"Keep your dirty barbarian hands off our women or we'll break them!"

As the Marmot has been diligently reporting, there has been a lot of fallout from the recent 'English Spectrum-Gate.'  Angry Korean 'Netizens' have anonymously been posting threats against white guys and their Korean girlfriends (or wives, hook-ups, friends, etc.).

Well ECHELON has picked up the threat (Well it was probably some guy in the basement of the USA Embassy in Seoul but, considering all the money we have spent on it, I would like to think that ECHELON picked it up.) and I received the following warning in my email as did Jeff in Pusan:

Recently, inflammatory sexual content was posted to a website for
English language teachers in Korea.  That posting together with subsequent
postings were taken by some to demean Korean women.  We have noted
recently, strong reaction in the form of web postings threatening attacks in
the vicinity of Hongik University and the Sinchon area against
Americans and other foreigners who speak English.  All Americans and their
families (especially young adults) are encouraged to exercise prudence and
caution when visiting these neighborhoods.  The Embassy advises that
inappropriate social behavior in public may be seen as provocative by
Korean nationals.

Does this mean I can't grab my wife's butt in public?

Actually she told me a few days ago that she felt worried about the situation now.  She doesn't fear violence when folks see us together (my being 110k does have some advantages) so much as dirty stares from some chonmin (bumpkins) on the subway.

The beginning of an anti-miscegenation movement?

As a native southerner (the former home of anti-miscegenation laws) this kind of talk strikes home.  It's a little disturbing to see folks talking offense at someone taking 'their' women.  And lets face it, that is the attitude we are talking about here.  If they were really concerned about what the guys at English Spectrum were saying, they would reserve their wrath for them. 

The weird thing is that the actual numbers involved in mixed marriages are pretty small and the main 'culprits' are Korean men marrying Chinese (mostly ethnic Korean) women.  If Korea could just manage to rebalance its birth ratio, there would be plenty of women for Korean men to chose from and we wouldn't have these bitter single guys so worked up over a relatively small number of women exiting the market.

The low numbers for Korean women marrying foreigners would suggests that a lot of the girls hanging out in Sontang and Itaewon will eventually settle down with a nice Korean boy.  They are just sowing some wild oats first.  So I think the people all worked up by this incident need to step back from their keyboards and take a deep breath.

Racism?  Whose?

By a coincidence I did a special class for a group of Korean college students on Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech.  While most of the class focused on the speech as rhetoric (and it is a marvelous piece of rhetoric) we spent the last thirty minutes or so talking about the nature of racism.

One of the things well talked about was how racists use the conduct of the few to tarnish a whole race of people.  For example if see someone from your tribe littering, you would think 'That guy is a jerk' but if a racist sees a Bangladeshi littering he may think 'Those South Asians are really dirty and lawless.  No wonder they are poor.'

You see that thinking among the anonymous netizens who are calling for others to attack foreigners near Hongik.  That same kind of thinking is present in anyone who uses the conduct of those netizens to paint Koreans as naives.

Comments

[jtb-in-texas]

well-said...

[c.kim]

"unforgivable blackness" by ken burns just played on pbs. it was about jack johnson. you should really try to show it to koreans.

[Sperwer]

I wouldn't grab your wife's butt in public!. Consider what happened to the GI who had his arm around his wife;s shoulders while riding the subway a few years ago!. He gets assualted by a bunch of drunk Koreans, whom he and his buddies mess up a bit in self-defense, and he and his buds go to jail while the perps walk. I always keep this in mind when I and/or my wife get verbally assaulted by the chonmin-nom - which, thankfully, happenswith less and less frequency compared with ten years ago.

[c.kim]

sorry if my previous post was ambiguous. but in case you don't know, "unforgivable blackness"

(http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/)

is the story of jack johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion in the u.s.a.. after beatin' all the white boxers of many different weight divisions - including jim jeffries (1910), led to a wave of racial violence against black folk and increased vigilence on anti-miscegenation laws in the u.s.a..

he was finally indicted for being a white slaver - basically, for having many white women at his side (mostly prostitutes - oh my god!)

koreans can really benefit from this documentary - if properly conveyed and presented to really understand the evils of misegenation. they are so primitive sometimes.

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/miscegenation.html

[c.kim]

oops - i meant the evils of anti-miscegenation. sorry.

[Dan]

They are trying to pass a "nude negro law" in some small southern town. When I say "they" it sounds like some klansmen behind it.

[jtb-in-texas]

not in Texas!

[Rina]

don't you have enough Russian whores in South Korea to grab their butts? To me, your wish to grab your wife's butt IN PUBLIC means plain disrespect to her as a human being. You merely want to show that she is an object you posess.
I am all for mixed marriages, but I wouldn't touch any American men even if they were the only men on Earth! Br-r-r-r-r...
I find Korean men very attractive. Pity they are not into foreign women!

[Andy (The Yangban)]

Rina, is it OK if my wife grabs my butt in public?

BTW, most of the Russian working girls in Korea are for Korean businessmen. There is no shortage of Korean guys who would like to roll in the hay with a foeign girl, so give them a shot.