G-Dragon's Camp Says K-Pop Star Wasn't Wearing Blackface

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Says Trayvon Martin-like Instagram photo was both "HUGE misunderstanding" and reference to cover art from Big Bang mastermind's next solo effort



An Instagram photo of South Korean pop idol G-Dragon wearing what appears to be a hoodie and dark coloring over his skin was not meant as a comment on race or politics, according to a rep for the Big Bang leader.

"GD was simply wearing different facepaint colors and this is a HUGE misunderstanding," the spokesperson said in an email to SPIN. "The facepaint is only a color variation for his album cover which includes black, white, and red. It is in no way meant to be a political or racial statement."

The rep further clarified, "It’s being derived by a simple photo shoot where GD was using different facepaint colors for his upcoming album."

G-Dragon's spokesperson also said SPIN's article reporting on the image "is completely wrong and taken out of context."

The response comes after we reported on the photo, noting its resemblance to an iconic image of slain Florida youth Trayvon Martin and pointing out that it had drawn criticism online. Though the singer's Instagram account made no mention of Martin, the image bears an eerie similiarity to a meme that had Frank Ocean, Diddy, the-Dream, and others posting photos of themselves in a hoodie last year. (Rap-Up has a good collection of these Martin-inspired images.) Online forums Oh No They Didn't! and One Asian World previously pointed out an alleged connection to the Martin tributes.

G-Dragon is set to appear at KCON 2013, a K-pop convention in Los Angeles on August 24 and 25, and he is readying a new solo album. G-Dragon's 2012 "Crayon" was SPIN's No. 1 K-pop song of the year. His group Big Bang's "Bad Boy" was one of SPIN's 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time. Check out our coverage of a Big Bang concert in New Jersey here.

The original Instagram photo is below:

That's some Justin Bieber level of PR...

EDIT:
the official omona twitter has shared our open letter with authors from spin and the la times who wrote articles about GD.

Spin

Comments

[opd-top.livejournal.com]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/29/issues/prove-youre-japanese-when-being-bicultural-can-be-a-burden/#.UfhRU21GYVR

This might be helpful.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

Yes that's absolutely true but again it's far better to be mixed half Japanese half white then say half black or half korean

[uledy.livejournal.com]

I have as little opportunities as the POC around me, so whenever someone says 'white privilege' I do have to chuckle. It's really more appropriate to say 'rich person privilege' but it's easier to pin it on all whites because a lot of them had a head start historically.

No. In terms of job opportunities, access to shelters, encounters with the police and the legal system, fair hearings for public benefits, and class mobility, poor White people STILL have an advantage over poor POC simply from the fact of being White. So it's looking like your privilege is more than just an inconvenient "societal expectation", huh?

[uledy.livejournal.com]

You're contradicting yourself. If you agree that White people have a clear advantage in all of these issues that affect poor communities, clearly White privilege is more than "rich White privilege".

You're poor and it sucks. But you're also White and that comes with a world of advantages. I don't understand why you just can't acknowledge that you personally have privilege and may be at a greater advantage than POC in your economic class. To harp on how equally disadvantaged you are as POC and to note historical changes of Black and White class mobility is incredibly reductive and demonstrates that you are unwilling to own up to your own privilege.

[enpantoufles.livejournal.com]

Yeah I am so confused as to what they are trying to argue right now

[uledy.livejournal.com]

Regardless of your lineage, your initial statement that White privilege is simply "rich person privilege" is still fucked up and reductive. That's not going change no matter how mixed your parentage is. That's what I know about you.

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

You IMPLIED you were white with your very first sentence. "I have as little opportunities as the POC around me".

Sounds like you are trying to back-pedal tbh.

[uledy.livejournal.com]

yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup.

[enpantoufles.livejournal.com]

So what you're saying is you have no idea what white privilege is, can't be bothered to look up anything when you're on the internet and have any knowledge at your fingertips, can't be bothered to read anything people have been telling you

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

None of what you said in the comment you baleeted takes away the fact that if you are white you have white privilege. Being discriminated against for being athiest and being poor doesn't cancel out white privilege.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

yes discrimination happens to white people but lets be honest most of it is based of the fact that for centuries all we did was oppress and destroy what wasnt white so its not exactly unjustified.

and i understand that their is less opportunities for those in really poor areas believe me im am by no means rich or even middle class and i have definitely felt the pinch of being in a lower social class but i also still have more privileged then those around me those of a simular class that are PoC. No one is saying that white people dont face hardships but i know if someone finds out im poor they are more likely to be understanding and see that im "trying to better myself" PoC dont get taht same benifit of the doubt most of the time

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

Ididnt say discrimination can't happen idt but racism sure as hell will never happen to white people and that there is a huge difference in both so I apologize if I misspoke but ya I went I to that higher up with squiggles but they seem really content to live in a bubble so :/

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

The only place I've seen the argument for something similar to racism is South Africa against the white farmers but I don't know enough about the situation to really comment on it

[enpantoufles.livejournal.com]

White privilege doesn't mean you're rich

You're talking about class privilege