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The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

SCMP
Asia

The Korea Times

Opinion

Columnists

20. Casey Latigue

'How black is he?'

In late 2012, I wrote a Thoughts of the Times column reflecting upon some racial slights that I received in South Korea during the 1990s. Unfortunately, I have experienced a few cases recently that topped all of those. A Korean professor who is a fan of mine has been recruiting me to join her university. She secretly let me know her colleagues pushed back. One concern: I might be too independent. She says that Korean professors typically seek colleagues who won't challenge them, so I will need to show humility.

2015-06-16 16:56

Give, not 'give back'

As my project helping North Korean refugees has grown, it has, unfortunately, also attracted more volunteers saying they want to "give back to the community." It is now so commonly stated by applicants that I am pleasantly surprised when it isn't mentioned.

2015-06-02 17:07

Get your own column

One reason I am suspicious of job references and calling someone's previous employers: Who checks the references of those giving references? If supervisors and colleagues I have worked with ever had a meeting, expect a chaotic scene demonstrating the difference between a job and a career. Some would give such loving testimonials that I would know what pancakes must feel like when syrup gets poured on top: So sweet!

2015-05-19 17:03

What to do about Baltimore?

During the summer of 2002, I was a frequent attendee of a month-long boycott of a Chinese food takeout by black residents in Washington, D.C. No kidding, the protest began after a local activist accused a cook at Kenny’s Carryout of attempting to cook a piece of chicken he had dropped on the floor and kicked around like a soccer ball. By my unofficial count, there were about 100 protesters marching and chanting some days, but one key person was missing: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.

2015-05-05 17:05

I hate 'Somebody'

No matter how long your to-do list may be, there is someone with an even longer one: “Somebody.” With the amount of work waiting for him or her, I don’t blame “Somebody” for hiding.

2015-04-21 17:02

Creative people say 'no'

When people ask which living or dead famous person I would most like to meet, my response is "no one." After getting over the shock of being alive again, someone like George Washington might be disappointed to learn he first has to chat with a lot of people (including the FBI, conspiracy theorists, doctors). You may want to interview him, but he may have other things on his mind after being resurrected after two centuries.

2015-04-07 17:03

They don't know me

When I was about 5 or 6 years old, I think I saw a woman being raped. I had not yet learned about the birds and the bees, and the bad things that can happen between them, so my young eyes could not fully comprehend what was happening.

2015-03-24 16:59

A beautiful speech contest

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.Tell your stories. That was the advice I gave in 2003 when I was in the midst of an intense campaign to create a school voucher program for low-income children in Washington, D.C.I had been influenced from a young age by abolitionist Wendell Phillips recounting the Aesop fable “The Man and the Lion” (in a letter in the 1845 book by fugitive American slave Frederick Douglass.) In the fable, the lion complained that lions would be accurately represented “when the lions write history.” The lion says that instead of the statue of Hercules tearing apa...

2015-03-10 17:43

American slavery then, N. Korea today

Speaking on Feb. 14 in Washington, D.C., along with North Korean refugee Cherie Yang, I noted parallels between the “men stealers and women whippers” of American slavery yesteryear and North Korea today (the event was co-hosted by the Atlas Network and the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association).

2015-02-24 17:15

A magnet for freedom

I’m sure that some North Korean refugees try to motivate their loved ones still in North Korea to escape by sharing information about the outside world. I am humbled to learn that I have become part of that information. One of the refugees participating in the Teach North Korean Refugees project I co-founded with Lee Eun-koo recently told me that she has been trying to convince her sister to escape from North Korea. "Come to South Korea," she has been telling her. "You can even study English for free with as many teachers as you want. It is because of a nice American who wants to help North ...

2015-02-10 16:54

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