Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

From: Sonny Side Films  & Pinnacle TheHustler

This is a response to the
Foreigner who accosted an elderly Korean man on a bus in Korea


Lyrics: -Sonny-
OK, let's analyze the situation, 
there's huge ass you on a bus full on Asians 
impatient, you don't understand what they're sayin
came to another country, but didn't learn the language

You're the reason we gotta bad reputation 
and half these people think that we're dangerous. Thanks kid. 
I don't mean to throw you under the bus but,
you make us look bad, when you're actin tough 

YOU SEE DEES ROCKS, ha you couldn't be cornier
Cupid Zirconia, learn to act like a foreigner 
Really, you're aloud to TEACH little kids 
ya need Ritalin, to keep you from hittin them senior citizens.
-------------------------------
Take a minute and change, the way that you behave
even from the grave, Rosa Parks would be ashamed
Puttin a grandfather into a headlock
your attitude stinks worse than your dreadlocks 

And I don't wanna make this a racial issue 
but if you do this shit again beard man is gonna get you 
You think, people treat you different cause you're black, yo
I don't see color, I just see an asshole. -Pinnacle TheHustler-
This is for my people in Korea, to let you know I see ya
Whether you're a national, or got an E-2 visa
Student or teacher, I just wanna reach ya
To spread the good news, call me Pinnacle ThePreacher

I wanna give some info, about me and my kin folk
Talkin bout dark skinned folk, life here is not simple
On the video, couldn't believe what I was seeing
You're the Virginia Tech killer and I'm feeling Korean

You ignorant degenerate
Shoulda been a legitimate gentlemen, a positive Black representative
It's already hard for me to get a taxi
Thanks a lot dude, now the whole bus'll pass me, while they laughin at me
-------------------------------
I don't wanna see your rocks, I'd rather see you kick rocks in flip flops
You got more rocks in your head than on your wrist watch
So yea, thanks a lot you dummy
How would you feel watching your grandmother get punched in another country?

Blacks fought hard to get to the front of the bus
Now we gotta fight again to get back on to the bus
Man you must be nuts, making it harder for us
Shout out to the shining examples, the rocks on the bus.

Comments

More reasons than one...

This guy is just a tiny piece of a much larger problem that represents the foreign community in Korea.  There are far more reasons to criticize the foreigners living in Korea than just one violent a-hole on a bus.  This jerk just happens to have the luxury of being the scapegoat of the foreign community because someone had the good sense to record him acting a fool.  If they could have camera's on all the expats living here 24/7, I'm pretty sure we'd all be deported (and rightfully so).

Also, unless the guy doing the music video has actual teaching qualifications, I don't think he's got much room to talk about "being allowed (see, I spelled that correctly) to teach little kids".

Foreigners like to complain because Koreans cast us in this negative light, but those same folks really aren't doing the math.  They're not adding it all up in their heads and taking a good, long look in the mirror.  No, they get guys like this who end up on candid camera and then they point the finger and say "Oh well, jeeze, there's the answer right there!  That MUST be why we get a bad reputation!"

No, that isn't even a speck of it. (there's a list as long as the peninsula itself) 

Those same people more than likely have their hand deep in the proverbial "cookie jar" of Korea, and they like to complain about it while they're doing it.

This isn't anything new, folks.  It just happens to be on the internet for all to see.

Cynicism for the win.

P.S. I don't see how this music video really addresses anything.  It's just another attention grab by a foreigner who wants all fingers to be pointed at one particular individual for all of the "hardships we as expats living in Korea face" (poor, poor expats).  Please, this asshat is just one of many, displaying one of many different types of abhorrent behaviors that expats tend to indulge in while living here.

Also, stereotyping for the win (because its true).

Re: More reasons than one...

