So a lot of things have happened recently concerning cultural appropriation with idols and there has been a lot of discussion going on. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and wanted to share my thoughts. Disclaimer: my words aren’t the holy grail. I don’t know everything and I’m not speaking for anyone but myself, as a African-Caribbean American living in the U.S.

So I was seeing comments like “South Korea is a homogenous country, not an uneducated one” or “Idols should be aware of cultural appropriation and therefore there’s no excuse” or “If they’re going to another country, they should do quick research” or “If they do cultural appropriation, they’re racists.”

Let’s consider certain factors:

S. Korea is heavily homogeneous in ethnicity and overall culture (though there has been a rise in multiculturalism in recent years), so I don't think that cultural appropriation has been an issue there. In the U.S where many cultures meet and mingle, definitely. So history and perspective matters.

S. Korea isn't an uneducated country, true. But consider the fact that unless they specifically teach U.S history and the issues of cultural appropriation in S. Korean schools (I don't know why they would; we don't do that in the U.S for other countries unless you're taking a specific class in college), how would they know? There might be world history where topics like slavery are discussed but that is general. The world doesn’t revolve around the West (or U.S) and what happened/happens there; countries have their own history and stuff going on. Treasure’s Yedam recently made a comment comparing his group’s debut changing the world to Christopher Columbus “discovering” America and stans blew up, wanting him cancelled. But others were quick to point out that us westerners ourselves have only recently begun learning, whether in school or on the internet, that this belief was bs. So why are they acting like he committed some terrible crime when a lot of westerners were probably as misinformed as him once upon a time?

Issues like awareness of cultural appropriation has only recently become a hot topic, in the west. I don't know if there's even such discussion in S. Korea, on an academic or social level. Someone made a comment saying that they didn’t know that the n-word was a derogatory term or know about systematic racism until they moved to the U.S. And how, many Americans strongly believe that there’s no way the rest of the world doesn’t know about these issues yet they know nothing of what’s going on with the rest of the world. That was some truth right there.

Despite how modern it is, the sociocultural world of the Far East (this is a generalization, not specific to every country in the Far East) is not the same as the West. Therefore certain social issues here may not "exist" there or be a big deal. Cultural appropriation is a big deal to westerners because it's deeply rooted in our history. That's not the case for S. Koreans. It doesn’t mean that they can’t learn about it and support social movements and change but again, realize that the world doesn’t revolve around the West.

Doing quick research on the country the idols are visiting isn’t really viable for a country like the U.S, considering the fact that there are a lot of races, ethnicities and cultures here. That’s like saying I’m going to Africa, let me do some quick research on African culture. (Yes, I know Africa is a continent and the U.S a country but you get the analogy). It’s easier to do that for a country like S. Korea because they have one general culture. So stop saying that.

As for racist comments. Just because an idol made a mistake (most of the time it is) or were ignorant, it doesn’t mean they are racist. People throw around that term way too freely in these situations. That’s a serious accusation. Now it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold them accountable but we shouldn’t jump down their throats either and act like they’re now a horrible person. Take a moment to realize that many aren’t in the same situation or have the same perspective/knowledge as you and chill out. Some of y'all just want something to be mad at but that’s not a conversation y'all are ready for.

Also, for some of you who are saying you are allies, you need to shut up because you are speaking over the people who are getting appropriated. Just because I might not be as upset as others or have moved on doesn’t mean you can preach to me on how I should feel about this issue or dismiss me. Not everybody in that race/ethnicity will think and feel the same.

(Unpopular on Twitter).

If you're going to argue please do so respectfully. I’m tired of rude people.

Edit: Since there are users complaining on r/kpopnoir about this post I wanted to clarify some things. This post came about because I wanted to give a different perspective because I myself only learned about cultural appropriation (in general) just last year. It wasn't taught in school (here or in the Caribbean) or talked about my people around me, so I ended up piecing it together through the internet. And I just wanted to share that this might be the case for a lot of people or in this case, countries.

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