Ghanaian TV personality ‘boos’ South Koreans for acts of racism
A popular Ghanaian television personality, Sam Okyere, has created a storm in South Korea as he condemns the increasing rate of racism in the East Asian country.
The latest incident to get social media boiling with his anger and frustration is a group of Korean high school students who painted their face black, mimicking the Prampram pallbearers.
The Ghanaian group hit the global spotlight during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Giant billboards, banners and vehicle signage sprang up across the world, urging people to stay home or join them as the corpse on their dancing retinue to the cemetery.
Korea’s COVID-19 cases are now almost non-existent, but some of their students still saw fun in the pall-bearing act.
The genesis
A yearbook photo of a local high school had captured students with faces painted black, in clear attribution to the viral Ghanaian dancing pallbearers.
The photo showed five boys from the Uijeongbu High School dressed in the black and white signature costume of the Ghanaian pallbearers.
The black face art had often incurred the wrath of anti-racism campaigners and has attracted backlash in the Netherlands, while some politicians in the United States lost their jobs as it is seen as derogatory and an insult to black people.
Mr Okyere did not find it funny either.
“Time and time again why won’t people get that blackface is very offensive and not funny at all. There have been instances, both on and off-air where people paint their face black here in Korea.
“They think this is funny. It’s not and I am highly against it and highly disappointed,” Mr Okyere wrote on Instagram.
But Sam Okyere’s outrage has sparked a lot of controversy among some Korean internet users, with many demanding an apology from the entertainer.
They argued that it was insensitive for the Ghanaian entertainer to openly criticise the high school students by re-posting their picture without permission.
His use of the hashtag ‘teakpop’, they said, was also a derogatory expression, now being used on social media in discussing the Korean culture.
The backlash was swift and vicious, with Koreans calling him out for especially using “ignorance” and “educate.”
Some even called Okyere a “two-faced racist,” referring to his past behavior on air, during an episode of JTBC’s “Non Summit” in 2015. Okyere had pulled his eyes long with his fingers, in a common racist gesture made against Asians.
With his critics on his neck, the television entertainer was compelled to delete his earlier post, with an updated apology in Korean saying:
“I had no intention to humiliate the students. I had gone too far in expressing my opinion, and I apologize for using their picture without their consent.
“I had received big love for a long time in South Korea, and I believe I was indiscreet this time. I apologise again. I will become a more educated person,” his new post read.
He further explained that it was not his intention to discredit the Korean education by criticising it in English.
Mr Okyere said had he been aware of the true meaning of “#teakpop” he would never have used it is his post.
Threats
But his critics did not let the issue sleep. A petition was started on the Blue House, the Korean Presidency’s, website calling for his deportation for “deceiving Korea, which had provided him with convenience and security he would not have been able to enjoy in Ghana.”
The petition was, however, blocked by the Blue House, KJ Daily reported.
Theghanareport.com also gathers that some television stations want to blacklist the most famous black entertainer for calling out racism in Korea.
Support for Sam Okyere
While the back-and-forth over the incident has blown up a tsunami of accusations, leaving Mr Okyere on the defensive, he is also gaining support.
Under a Twitter hashtag #I_Stand_with_Sam_Okyere, posts are pouring in agreeing with the original objection to the blackface. They say that the entertainer was right to speak out in the first place.
“Korean society must learn. We must reflect on our ‘ignorance’ and we need an ‘education.’ For sure,” wrote culture critic Son Hee-jung on her Facebook account, with the hashtag #I_Stand_with_Sam_Okyere.
The deafening silence from Sam Okyere’s celebrity friends while he’s over here getting bombarded with racist messages and death threats for calling out Black Face. They have platforms to help educate people but are afraid to get “caNceLLed”. #나는_샘_오취리와_연대합니다
— spring • 스프링키스 (@jekkibby) August 12, 2020
if you guys weren’t aware, a Ghanaian actor named Sam Okyere called out a viral pic of these high school students in blackface. he received a lot of racist/xenophobic backlash from south koreans, was forced to apologize and now they’re petitioning to have him deported?? https://t.co/Ojp7qLjbZc
— killua hates cops 🦦⁷ (@metroyoongi) August 10, 2020
if sam okyere gets deported i’ll drop kpop for good
— 𓀐𓂸 (@jennieaIbum) August 14, 2020
If Sam Okyere gets deported, I’ll never support anything else that comes out of that country. And I’m 100% dead ass serious about this.
— homo la flor. (@xDiegoMontana) August 10, 2020