If I had a nickel everytime I saw a Korean hitting a women, pissing on the street, yelling, fighting and so on I would be rich. Korea has more problems to worry about than foreigners like suicide, divorce (near the top of all developed countries), the lack of social spending by the government (lowest of all OECD countries), car accidents and children dying in car accidents (number one way kids die in Korea, sadly) and on and on we go. I want to write more but I have to go to my medical check because unlike a Korean I may have a disease-even though i have been married for 4 years and just did a check last year. Xenophobia and acceptance equals high suicide rates, high divorce rates...and none of this has anything to do with foreigners. Easy to judge us because we stick out but lets get real here-most are hard working people just trying to make a buck and in fact have been asked to come here. As for this video-whatever! It was blown way out of proportoin. We cannot show stuff like this invloving Koreans but if we could people would be desensitized to the point already that it seems normal. Get it?! I love living here and some do cause problems but a guy going "nuts" on a bus is hardly news.

 

Re: More reasons than one...

It should also be mentioned that for any foreigner who has ever used public transportation, being harrassed by an ajosshi is a rite of passage. From what I've read, the Korean media have chosen not to blow this out of proportion and are rather treating it as an isolated incident, but it would be unfortunate if the press made this out to be representative of foreigners while ignoring the tens of thousands of times drunken old men have spat at, cursed, or shoved one of us for no reason... because it's "comical" when they do it.

(Not complaining though, Solid Champ... I love many an ajosshi, just not the a**holes)

Re: More reasons than one...

I just love how everytime foreigners are the cause of some problem in Korea, they hastily find some way to change the focus to problems inherently present in Korea but unrelated to foreigners themselves. How the hell does Korea's social spending or suicide rate has anything to do with an idiot punching an elderly man in a bus?

What you gotta understand is that too many foreigners in Korea are idiots, plain losers. These are the guys that keep complaining about the country, yet they stay here because the truth is that they are well-off, and in their country they most likely wouldn't even be able to find a job much above the minimum salary, if at all, hence the main reason why you guys came here in the first place. You guys are getting paid well, you have no worries, and you don't speak the local language, nor probably understand much of the history or culture of the place. My best advice would be to shut up, act smart and stop complaining. Bottom line: try to make foreigners a good name. Oh, yes, and look at your own country's problems before even starting to complain about those present in Korea.

I mean, you're talking about social spending and other problems, then how about having a look at the U.S.? The rampant drug problems throughout the country? Or at the ridiculous health care system in Canada? Or at the recent riots in U.K.? How about the 20% unemployment rate in Spain or Portugal? Or at the squalid banlieux in Paris? The fact is that Westerners are so deeply brainwashed that they unconsciously or consciously see any non-Western country with condescendence, while looking at their own country with pink-colored glasses. Do you want to know how the immigration system in Canada sucks? How slow they are and how they don't give a shit about people who apply for permanent residence? How they treat them like lower-class citizens? Believe me, I can tell you a lot about the system in here.

Westerners are cocky, and they should start looking at their own country's problem. I live in British Columbia, in Canada, and we gotta have the cockiest motto on this planet: "The Best Place on Earth". Yep, that's the province's motto. And you know what? We have the lowest minimum salary in the country, the biggest open air drug market in North America (Vancouver), the highest rate of child poverty in Canada, the largest gap between rich and poor and one of the highest suicide rate in the country, the murder capital of Canada is here (New Westminster), and I could go on and on. This simply serves as one example to show you to take off you damn pink-colored glasses and look at your own country before telling anybody how Korea is riddled with problems. Koreans don't think their country is the best in the world to live in, because it's not. Neither is Canada nor the US.

And getting back to the subject: the guy who punched an elderly man is an asshole, and he should be deported, period. Whether this is hardly news or not is not the point. Whether this should serve as an example so that this kind of situation does not repeat itself again is.

Re: More reasons than one...

