SB Comments of the Week (9/30-10/6)

Going by the definition that racism = prejudice + power, then yes racism does exist in other countries where one racial group holds the most power, including Korea, with its attitudes toward foreign workers and biracial Koreans. But here’s the thing: a Korean would not be able to transfer their institutionalized superiority to a “White” country like the US, but a white person can transfer their own instilled sense of superiority to Korea, and feel as though they have every right to stop a performer from displaying their own creations because they’re not interested. THAT is white privilege: white people have a much larger domain of power than any other racial group, and that power fosters a sense of entitlement which leads to situations like this heckling.

Daesha O’Leary on Why Tiger JK Isn’t Racist, Shouldn’t Have Apologized, and How Psy Factors In:

I really agree with this article, except for the part about reverse racism not existing. I believe it does exist, but it’s just simple old racism towards a majority. We may not hear about it as much, but I think it’s there. To define it as you did is dangerous and could excuse actions that could harm others.

I am biracial and have experienced racial slurs from both sides of the fence. My white friends like to say things (jokingly) like “How are you eating your own food? You’re black, you shouldn’t be able to afford that on your family welfare”, while my black friends like to call me things like “cracker” or “Wigga”. This stuff isn’t bad enough for me to react negatively towards them, but it does frustrate me to no end. From another perspective, I have also lived in Korea for a time and while going out I would be told things like “Make sure you don’t get too rowdy”, like my Korean friends wanted to ensure that I wouldn’t cause trouble for them like the crazy westerner I was. And back home, a lot of my Korean friends were subject to “Pffft, stop tryna dance and go do some math”.

So yeah, I think racism appears in all forms and hurts no matter what the race of the person who is saying or hearing those things. As far as I’m concerned, race shouldn’t matter at all. A race does not define a person in any way. If someone is being a jerk to someone because of the recipients race, they’re being racist, end of story. But yeah, that’s just my opinion. ^^

 

AB on Why Tiger JK Isn’t Racist, Shouldn’t Have Apologized, and How Psy Factors In:

I believe Tiger JK should have apologized but only for the unprofessional behavior he displayed at an event for which he was the South Korean representative. I find it reasonable to ask hecklers to stop, but the curses didn’t have to be there.

On the subject of racism, there was not anything racist about what Tiger JK said. Did he generalize? Yes. But is that the same thing as participating in racism? No. While it seems unfair that the white population is unable to lay claim to being victims of racism, it’s something that is inherent within the social structures of society. The definition of racism as prejudice with power is a sociological one. Though there have been measures taken to equalize all races or ethnicities with one another, they have not been fully successful. We’d all like to wear a pair of rose-colored glasses and say that race doesn’t matter or that we’re above that, but we (by this I’m referring to the United States as that’s my only point of reference) still have instances of the race with greater power–the white population–using that power to insult or discriminate against other ethnicities. I’m not usually ever referred to as just a girl or a young girl. It’s always the Indian girl. Or the Asian girl. I’ve grown up in a society where when I look in the mirror, I see brown skin first no matter how many times I look. I’m proud of the culture I’ve come from, but everything I’ve watched, seen, or read as I’ve grown up has been in comparison to the white population.

Claims can be made that within the music industry specifically there is greater variation of cultures represented, in particular African-American ones, but you cannot say that there is a large Asian influence. African-Americans have ingrained themselves particularly within the music industry, but still are lacking in power in other industries. But to get back to the focus of this article, Tiger JK was performing in Seoul. In South Korea. To be encouraged in his own country to perform a dance that is not his speaks of disgusting ignorance and stereotypes. That was probably the last place he expected to encounter such jibes, so really, it’s no surprise he acted the way he did. And having the performance in South Korea doesn’t mean Tiger JK receives a magical boost of social power. From even just looking at the K-pop scene, the goal is always to expand across the world, to make it to the United States. Even in South Korea, for part of the music scene, the American has greater power at his or her disposal than a South Korean, no matter their prominence.

Nate Broadus on Why Tiger JK Isn’t Racist, Shouldn’t Have Apologized, and How Psy Factors In:

I’m glad he clarified his position. Reverse racism is still racism, so I’m glad he acknowledged that the actions of a few idiots does not represent all people with white skin. Thankfully, there are sensible people in all races (they just get drowned out by the morons too easily).

I cannot come out and say that his comments were appropriate, anymore than I could say the same about Michael Richards or any other entertainer who has lapsed into racist speech in the heat of the moment. I can say, in the context of this performance, I can understand WHY he felt the need to speak out so loudly, though.

It is one thing to be heckled at a comedy show, and quite another to have your entire performance disregarded in favor of some gimmicky dance that some people foolishly equate to an Asian dance. Especially if the artist in question is known for tackling complex emotional, social and societal issues in his/her music. Tiger JK has a tendency to go a little deeper than hollow bling raps in his work. 8:45 Heaven is still one of the more emotional songs I’ve heard from a hip hop artist. There isn’t anything thuggish about it — just a song documenting the pain and sorrow of someone who just lost an important person (made even worse by the fact that they were unable to say their goodbyes beforehand). So to have your audience clamor loudly for you to stop speaking on your message, to just do “your Asian dance,” would be infuriating. That is no different than saying to a woman speaking at a podium, “Tits or gtfo!”, disregarding anything of value she might have to say in favor of misogyny, or assuming all Latino people eat nothing but tacos or burritos or any of the other completely asinine assumptions more racially insensitive douchebags are prone to make.

Sadly, this is just one of the negative byproducts of Psy‘s crossover success — and it is not anything he could have avoided. Psy didn’t do Gangnam Style to make it easier for dipsh*ts to pigeonhole Asian artists in an image of parody, he was just being himself. Humor always runs through his music and image. Unfortunately, when your work is thrown to the pop culture masses, you lose a great deal of control as far as which direction your work is going to shift. If narrow-minded people want to assume your lark is somehow indicative of how an entire race dances, it will go that way even if more rational people shout that it is not true. That is the ugly side of these large scale pop culture phenomenons.

The racial tint to all of this is there through no fault of Psy, Tiger JK, or anyone else — pop culture is the only thing that can be blamed. I rarely find that a situation can be blamed on one side or the other. More often than not, both sides are wrong in some way. Few arguments or disagreements get there through the fault of one entity. But in this case, it is entirely on the shoulders of pop culture — or more specifically, dumbass people within pop culture’s audience that speak without thinking clearly (some probably realize later how dickish they sounded), or who just simply don’t care (let’s not pretend there aren’t real, true, absolute racist dickheads out there).

The WAY Tiger JK responded was wrong. I am glad he came out and apologized for it. Outright racism should not be an excuse for outright racism — especially when not everyone with white skin at the performance were standing with the guilty. WHAT he said, however, is justified.

Asians (as a race) are not clowns that do a funny dance on cue. A lot of Asian artists take their artistry seriously, so why on earth would you assume they would be cool with dropping the message for some party dance? This applies even to non-Asian artists.

Would you ask Maynard James Keenan to do the Macarena in the middle of Lateralus? I would go off on somebody in the crowd if they did something that stupid. It’s a song about thinking laterally, not limiting yourself to existence, to reality, to expand your whole sense of being, to grasp the concept of being deific while still remaining human.

“Stop singing and do the Macarena!”

Yeah, I can see why Tiger JK exploded the way he did.

CJux on Why Tiger JK Isn’t Racist, Shouldn’t Have Apologized, and How Psy Factors In: