American Superbowl MVP Hines Ward has arrived in Korea with his mother, Kim Young Hee. There's been a storm warning issued, for 'Typhoon Ward.' The president and First Lady are welcoming him, and Seoul's city government is making him an "honorary citizen." Major companies are competing over sponsorships, and the media reports his every move. His mother raised him in difficult conditions, he grew up to be a fine young man, and he became an American superstar, so the warm reception is natural.
Why is it, then, that one feels society's hypocrisy in all the excitement? The fatherland he was born in 30 years ago scorned him and his mother because it was full of a "pure blood" ideology. They left as if to escape that, but Koreans in America ostracized them as well. They still did not forget the fatherland, and the rest of us need to repent.
That will not be easy, because then and now, discrimination and prejudice against people of mixed blood continue. Ward is a success, and he's being offered hundreds of millions of Won to appear on television, but it was not that long ago when the best of singers wasn't even allowed on stage for being partly black. Korean companies have fought each other to be able to supply him with an automobile, clothing, and lodging (at W6 million a day), but few companies have given mixed-blood individuals equal opportunities for employment. Ward will dine with president Roh Moo Hyun, but the military has not given men of mixed blood the opportunity to enlist. Seoul has made him an honorary citizen, but you don't see any government body worrying about the education of mixed-blood students who abandon school because of the abuse. According to a survey by the Korea Youth Counseling Institute, two out of three mixed-blood youth are not amused by Ward's success story, which shows you the despair our society has left them with.
Ward's visit needs to lead to the eradication of that kind of prejudice and discrimination. We hope that Ward can be our true hero as a result.
The Hankyoreh, 4 April 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] We Repent Before Ward and All People of Mixed Blood |