Sigh! Okay, not only are there some idiot foreigners here-there are also some that are not that bright-although sin, are you not a Korean? Anyway, my post is dead on if you actually think about it. If what happened was done by a Korean we would never even hear about it but because it was a foreigner it is news. If I had a nickel for everytime I saw questionabale behaviour from a Korean I would be rich. Koreans need to focus on their own problems and stop avoiding them by pointing fingers at foreigners. I have been here 8 years now and it just never stops. This is not news. Get it sin? Do you understand why I decided to focus on the many huge problems here and not this one video shot because it was "starring" a foreigner. Get over it-Korea has many bigger problems than foreigners with questionable behaviour. This excuses no one but one idiot is not news-thousands of suicides, dead babies because they are hanging their heads out of windows and are not in baby seats , lack of shelter and aid for elderly and so on is.  And you talk about back home-we are not back home and we are talking about foreigners here. Bash them all you want but foreigners are not the problem here in Korea and that was my point. This guy is not news-it was lame, idiot or not.

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

Sorry Paul, but I've got to give this one to Sin.

In my 4+ years of being here, I've had far more reasons to cringe at the behavior of expats than I have at Koreans.  Yes, there is questionable behavior on both parts, but Sin has it right in that for many expats this is the "extended money making vacation"...or as I like to call it, the fraternity after the fraternity.  The ones who feel they have it good here act accordingly, and it's almost always with that self-important air of scumbag entitlement.

Sorry bud, but Koreans are vindicated daily by the way foreigners conduct themselves here.  Cocky is a very mild term to describe the majority of the Westerner's I've met.

Despite the appalling behavior from both expats and Koreans alike, there's one major difference that needs to be noted...this is their country, and we're just guests here.  Who has more right to act a fool on the peninsula?  If they want to be a bunch of hypocritics, by all means let them, it's their country.

Xenophobia?  Please.  As if immigrants back home aren't given a healthy dose of that every minute of every hour.

Yes, I've been subjected to some ill treatment from that "ajossi on the subway" myself, but I'll be damned if he wasn't entitled to his stereotypical view of me.  He immediately assumed I was A. American, and B. An English teacher.  Is he really so off base?  He was totally wrong on one, and partially wrong on the other...but still.  That speaks for the vast majority of foreigners here.  He was looking down on me because he knows what's behind outsourcing for English "education".  He knows that most foreigners aren't passionate about teaching, they're just here for the good times in an exotic country.

I'm sorry I can't be an apologist for the home team, Paul, but I've got to call it like I've been seeing it for the past four years, and how I see it in no way favors the expats living here with their brutish, immature, lecherous, stuck-up, cocky, and often drunken behavior.

(I will issue a disclaimer; I'm not saying that ALL of the foreigners I've met here are like this, just most of them.)

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

The common refrain of the disenchanted, internet-forum-troll, and expat-scrooge, is always to condemn other expats, to disparage them, to call them drunks and losers; it's become such a tired cliche, and is probably indicitive of a meager social life. 

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

Not surprising champ but the reality is if a Korean did that on a bus and my Korean wife nevers hears about it and that is the point-it is only news because it was a foreigner. They have bigger fish to fry. This is non news. It is a way to justify the status quo and not much more-for you as well I guess. Don't think of the pink elephant. It is easy to focus on things when they are put in front of you and we always are. The end!

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

Yes, hardpuncher, it's unfortunately as cliche as the expats themselves.

I, however, have a knack for avoiding the pitfalls that come part and parcel with being a cynic (through observation and personal experience only, I would never equate it to more than that).

We probably have very different notions on what constitutes a "meager social life".  I value the quality of my friends, and that means quantity might not be up to spec.  What is it they say, one good, true friend is worth a thousand facebook acquaintances?

See, unlike other expat men who enjoy the luxuries they are afforded by taking up residence in this country, my idea of a "good time" doesn't involve drinking copious amounts of skunk beer on a nightly basis, getting ripped at the gym, looking for every excuse to take my shirt off by heading down to the beach (and anywhere else), banging every willing Korean woman in sight, and surrounding myself with a posse of meatheaded douche bags to overcompensate for whatever it was I might have been lacking back home.

If all of that equates to a "superior social life", then I'm as meager as they come.

