Uijeongbu High students under controversy for blackface parody

Article: Uijeongbu High School crosses the line with parody pictures... 'blackface' controversy

Source: Asia Economy via Naver

The high school is famous for students expressing parody creations for their graduation photos every year. This year's class is being criticized for their parody of a Ghana funeral where men hold up a coffin and dance in mourning. The group nicknamed themselves 'Coffin TS', a play on BTS.

1. [+1,539, -59] Why are there so many triggered people in our society;;

2. [+836, -28] Then what about all those face whitening creams and advertisements? It's okay for women to make their faces whiter? Isn't Kabuki make up racism against white people too? I don't think painting your face black is as important as to whether there was an actual intention to be racist within the action itself. They're parodying a custom that actually exists in Africa... People need to back off a bit...

3. [+541, -17] I don't think this can be compared to Hong Hyun Hee's blackface. Hong Hyun Hee blatantly did blackface to be funny while these boys were parodying a meme that even the funeral company in Ghana expressed gratitude for in all the interest they were getting from around the world. I think the Ghanaian would find this parody fun if they saw it instead of taking offense to it. It's unfair to corner them as racist just for the blackface without looking at the context. Uijeongbu High School has always been famous for their graduation photos and it makes me worried that such a longstanding tradition is going to disappear because of something like this.

4. [+515, -17] ㅋㅋ Seems like the only one triggered is the journalist ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ how do you function in real life? ㅋ

5. [+256, -9] The media needs to make it straight and either ban blackface or something. This is just a copy of something that already exists. People are just quick to hate because of the blackface without looking at any of the context.

6. [+51, -2] I think the intention is what should be important here. Were these kids trying to ridicule and put down a certain race? I don't think so. I think they were just copying an internet meme. So if they copied The Little Mermaid and wore a bra to dress up like a mermaid, would that be considered misogynist? If they dressed up as the KFC grandpa, would they be anti-elderly? We all know that these kids had no ill intentions. Instead of calling it blackface, call it a parody of the coffin dance meme. There are too many hypocrites who act like they're so woke these days.

7. [+35, -1] Let's not create a controversy out of nothing. They're not putting black people down, they're just parodying something that already exists. Anyone who's seen the coffin dance would know that they copied it exactly. However, everyone should be taking precautions to make sure their actions don't cause any controversies considering how open our societies have become.

8. [+33, -2] So blackface is racist now? Why are there so many fools? How can anyone look at this and call it racist? Then are people who tan racist too? Let's draw a line somewhere. Why are there so many people trying to victimize themselves?

9. [+26, -1] Last year, one of the students parodied Freddie Mercury... then is that whiteface racism? The point of the parody is to get as close to the original as possible ㅋㅋㅋㅋ can't believe all these triggered people. And shame on the journalists for turning this into a controversy in the media.

10. [+21, -0] Then what about when the kids parody white people ㅠㅠ with blonde wigs and blue lenses, is that racism too? Isn't this just a bunch of kids enjoying an aspect of culture?

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