Andrew Lee
Hallyu, or the Korean wave, has taken the world by storm in recent years, raising awareness of my country’s food, music, and language. However, this cultural diffusion has also brought about several unpleasant, unexpected consequences—one of which is the fetishization of all things Korean.
Growing up in Korea, I had been in the eye of the storm, completely oblivious to this phenomenon. Only when I stepped foot in the U.S. for college did I first experience the nuanced attitude with which people would approach me.
During orientation week, countless students would take notice of “The Republic of Korea” written on my name tag, asking me questions like “Can you teach me Korean?” “Do you know BTS?” “Have you watched Squid Game?” even before introducing themselves. For the first time in my life, people started approaching me because of my nationality and solely that aspect of my identity—nothing more, nothing less. I was also shocked to find out that some Korean Americans would go as far as to pretend as they went to high school in Korea to appear more native. What’s more, this type of interaction never happened with other ethnicities, even those of East Asia.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines racism as “discrimination by an individual, institution, or society, against a person or people on the basis of their nationality or…ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” But what if this discrimination turns into favoritism? The result is just as overwhelming for the victim.