Was there a fraternity you attended which helped you to differentiate the "meager" from the "superior"?

 

 

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

Paul, just so we're clear...I actually agree with what you're saying.  I agree that this isn't news, I agree it isn't worth making a big stink over, and I agree with your criticisms on the hypocrisy that is the Korean media and mindset towards expats.

We agree, sir.

I do, however, think it's weaksauce to be a complete and total apologist for the expat douche bags who reside here and take up space with their asinine behavior.  A good majority (again, not all), of the expats here are just total dicks.

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

It's amazing to me that a poster as self-righteous as Solid Champ would go out of his way to call other foreigners cocky and stuck-up. I always appreciate his vigilant perusal of the Pusanweb Classified section, but this is the umpteenth post of his that has damned a vast majority of foreigners based on the couple of conversations he sat in on at a Thursday Party; normally I've rolled my eyes and moved on, but there's something about this one.

First of all, I haven't seen anyone here say that there isn't xenophobia in the West, and I don't think any of us here (you included) would suggest that the xenophobes back home are entitled to their stereotypical views, so why do you give the green light to Koreans to do this? Do you really think when you are treated badly by an ajossi on the subway that it's because he has a well-informed perspective on foreigners' approach towards education as opposed to the fact that foreigners have been demonized in the Korean media for years? When a  bigot from the South harrasses a Mexican outside the bar, does it usually happen because he's well-versed in immigration policy or is it more likely that he's fallen in line with Rush Limbaugh's claptrap? I would never see anyone in any situation as being entitled to racism. Same goes with hypocrisy; I certainly feel the need to criticize my own country's hypocrites, so why would I turn a blind eye to Koreans who act that way? The whole "Well, it's their country, so who are we to criticize?" argument screams of white guilt.

You also go out of your way to distance yourself from teachers here in Korea (You're a film critic, right? How does that justify your air of superiority?), so what makes you such an expert on what's going on in the classrooms here? If you'd been around foreigners outside of your social circle in a professional setting, you'd figure out that just like anywhere else, there are good and bad teachers here. Sure, the same crews of guys who shop around the meat markets here are probably not going to be confused for Jaime Escalante, but having been here 7 years, I can say that I've worked with more good than bad. I was a certified high school teacher in the States for 5 years before coming here, and aside from a little theory and the ability to cite Piaget at opportune times, there's nothing I can do that someone with a couple years of experience in Korea (or elsewhere), a good work ethic, and a solid understanding of English can't also do. Yeah, there are some people who are here who don't possess those traits, but why do you choose to rant about us rather than the Koreans who hire them few-questions-asked?

Finally, you can't ignore the fact that the public nature of this incident is going to affect the hiring of African-Americans in Korea. It was hard enough for a black person to get hired here before--no matter his/her qualifications-- and thanks to this dope, it's only going to get worse. Sure, you can hem and haw about how this isn't a big deal and it's not really going to affect you, but you can't see that it is going to affect others? The idealist in me would like the entire world to view a**holes as individual a**holes, but that's just not happening. Just as you have decided based on your abacus readings that a majority of us are only skirt-chasing drunks trying to re-live the frat years, plenty of Korean hagwon owners and principals will look at black people as a potential hiring risk for at least the short-term. That's the way it is.

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

It's amazing to me that a poster as self-righteous as Solid Champ would go out of his way to call other foreigners cocky and stuck-up.

Given the nature of my most recent posts, I guess I could see how one would mistake my cynicism for cockiness.  Totally fair.  It is, however, the exact opposite, I can assure you that.

I always appreciate his vigilant perusal of the Pusanweb Classified section, but this is the umpteenth post of his that has damned a vast majority of foreigners based on the couple of conversations he sat in on at a Thursday Party

And I'm glad that you notice the lack of common sense in some of those classified ads.  Good to know we're on the same page about something.  You are, however, quite wrong in assuming that I'm basing all of this on "a couple of conversations I've sat in on at Thursday Party".  If only I could provide you with a visual record of all that I've experience, first-hand...sadly, in the end this just boils down to my own personal observations and opinion (and I'll never claim it to be anything more than that).

