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

[itskimbitches.livejournal.com]

Jesus take the wheel with u

[itskimbitches.livejournal.com]

He only has 2 has and you're a priority.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

if all you can say is that you dont want to follow statistics which are designed to give information on a large group as a whole when individual analysis as a whole is impossible i dont know what to say to you. I mean science is good enough for you to not question things that cant be proven without any doubts like evolution or gravity but stats on racism oh no I HAD A BLACK PERSON CALL ME A CRACKER RACISM EXISTS like just stop

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

I never said I don't believe in either but they are called theory's and not laws for a reason they cannot be proben without small doubts yet people accept them because we believe scientist and their findings stats are the very same if done by good scientists with good science which are the ones I quoted to you. You will never experience racism the world is built to favor you. Doesn't mean you won't have hard times or face discrimination but jesus wake up and realize how gifted you are simply for just existing as a white women

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

Omg your embarrassing you have so many privileges as a white women that PoC esp PoC women don't have and yet you refuse to actually look around you and actually see http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf here a link to an amazing article on this privlidges you swear you do t have (guess what you do)

And the first part of a video where racism is explained point blank in your face kinda way http://youtu.be/Bf2LB0IG1xo

But you seem really content to live in your little bubble so I doubt you will

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

I know I am I always have been ^__^ doesn't stop me from being right though but thanks for playing

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

It's cause I'm right ^__^ by the way read those links I sent you were so adamant I sent you to prove it cause I'm gonna go with.......let me take a guess............this is really hard but I'm gonna say.......no

[liederkreis.livejournal.com]

As one white woman to another, you can cut it out with the condescension. If you're old enough to be making remarks like this, you're certainly old enough to understand that there's a difference between a handful of people facing prejudice and an entire group of people facing systemic oppression. Please act like the adult you so enjoy implying you are.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

omg im the thick one im the thick one hahahaha i have professors and lecturers and entire journals devoted to my side going back oh 30 years or so ( by the way the article i linked you too is from like the 80's so this isnt some crazy new information and the video series she started those classes in the 60's but you still havent watched them) from award winning authors and professors but im the thick one k sunshine keep doing what your doing keep fighting the good fight

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

oh hun ive been sitting here laughing at your sorry ass no need to worry about my heath you still showed you ass through the post so sucks to be you

[uledy.livejournal.com]

omg, lol, gurl did you see she deleted her account?

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

yes after her comment to me GOING OMG SO TYPICAL FOR YOU TO CALL ME A RACIST thank you for being such an idiot and then bawwwwwleeeeettttedddddd

did you at least see the comments where they tried to back pedal about how she was trolling and it was all just a big social experiment to prove how angry people get

[uledy.livejournal.com]

lawl. aw man, no i missed that comment. i guess we all played right into her hands rme.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

it was OMG YOU GUYS IM JUST TROLLING HAHAHAHAHA its a social experiment hahaha see you guys got so mad dont have heart attack now hhahahahahaha im so smart and educated and crafty look at my social experiment and what i learned i was just like *eyeroll*

[uledy.livejournal.com]

lmao. funny how she didn't start getting so flippant until after her views were challenged in an infallible manner. uck.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

at a certain point I realized we were dealing with a psychopath and stopped reading

[xbriyeon.livejournal.com]

yep, millions of black slaves were enslaved back then but that doesn't prove that every black person has experienced racism before or continues to now. they're just ~numbers~ after all. of course they don't reflect EVERYONE'S exact experience. but they do reflect the majority of what happens on a day-to-day basis, and excusing it as a "one-off case" or something that doesn't happen to everyone but clearly as the statistics have pointed out, happen to the majority of non-white people far more than it ever does to white people. because who is the one who always has the most power/privilege in the world without trying? upper middle-class white people. If a white English-speaking person went to Japan or Korea or pretty much any other country where the main language is not English, they are STILL bound to find people who know a bit of English or have been taught some in school. because it is the predominant language through assimilation and years of colonization. that in itself, is a privilege that most POC naturally don't get. If a Japanese or Korean person came over to the States or England or idek, Brazil, or Turkey, and asked a stranger who probably didn't speak Japanese or Korean, for directions, which language would they most likely ask in? English. they don't get the privilege of assuming that they'll probably find someone who knows their language. That in itself, is one of MANY advantages that white people will still always have, even if they go abroad to a foreign country where they would be considered the "minority".

And uhh, regarding the textbook definition of racism.. according to the first one I picked off of dictionary.com even:

rac·ism [rey-siz-uhm] Show IPA
noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. --> being the most GENERALIZED explanation of what racism is.

so eg. a policy/doctrine such as how 100 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to live in Canada without paying a tax for being Chinese. have there ever been any other policies similar to this that have ever really discriminated against white people to this extent? Perhaps. But when you look at the numbers, when you look at history and how things "seem" to have changed now and yet still haven't, who are the ones that face deportation, who face profiling, who are the most disadvantaged naturally even if they have the same credentials as a non-POC? the minorities. It's the same as women earning ~$0.70 to every $1 a man makes, DESPITE HAVING THE SAME CREDENTIALS. Another type of privilege that parallels (or can be combined with) white privilege, aka white privilege.