Racism in Korea?

I am by  NO MEANS saying that Koreans are racist, but from what I have observed and heard, most Koreans seem to have a thing against people with darker skin, or at least they simply judge anybody with darker skin.

During a class yesterday, there was a new student so I asked where he was from, the other kids were joking and said he's from Thailand. From there, we somehow got into a conversation about people with darker skin. When talking about dark skin, my students used the word 'dirty'. They also had a Korean word they used for people with darker/tan skin, but I can't remember it. From what I understood, Koreans consider people with dark skin to be dirty and poor. Apparently in most Asian countries people with darker skin are considered poor and dirty because their dark skin indicates that they spend a lot of time outside working under the sun. In the Philippines, I remember seeing soap that was supposed to whiten your skin, which I think is weird since the Philippines is in the tropics and it would be almost impossible to avoid the sun and avoid getting dark.

I find this an interesting topic because in recent news, a K Pop singwriter tweeted incredibly racist comments about the African-American community. It's incredibly offensive, but I think it's a must read article. Click here to check it out.

In America, people pay to get tan. In Asia, people pay to get white. I think both are weird.

Other recommended interesting reads:

• Can't We All Just Get Along?
• White Skin: Why Racism In Asia Isn't Quite What You Think