First of all, I haven't seen anyone here say that there isn't xenophobia in the West, and I don't think any of us here (you included) would suggest that the xenophobes back home are entitled to their stereotypical views, so why do you give the green light to Koreans to do this?

I should have elaborated a bit more on my meaning here.  I agree with you 100% that xenophobia, bigotry, racism, homophobia, etc. are all things the world could most certainly do without.  Unfortunately, it's here to stay for the foreseeable future, and while that doesn't make it right, there is a broad picture that we have to look at that might irk the very PC crowds that are so often getting their panties in a bunch.  First of all, look at how people on the boards (and just in general) respond to other foreigners nitpicking every little thing about Koreans, they usually take up the chorus in agreeance...and then look at how they respond to foreigners criticising other foreigners, usually it's the apologists who wouldn't dare badmouth their fellow expats (I know, I should learn to keep my mouth shut).  From what I've seen, a large portion of foreigners behave in a manner that would suggest they think they're at some extened frat party.  I'm sorry, but that's just how I've perceived it for the past 4 years.  You can dislike that view all you want, but I'd be happy to go out and randomly find 10 expats (though most of them will probably be female) who agree with the sentiments that I've put forth.  Trust me, I wish I could wrap my head around the fact that so many people I've had this conversation with (NOT at Thursday party, dammit!) agree.  If the shoe fits, is all I'm saying.  Koreans have this notion of us because they see it in their daily lives, not just on the news.  Yes, there is bigotry and xenophobia clouding their judgement, and yes sometimes it is highly unwarranted, but for the most part they are entitled to their opinions...which, to me, often prove true.

You also go out of your way to distance yourself from teachers here in Korea (You're a film critic, right? How does that justify your air of superiority?), so what makes you such an expert on what's going on in the classrooms here? If you'd been around foreigners outside of your social circle in a professional setting, you'd figure out that just like anywhere else, there are good and bad teachers here.

I hate to break up this paragraph, it's really quite great, but this post is going to be crazy long as it is.  You bring up some fantastic points in this one, and I'd love to discuss it more in-depth with you at some point.  As for myself, I never think of myself as anything better.  Far from it.  I did teach, full time on an E2 visa, for my first two years here...and I hated it.  I was one of those bad teachers, sir, and I'm not afraid to admit it.  It just wasn't for me.  My hat is off to all of the really passionate, dedicated, teachers (qualified or otherwise) who go above and beyond in their jobs, really.  In that time, I never once considered myself a "teacher".  I dislike the nature of the hagwon business, it's not education.  Yes, I'm a writer, yes I focus on film reviews, and I also have a part-time job with Busan eFM radio...but that doesn't put me above anything or anyone.  I step aside and let the real teachers teach and pay respect in the process...and I criticise those who are clearly out of their element and have no business being in a classroom.  I've seen those people, just the same as you.  I know what a real teacher looks like, one with the passion and qualifications and convictions that see her pour her heart and soul and everything she's got into what she does...I married one (she works for Busan Foreign School, which is a real school).  I know the difference between someone who came here because it was something to do (me), and someone who came here because they got a degree for teaching and wanted to make a difference in a childs life (my wife).  I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm so critical of foreigners here...but I ALWAYS know to separate the real teachers from the ones who are on an "extended money making vacation" (not my words).

Finally, you can't ignore the fact that the public nature of this incident is going to affect the hiring of African-Americans in Korea. It was hard enough for a black person to get hired here before--no matter his/her qualifications-- and thanks to this dope, it's only going to get worse.

