Bigotry in Asia
As a bi-racial woman, I am both a woman of color and a woman of pallor. But I tend to identify more as a woman of color. Others tend to see me more as a woman of pallor -- basic white with maybe a bit of a twist. In Japan, I was definitely not seen as Japanese, but I didn't fit their stereotype of what an American woman should look like either. I think Pamela Anderson probably exemplified that stereotype. They didn't know she's Canadian. Blonde, blue eyes, big boobs... ya' know. A media stereotype.
Asians buy into media stereotypes a great deal. Blacks are bad -- after all, they're almost always drug dealers or pimps or criminals on TV. When people heard that I was from DC (this was back when it was widely known as the "murder capital" of the country), I got all sorts of questions about guns. Did I have one? Did I carry one? Bleh.
Tiger Woods has done a lot to break down conventional assumptions about race and ethnicity for Americans. And apparently so has Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward in Korea.
I didn't know this until just now, but Ward is half Korean, born in Korea. And his success has provided a role model for mixed race kids in Korea who are largely marginalized by this mostly homogenous country, according to this WaPo article, Steelers MVP Gives S. Korea a Most Valuable Perspective, which briefly discusses his journey to self-identity and appreciation of his Korean mother -- and then his journey to Korea with his mother. Mostly, however, it focuses on how his success has impacted Korean society, giving the country pause to examine their societal biases against mixed race kids.
Not out of malice, but more out of ignorance (and a bit of a sense of superiority). Hines Ward is opening a few minds and pushing Koreans to re-examine what it means to be Korean. In my book, that's more valuable than the number of touchdown passes he might catch. Pretty cool.
UPDATE (4/11/06): Check out CNN's video coverage on it here.
Asians buy into media stereotypes a great deal. Blacks are bad -- after all, they're almost always drug dealers or pimps or criminals on TV. When people heard that I was from DC (this was back when it was widely known as the "murder capital" of the country), I got all sorts of questions about guns. Did I have one? Did I carry one? Bleh.
Tiger Woods has done a lot to break down conventional assumptions about race and ethnicity for Americans. And apparently so has Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward in Korea.
I didn't know this until just now, but Ward is half Korean, born in Korea. And his success has provided a role model for mixed race kids in Korea who are largely marginalized by this mostly homogenous country, according to this WaPo article, Steelers MVP Gives S. Korea a Most Valuable Perspective, which briefly discusses his journey to self-identity and appreciation of his Korean mother -- and then his journey to Korea with his mother. Mostly, however, it focuses on how his success has impacted Korean society, giving the country pause to examine their societal biases against mixed race kids.
In a country that is 99.5 percent ethnic Korean, Ward's visit has sparked a broad reexamination of social prejudices against mixed-race Koreans, particularly those who, like Ward and Chang, are the children of Korean women and U.S. servicemen stationed here."From my own experience, I know that Asians can be terribly bigoted.
Not out of malice, but more out of ignorance (and a bit of a sense of superiority). Hines Ward is opening a few minds and pushing Koreans to re-examine what it means to be Korean. In my book, that's more valuable than the number of touchdown passes he might catch. Pretty cool.UPDATE (4/11/06): Check out CNN's video coverage on it here.
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