With a two-percent increase in marriage-based immigrants every year,

Korea is steadily transforming into a multicultural country. According to a

survey conducted by the DongA Times, approximately 74.7 percent of Ko-
reans view their country as a multicultural nation. Despite such progress, im-
migrants and their multiracial children still face various hardships living in Ko-
rea due to problems concerning language, education and fnancial stability.
Although I attend an international school, I have not had many chances
to see multiracial children, Elizabeth Huh (11) said. I have heard that the for-
eign and multiracial population has been increasing steadily, but since I have
not met them face to face, it is hard for me to abandon existing stereotypes.
As of 2013, the number of interracial teenagers attending public schools in Ko-
rea increased six times compared to that of 2006. Despite such an increase, the gen-
eral Korean public has been tentative about accepting these individuals as Korean.
According to a 2013 survey by the National Statistics Ofce, about 13.8 percent of
multiracial children said they had faced discrimination from their peers, teachers,
strangers and neighbors. As a result, many of these children have been reluctant
to pursue their educations beyond high school in Korea, and some teenagers even
have opted to move to other countries where multiculturalism is more accepted.
Te economic instability of many multiracial parents is a critical fac-
tor that hinders their children from concentrating on their studies, said Tina
Shin, Community Service Club (CSC) co-president. When I visited the mul-
ticultural library, Modu, on a CSC volunteer activity, I was surprised to see that
many half-Korean children were having difculty communicating with their
own parents from countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam or China. Tis lack of
communication makes it hard for the parents to supervise and guide their chil-
dren, so most of these children spend their time playing rather than studying.
Due to lack of social attention, in 2012 a multicultural high-school drop-
out and victim of severe discrimination committed serial arson. As a Russian-
Korean, he had been ostracized both in elementary and middle school to the
point where he needed psychotherapy to treat his depression. His crime re-
fected the degree of discrimination he had to face as an interracial student.
On Jan. 15, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family implemented sev-
eral new policies to alleviate such discriminatory problems. However, dis-
putes have arisen concerning the efcacy of these changes. On Feb. 12, em-
ployees of local multicultural centers nationwide gathered in Yeoido, Seoul to
protest against these policies. Te protesters claimed that the new reforms ac-
tually hindered immigrants from learning Korean because they removed Ko-
rean language classes from the multicultural centers, in which many immigrants
were able to easily receive Korean language lessons as well as counseling ses-
sions about private issues such as domestic violence and unemployment. Fur-
thermore, the protestors criticized the lack of policies that were aimed at trans-
forming, reforming and improving the social perceptions of multiculturalism.
When I walk down a street with my Korean wife, I get a lot of stares from
the older generation, said Sean Syverson, English teacher. However, an in-
creased tolerance for multiracial families among the younger generation gives
me hope, especially because I am expecting a child, that Korea will stead-
ily grow more accepting of diversity. Based on what I experienced for fve
years, I believe that Koreans attitudes towards foreigners will mature in time.
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In the midst of numerous commercials for Super Bowl XLVII, Gen-
eral Mills, food-processing company, released a controversial Cheerios ad-
vertisement featuring a multiracial family consisting of a black father, white
mother and a biracial child. Although the general response to the com-
mercial was positive, General Mills was forced to disable comments on
its YouTube video due to racist comments from a portion of the viewers.
What separated Cheerios from a majority of other brands was that it had
made an attempt to represent a part of society regarded as the minority. Te con-
troversy that followed can mostly be attributed to the apparent lack of minority
representation in media. A study conducted by the Broadcast Education Associa-
tion revealed that 31.8 percent of television commercials broadcasted in the US
included African Americans, while Asian Americans and Latinos were found
at 8.4 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. In contrast, Caucasians were por-
trayed in nearly every advertisement, making appearances 98 percent of the time.
We have to ask ourselves the question, do the [minority] groups have certain bias
and prejudice against each other? said Gray Macklin, middle school counselor. Peo-
ple may not like the overrepresentation of white people, but they are okay with it more
than the representation of other races. Te whites are used as a default, since even if
people dont like them, theyre used to it; its the one that has the least negative impact.
In addition to lacking minority representation, mass media promotes par-
ticular racial stereotypes. According to Stephen Balkaran, professor at Central
Connecticut State University, African-American teenagers are ofen portrayed
as gangsters or drug-dealers living in the ghettos, associating the black com-
munity with criminal activity. Many TV shows also portray generalizations of
diferent ethnicities; for instance, popular comedy-drama, Glee featured an
episode titled, Asian F, in which an Asian character receives an A-, only to an-
ger his father and thereby emphasizing the stereotype of smart, Asian nerds.
Its very important that characters with diferent backgrounds dont
necessarily conform to stereotypes, said Peter Valerio, flm enthusiast.
Growing up and watching movies in the 1970s, the biggest diference be-
tween movies then and now, is that when characters of diferent ethnici-
ties are introduced, its not a big deal. Race doesnt play into the plot as much.
With media propagating such stereotypes, society has increasingly accepted
these generalizations as truth, leading to issues such as racial profling. For exam-
ple, New York Citys stop-and-frisk policy enabled police ofcers to question ran-
dom pedestrians and frisk them for contraband or unauthorized weapons. Statis-
tics used in the Supreme Court case, Floyd v. Te City of New York, revealed that
between 2004 and 2012, the police had conducted 4.4 million stops, of which 88
percent were found to be completely guilt-free. Yet numbers showed that 83 percent
of these cases involved the stopping and frisking of a black or Hispanic person.
Tere are actually a lot of racial stereotypes that I notice, especially in American
shows, Sabin Macklin (9) said. Tey usually show African-Americans committing
crimes more ofen, or generally living in poorer neighborhoods. But [in many cases],
these stereotypes are used for comedic purposes so it doesnt bother me that much.
Corporations such as Cheerios have been making progressive eforts to
change the fxed image of racial stereotypes established in society, and diferent
races are being more actively represented today. However, the media still has yet
to make more steps in order to combat racial discrimination prevalent in society.
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