There are a lot of black K-Pop fans, and it seems like there’s always a group of them taking issue with something in the industry. From Lisa’s braids during her solo debut and Giselle lip-syncing to a SZA song to Hongjoong’s cornrows in promotional teasers, a high number of “controversies” have cropped up surrounding the reactions of black K-Pop fans to so-called cultural appropriation and racism. Many black netizens have discussed giving up K-Pop music entirely because of these events, which they see as pure disrespect and racism towards black people. As a black K-Pop fan, I have regularly disagreed with the scandals. With the reactions so intense, demands so simple, and arguments so muddled, it’s very unclear what the naysayers actually want from these supposedly racist artists and companies.
Aespa’s Giselle and Stray Kids’s Han are two artists from which apologies were demanded. The fourth-generation idols were called out for similar things: Giselle for lip-syncing the N-word while listening to SZA on their MV set and Han for an unearthed rap he had written during middle school which contained offensive language, including one term that allegedly can be used like the N-word. Both artists put out apologies, and conversations about the situations almost completely stopped soon after. What exactly was achieved? What does an apology mean from a racist? Apologizing because people won’t shut up is not exactly an indication of a true change of heart. If such a letter or tweet is satisfactory, did those demanding them really think the offender was guilty of being racist or guilty of a mistake or ignorance? Their demands imply they see the artist or company as uninformed, but their claims are of racism. Accidental offense caused by ignorance can be remedied with an apology and that apology be genuine. Unintentional action is not — or, rather, should not be — “cancelable”. But many netizens are up in arms over these controversies; people are offended, angry, and some claim to be no longer fans of the artist, all while demanding apologies. What, truly, is the thought process behind this aggressive response to actions that apologies can correct?
In August of this year, Cheryl, of the YouTube channel everglow-up, put out a video titled ‘i am done addressing racism in kpop’. In it, Cheryl expresses her frustration to her forty thousand subscribers over what she calls a “lack of nuance” and “toxicity” within the (international) K-Pop fandom — the black part of the fandom especially. Specifically, she laments facing online bullying, racism, and misrepresentation of her views in response to her videos about alleged racism in the industry. In addition, she claims that these companies cause these controversies on purpose as publicity. She says artists — she directly names Giselle — “gain popularity” from being racist, and she doesn’t want to feed into that.
She’s correct that there is more than enough toxicity and a lack of nuance, and being interrogated over how pro- or anti-black you are based on your playlist would be frustrating. However, it seems she’s ignoring her own lack of nuance and toxicity. Cheryl accuses Giselle of being racist, regularly using the N-word in ways that Cheryl has decided aren’t okay, and was just apologizing for “getting caught this time”. She doesn’t know that, can’t know that, yet makes this statement, hiding behind the label of opinion in a video that takes a very hard stance and claims her interpretations of the events are reality. She won’t talk about these controversies because she doesn’t want to give racists that attention or profit. That’s not an opinion; that’s accusations of fact fueling an active decision.
I guess Cheryl must be like many others who say they’re no longer listening to groups like Stray Kids, ATEEZ, and aespa, which they believe harbor at least one racist. It’s a bit shocking how willing these so-called fans are to completely write off these artists that they’re supposedly fans of. These netizens approach the world with this expectation for victimization. For them, they’re not learning that someone might be racist; it’s confirmation of what they already assumed, which is why even the most minor of things can be enough to condemn. That’s why Cheryl can feel so confident calling Giselle a racist and claiming she uses the N-word all the time. That’s why there are so many social media posts and YouTube videos attempting to cancel artists, companies, and the industry as a whole. They, consciously or unconsciously, believe the people are racist and now have what they consider to be confirmation.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t racist and prejudice people and ideas in South Korea or that there isn’t a single racist person in the K-Pop industry. What this does say is that we shouldn’t look for it wherever we go and stop grouping every non-black person together. One artist singing lyrics that include the N-word doesn’t justify vicious backlash against a completely different singer for wearing cornrows once simply because it’s the same country. (Cultural appropriation accusations are inherently flawed, but that’s a discussion for another time.) Furthermore, the netizens who mass email companies, pushing for apologies should really evaluate their values and wants if apologies are enough to smooth over what they truly believe to be overt racism. Witch-hunting for racists in the K-Pop industry is not fair to the people in it, and it is mentally and emotionally exhausting for those doing it. Sometimes we really should give people the benefit of the doubt and not let everything disrupt our mental well-being.
