to look down on someone just because you think they’re poorer than you. What century do you think you’re living in? If you’re in Korea, I am pretty sure you like it as you fit perfectly into that mindset.

If you are constantly reinforced that you can achieve much more than you think you can, you will (e.g. growing up with a Tiger mom). If you always hear from those around you that you will amount to no good you will probably achieve that too.

It occurs in the home, at school, in the military and at almost all levels of inter-cultural and inter-society interaction.

Adults, who already have a strong positive self image are not as susceptible to damage in a negative environment as impressionable younger people.

Our Gini coefficient is out of whack because we don’t give a rat’s arse about making effective improvements and changes to all parts of our cities.

And while Blacks still get alarmed stares in the US, there wouldn’t be anyone planting a bomb at a Martin Luther King Day parade (if Seoul had one).

Grrr… I meant to write:

alarmed stares in the US –> in Korea

The only thing is that in most part of the world, it is not tolerated, and it is rejected.

Patrick, most of what you wrote about Korea is fairly accurate (though ChickenHead was right when he pointed out that favoring lighter skin in countries like Korea and Japan is not a racial thing but a socioeconomic holdover). But I’m guessing that you have little clue of what it’s like to live in a country like the US (one of the places where you suggest discrimination is “not tolerated” and is “rejected”) as a racial, ethnic, or religious minority.

No, I’m not saying the US is a bad country. It is a great country, and built into the DNA of that great nation is a constant drive to find our faults and root them out as best we can, including lingering problems like racism, racial animosity, etc.

But the fact remains that it does remain. Not nearly as bad as before, but it’s there and it’s on a day to day basis. M&Ms — Muslims and Mexicans — are constant whipping boys for so many people, to the point that Hispanics, Muslims, and Muslim-looking people are on the receiving end of anger and disdain on a regular basis.

I’d sure as heck rather be a White-looking person almost anywhere in Korea than a Hispanic-looking person in much of the US. And while Blacks still get alarmed stares in the US, there wouldn’t be anyone planting a bomb at a Martin Luther King Day parade (if Seoul had one).

Again, I’m not saying the US is a bad place. It’s not. I’m saying that you are going to get nowhere if you sanctimoniously point out the speck in your neighbor’s eye and ignore the log in your own.

—-
Sadly, very few of the Koreans I know are interested at all in the rest of the world. To most Koreans, the world only has four countries: Korea because it’s the best, Japan because they hate it, China because they believe it’s where the Korean Nation it rooted, and America because this is where the beautiful people are from.
—–

And I’m supposedly the problem here.

“Most Koreans are also white supremacists. They believe the whiter someone’s skin is the cleaner and the better they are.”

Please consider that throughout Asia, lighter skin denotes education, wealth, and an accomplished position rather than a life of poverty and labor under the sun.

For this reason, they are right… whiter skin DOES frequently mean they are cleaner and better.

In Korea and Japan, where many people are only one generation from the farm, this idea still exists. In poorer Asian countries, it is rightfully the standard.

This is in contrast to the multi-generational post-agricultural society of the West where a tan denotes the luxury of a more leisurely lifestyle.

The youngest generation of Korean girls are just starting to show interest in tanning… as they are past the point of being mistaken for a farm girl and now wish to show sportiness.

I leave you with Exhibit A… Ganguro and Yamanba from the previous generation of Japanese girls… as Japan is a generation or so ahead of Korea.

http://japan-powaaa.cowblog.fr/la-mode-gyaru-au-japon-2540935.html

Guys, does that get your freak on… or is it just freaky?