Black woman walks in a Korean supermarket, chaos ensues.

[Zet]

source 1
source 2

One fine morning, pandemonium broke out in a South Korean supermarket, and customers and shop stewards alike scampered for safety. Babies strapped on their mothers' backs, others in prams screamed as their parents sought the nearest exits.

And it wasn't a terrorist attack, neither was it a band of robbers who had raided the convenience store. No, it wasn't a fire alert either.One Kenyan woman had just walked in to make a purchase.

"It was terrible!" recalls the woman, Everlyne Nyambegera. "Children were crying, their mothers dashing for the exits and all this made me also break down and start crying too."

"I was so upset and I said to myself that I will never go back to Korea again . . . one of my aunties in Kenya told me I'd be mad to return to Korea," she told Lifestyle in Seoul recently.

It was the first time in their lives that these Koreans had seen a black person, live, and their fright makes Ms Nyambegera smile in hindsight each time she narrates the amusing story to friends and family. Ms Nyambegera is Kenya's only trader in the Republic of Korea, her Kisii soapstone and curio shop the sole Kenyan business in this fast-growing Asian nation. The shop incident is just one of many hardships that she has had to endure to break even in a market that is so conservative and wary of foreigners, especially black people.

There's more of the story in the sources.

I'm honestly surprised that happened, it's like they've never seen a foreigner before.

 

[Alley Cat]

Me too. It seems a little... overkill. I could understand being a little afraid, but not a "dash to the exits before I die" type fear that this article portrayed it as. How cloistered would a person have to be to have such fear of something different? They couldn't be totally unaware that black people existed, and I'm sure they've seen a number of foreigners in their life time. This was a major overreaction, and it kind of disgusts me that humanity is in a position where they have people who would duck for cover over something they didn't understand.

 

[donavannj]

This reaction probably stems out of racial stereotypes that trickle out of western countries such as the US and the UK.

 

[Alley Cat]

That makes a lot of sense, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if they were afraid just because they had been subject to mostly wrong sentiments against black people.

 

[Black Ice]

it's like they've never seen a foreigner before.

It was the first time in their lives that these Koreans had seen a black person, live

Yeah, pretty much...?

A tribe meets white people for the first time. Different circumstances but it shouldn't be surprising that we are afraid of things that are new and different.

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

It seems a bit too exaggerated to me but if I think back carefully, none of the Korean exchange students at my school seem to interact with foreigners, most of them are reluctant to reply to the teachers. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if South Koreans(if you even try to joke about the North and South thing they get so pissed off) actually have a problem with foreigners which is quite odd in this day and age.

Different circumstances but it shouldn't be surprising that we are afraid of things that are new and different.

I always thought we tried to eat something new and different.

 

[Truality]

This reaction probably stems out of racial stereotypes that trickle out of western countries such as the US and the UK.

... or the consequences of esoclysm-I have lived the order of esoclysm in some places here and I believe that people who are so conservative are capable of haveing extreme reactions to outsiders. But yeah, I suppose even in that case, it's too much. I mean it's one single woman in a store, not a group of them in a church or something.

... maybe she was also ugly?

 

[kamionero]

They were probably expecting a Kaiju and when Everlyne walked in on his cue instead, the shoppers just followed through with their rehearsed panic.

 

[Black Ice]

which is quite odd in this day and age.

For our culture.

All cultures are concurrent, not all are modern. Just look at the Middle East. Here in the 21st century we still have ridiculous sexism, homophobia, barbaric (by our standards) punishments, etc.

 

[psyanic]

It seems a bit too exaggerated to me but if I think back carefully, none of the Korean exchange students at my school seem to interact with foreigners, most of them are reluctant to reply to the teachers. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if South Koreans(if you even try to joke about the North and South thing they get so pissed off) actually have a problem with foreigners which is quite odd in this day and age.

I can get annoyed with people asking the difference between North and South Korea. I can tolerate usually, but when the same person asks the same question over and over, it gets annoying. Sometimes, ignorance amazes me. I remember one girl in my class in 6th grade could not understand that Koreans were actually Asians.

I am Korean (if you can't tell already) and we, as a people, are very biased and prejudiced, though that's moreover with people who were raised in Korea (it's all mainly culture). Just like the example of the woman in the supermarket. It seems we do have a problem with foreigners. I remember reading something on Hines Ward (half Korean), who went to live in Korea for a while, and he was ridiculed as a child for being half black.

I guess these specific Koreans were just shocked overall, as Korea doesn't get that many tourists from Africa and all. It's still terrible, mind.

 

[BryGuy Shinigami]

To be honest, I always thought of Korea as being open. I am black (I prefer the term African American) and racism exist here in Oklahoma. I have been called the "N" word, seen Confederate flags, etc. At first it bothers me, but I now just brush it off. Ppl are ignorant and that's in all groups. But I still hate racism cause I believe I am discriminated in the work force cause of my race.

 

[Trance and Moss]

I have heard of things like this before. The effect is lessened in the majorly populated cities such as Seoul though.

Another thing to think about; How many black people are in anime? and how are they portrayed?

 

[Luck]

I thought it was going to be a bar joke, but okay ruin the fun.

It's not surprising, Asians are generally more racist than Americans.

I have heard of things like this before. The effect is lessened in the majorly populated cities such as Seoul though.

Another thing to think about; How many black people are in anime? and how are they portrayed?

 

[Scarlette]

it's really sad that happend and poor girl, the sad thing is in South Korea of course you dont have diversity like you do in the USA, or UK or what not, so most of their ideals of black people are sadly from hollywood films....

 

[HackChu]

Lol, this is so funny that it's sad.

Damn, it's like something you'd see in a comedy. Some mysterious guy walks into a bar and all the cowboys turn quickly with guns drawn and quickly pointed at each-other looking goofy.

Makes me wonder how other asian nations would react.

 

[Hope]

As a Korean myself, that article seems much too exaggerated.
Yeah, I can accept the fact that there isn't as much diversity here as the United States, but it isn't to the point that we all scream when we see someone who is African American or someone who isn't Asian. Many, many Koreans are very accepting and tolerant of others.
For example, my neighborhood is very close to the U.S. military base. There are lots of foreigners around here, and I see a lot of them. We don't have any problems with each other.
But, I guess in other less populated cities there isn't as much diversity yet.
Taking a look at Korea's history kinda explains why most of us are so biased, as we were attacked by countries from almost all sides. We were smack dab in the middle of all the superpowers in the ancient times. We learned not to trust foreigners, basically. We grew up with that, so I guess the mindset is still in a lot of us.
After time, though, I'm sure it will get better. It already is. :)

 

[Seki]

Seriously, no big deal about this article. There's always racism everywhere you go.

 

[johnny18]

It's not surprising, Asians are generally more racist than Americans.

Can you show the proofs that make you think like that? I am Asian and I do not think that I am racist x.x

As a Korean myself, that article seems much too exaggerated.
Yeah, I can accept the fact that there isn't as much diversity here as the United States, but it isn't to the point that we all scream when we see someone who is African American or someone who isn't Asian. Many, many Koreans are very accepting and tolerant of others.

I totally agree with you about this. The article seems just like a scene in "Picture This" of Ashley Tisdale where Ashley gets allergic to something and her face becomes "not too good" and the children are just screaming and running when they see her.