There are examples of whitewashed idols which are even more extreme than this
Something I noticed from watching a lot of Korean interviews with idols is that there is an astounding amount of casual colourism. This isn't limited to K-pop or the wider entertainment industry, or even Asia, colourism unfortunately exists everywhere. I was aware of the issue with colourism in India which originated from the caste system. In 2016, a Chinese advert for laundry detergent went viral due to how incredibly racist it was. In the ad, a black man is pushed into a washing machine, and when he comes out, he's an Asian man. It not only suggests that the black man is unattractive, but also that he's dirty, but once the pigment in his skin is washed away, he's clean.
The Indian skin whitening product 'Fair and Lovely' now known as 'Glow and Lovely'
A lot of K-pop groups have a "visual" (a member who is selected as a focal point because they are considered the most attractive or have the most interesting face). When I first got into K-pop I found this bizarre, and still do to be honest. I think putting so much emphasis on looks is harmful, and I doubt it's healthy for the self-esteem of the other group members.
The girl group TWICE appeared on a popular Korean variety show, Men on a Mission. It's a really odd concept for a TV show. Idols appear dressed in school uniforms, and the all-male cast who are all over the age of 35 are also dressed like students. Momo asks "Who showers the most?" and one of the hosts Kyunghoon replies: "Dahyun, because she's the whitest" insinuating that people with darker complexions look dirty.
There are lots of clips online of Kai from EXO being made fun of by the other members because he had darker skin than the rest of them. They gave him a nickname which was actually a slur, the equivalent of the n word in Korean. Above is a screenshot from a video of D.O. showing a drawing of the EXO members, the middle drawing on the bottom row is supposed to be Kai. The other is a video of someone overlining Chen's lips with lipstick and him saying that he looks like "Kunta Kinte". Kunta Kinte is a character from the Alex Haley 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Kinte was sold to an American slave owner who stripped away his identity and decided his name would now be Toby. Kinte refused to answer to this name and tried to escape the plantation several times. After his fourth escape attempt, he was told he could choose between being castrated or lose half a foot. The name Kunta Kinte is also used as a derogatory term to describe an African person. When black people are reduced to racist caricatures, it's reminiscent of the Minstrel Shows which started in 1828. The sole purpose of these shows was to ridicule black people by playing up on stereotypes. This was the origin of blackface. K-pop is heavily inspired by Black music (which is a recognised genre). The chairperson of Big Hit Entertainment Bang Si-hyuk gives Black music full credit as the foundation for K-pop:
In terms of music, Black music is the base. Even when doing many genres like house, urban, and PBR&B, there’s no change to the fact that it is Black music. The boundaries of music genres are being broken globally.
There are lots of non-Korean idols, from Japan, Taiwan, China, Australia and the US. Unfortunately, even idols born and raised in the States appropriate black culture and are unapologetic about it. A prime example of this is Jay Park, who from what I've seen is never willing to take any criticism or learn from his actions. Park was born in 1987 and grew up in Seattle, Washington. He moved to South Korea in 2005 to start his life as an idol trainee. He has been criticised countless times for his appropriation of black hairstyles like dreads and cornrows, using AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), and using gang signs without understanding what they actually represent.
Sherliza Moé is a YouTuber who covers topics like cultural appropriation and racism in K-pop. In her video about colourism in Asia, she referenced a song called Drip by Jessi, another Korean-American idol, which Jay Park was featured on: "Diamonds blue like a Crip, yeah." The lyrics are referring to the Los Angeles street gang, the Crips. So many lives have been lost to gang violence. It's so misplaced for her to make a reference to this, when she has absolutely no connection to it. I would argue that when it comes to people like Jay Park and Jessi, we can't justify their actions by bringing up the fact that South Korea is a homogenised society because they didn't grow up there. Eric Nam was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988 and is two years younger than Jay Park, and yet he doesn't mimic black culture and try to reclaim it as his own. I don't think people like Jay Park or Jessi have malicious intentions, but it's besides the point. It's embarrassing and tone deaf. Jay Park did a remix of Kendrick Lamar's DNA. The song is supposedly about being being proud of Korean culture, but the video is full of Koreans with afros and braids. Many viewers pointed out that if they wanted to show how proud they were of Korean culture, they could have shown things like hanbok, which is traditional Korean clothing. Instead, they're essentially dressing up as black people.
Response from Black Creators
The YouTuber Sebastine reacts to a lot of K-pop content. He talked about how he comes to K-pop for an escape from reality, and still, racism, cultural appropriation trickles into the content. He said he has got to the point where he no longer cares about appropriation because it's tiring talking about it. The viewers in the comment section weighed in, and some very good points were made.
There have been a few instances where K-pop artists "talk black" as if it's some kind of party trick. RM from BTS was guilty of this in 2014, he would basically say gibberish in a stereotypical 'blaccent' and people around him would clap and laugh in amusement. Another idol who did this was the rapper Zico. In a VLIVE, RM talked about how he had been rethinking his actions, and the negative impact they had on people:
[translated from Korean to English]
I had never thought my behaviour or my music or words could hurt others or cause inconvenience to others. I never thought that way. Regardless of my intentions, my actions could cause troubles or hurt other people's feelings. While reflecting on this, I thought I need to take responsibility for that.
RM in particular has received a lot of backlash for some of the questionable hairstyles he had at the beginning of BTS' career, like an afro, and dreads. "But Namjoon" became a common phrase used by K-pop fans when arguing about problematic idols. When someone would criticise something their favourite idol did, they would bring up "But Namjoon did this". Referencing another idol's poor judgment isn't a valid defence. In my opinion, Namjoon took accountability for his wrongdoing and he grew from it. In his 2018 speech at the UN, he showed that everyone regardless of skin colour or gender identity, should feel free to express themselves, and that we all make mistakes, but its important to identify them and try to improve as a person:
Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday's me is still me. Today, I am who I am with all of my faults and mistakes. Tomorrow, I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that'll be me too.
What's the Solution?
The Washington Post found that although half of the people shot and killed by police are white, black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. Racism is real. Appropriating and mocking black culture is incredibly harmful. It's important to read about the black experience, listen to what black people have to say, educate ourselves about it and understand how we can make the situation better. Esquire put together a reading list of 20 of the Most Essential books on Black History. It feels like the cultural appropriation in K-pop isn't going away anytime soon, and neither is colourism. It's so engrained into the culture. It's mostly K-pop fans in the West who point out the problems with the styling of idols. I have seen people suggesting that K-pop entertainment companies employ more staff outside of South Korea to improve diversity and awareness of different cultures, or educate idols on what is acceptable and what's not. Going back to Sherliza's video, she said: "Be mindful of unequal and unfair treatment from and by anyone...but don't be militant about it". This was very well said. If we can't have a civil conversation, progress won't be made.
If anyone wants to share their thoughts on this topic I'm all ears. This was really just the tip of the iceberg, because there's so much to discuss.
Highly recommend watching Sherliza's video
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