We agree here.  While I did say that the video is "not news", I wasn't really looking at it as "black man acts like an a-hole on the bus", more like "violent expat a-hole goes nuts on the bus".  Yes, the fact that he's black is going to throw a slightly bigger discriminatory wrench in the hiring process in Korea, no doubt, but the wrench was already there to begin with...and quite large as well.  That's another thing I should have elaborated on...what I meant to say was that this is like throwing a twig on a fire that's already burning high, bright, and super hot.  It's going to make little difference in that Koreans already have this negative view of expats for so many other reasons (warranted and unwarranted).  This guy is still adding to the fire, sure...but so much controversy has already come before him.

Look, I can't speak for everyone, and I certanly can't attribute my views to every single expat residing in the country...there are great people here, and I've had the pleasure of meeting some genuine and sincere individuals who they themselves have admitted to coming here initially for the party, but then seeing something more in this country and eventually settling in to a respectable life.  That's great, and my respect and admiration for those people stand.  The people who get married here, raise families, and try to lay the groundwork for being the true representatives of their country...I know those people when I see them...but then there's a lot of other people, and I see those people too, and unfortunately they far outweigh the good ones (from my point of view).

These are my views, these are personal experiences, these are opinions.  A lot of my negative views stem from situations where other people were present, and the people that were with me shook their heads at their fellow expats just the same.  I've always been the first person to stop, take a step back, and ask myself "Is it just me?  Am I just being a cynical a-hole, making broad generalizations just for the sake of it?"  And then I engage others in conversation (not at Thursday Party, dammit!), I talk it out, I ask for their views and perspectives...and I find that comparing notes tends to reveal that, no...it isn't just me.

If we want to avoid this negative, stereotypical views of expats, maybe we should lean over and say something to throng of macho d-bags at a bar/restaurant, sitting there with their shirts off, sunglasses on (at 8 in the evening), hooting and hollering at every Korean girl that passes them by whilst singing the "Star Spangled Banner"...or those military guys who are walking down the street, one of them with a K-girl in a headlock (literally), yelling at passerbys "If it wasn't for date rape, I'd never get laid"...I've got tons of these stories, a laundry list, sir.  How can my view be anything but cynical?

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

Well that post was long...written over my morning coffee.  Cool Boss, if you or anyone else wants to respond to me directly, I'd welcome an email to carry the discussion further.  I think I've used up my "long post quota" for the next 2 months.  Even I wouldn't want to spend the time reading that.  LOL

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

"Given the nature of my most recent posts, I guess I could see how one would mistake my cynicism for cockiness.  Totally fair.  It is, however, the exact opposite, I can assure you that"

Translation: Contrary to my online persona, I'm not a d@chebag in real life, trust me.

Re: Angry black man on Korean bus- music video response

I think we might have very different ideas of what defines a "douche bag".

I'm pretty sure none of these fit.  But they're amusing all the same.  I see these guys quite often.  Amazing to think they actually exist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fad6eZTDikA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw1ncADC9KM

Coming from someone who calls himself "hardpuncher", I'll take the accusations of being a douche bag with a grain of salt.

Just F.Y.I., jaded cynicism is not the character trait of a douche bag.  It's amazing, hardpuncher, how defensive you seem to be getting over some of the criticisms I've leveled against the expat community.  They're just my opinions based on personal experience, nothing more, nothing less.  I don't see you jumping to the defense of Koreans when someone comes to the Koreabridge forums to trash talk and nitpick every little thing that they dislike about Korean culture.

We can display our negative, blanketed opinions on Koreans, but oh no, god forbid somebody should criticize the foreign community.  You can label me any which way you like, but the fact of the matter is, I know I'm not the only person thinking some of this stuff...I'm just willing to say it outside of a personal conversation.  I've got a big mouth, sure, I say what I mean and I mean what I say, and I'm fully aware that because I'm not jumping on the bandwagon to bitch and moan about "all of the injustices committed by Koreans towards foreigners", I'm going to catch some heat.  So be it.

There are people like Cool Boss, who venture a level-headed, and stable counter argument that warrants discussion...and then there are people like yourself who seem to be taking cheap shots because they just want to "fight for their right to partay!"