hankyoreh

served at a restaurant in Itaewon

By Song Ho-kyun, staff reporter

A bar in Seoul has provoked a controversy by serving a dish called “Big Black Brother Fried Chicken”, leading to allegations of racial discrimination.

Big Black Brother Fried Chicken is the name of a fried chicken dish smothered in black sauce that is on the menu at a bar in Seoul‘s Itaewon neighborhood, which is frequented by foreigners from all over the world. The controversy was sparked when an American netizen who has been living in Korea for 19 years described the chicken as a “racist dish” on his Twitter account. “I think that Koreans are aware of racial discrimination, but they are only aware of it when they are being discriminated against,” the netizen said.

It would be a stretch to describe the word “Big Black Brother” (“heukhyung” in Korean) as a racist term in and of itself. It is generally used by young people online to refer to blacks with outstanding talents, such as athletes and singers. But the situation changes when the word is linked to fried chicken. In the US, the idea that blacks like fried chicken has come to be understood as a racist stereotype. In 2013, Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia was accused of being racist when he jokingly said he wanted to invite Tiger Woods over to his place for fried chicken.

“Even if there was no actual intent to be racist, this is an issue that demands caution since it could be perceived as discrimination,” said Hun Chang, veteran activist for Sarangbang Group for Human Rights.

“Why did they have to call it ‘Big Black Brother Fried Chicken’?” one netizen wondered. “Would it make sense to call glazed fried chicken ‘Communist Fried Chicken’?”

“We didn’t have any serious meaning in mind when we named the dish,” said a server at the bar when asked about the issue. “A lot of blacks have been ordering the dish, and no one has complained about the name.”

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