 And it's like... Nice to see everyone today! I'm Jae Kim and here is... I'm Kaya Boy. She's African-American and I invited her today because I wanted to interview African-Americans so much. I'm really excited to be here so thank you for inviting me Jae. I don't know your audience. So this is my time to say hello and I hope you guys enjoy this video as well. So at first can you introduce yourself? Yes, why not? My name is Kaya Boyd. I am from America, Detroit, Michigan. I've been living in Korea since... Well, I first came here in 2015 so I just tell people 2015. And I am quite a few things here. I'm a singer in Korea. I'm a model, an actress. I'm also... Actress too? Yes. That's so cool. I'm also kind of like a student because I go to school online and I'm a self-study Korean learner. There's so many things happening in my mind right now so I keep forgetting. Why did you come to Korea? Well, I came to Korea because I always tell people that my answer is I was kind of inspired by K-pop. But I don't really think that that was the real reason. I think it was because I felt like something in my life was missing. And it wasn't K-pop that was going to solve that but I felt like some kind of independence and some kind of life journey that I was on just searching for a purpose. And it helped me to exceed the world and kind of see what other people see when they look at me. Just see how the rest of the world operates. I wanted to kind of just find my place and that's why I came to Korea. K-pop helped that. Which group do you? EXO. Oh, which member? So my name is Kaya. Kaya. Kaya. Oh my god, you can dance so well. The next question is have you ever dated a Korean guy and is there any differences compared to American? To answer that question, yes. I have dated a Korean guy before and there are quite a bit of differences culturally and mannerisms and different things like that compared to Korean guys. Definitely a lot going on there. The language barrier, if you're not great at Korean, but another problem, a big huge problem is the cultural difference. Not just between American culture but African American culture. This is another world. I find that a lot of Korean men can understand or can't really comprehend African American culture. Sometimes it's unintentional but they can be kind of disrespectful. For example, what kind of? Oh, yes, so like hair. Like African American hair culture. People in general don't know too much about African hair. So the whole touching, why does your hair do this? Why don't you straighten it? Why is it like this? It's really insensitive and it's really hard to explain these kinds of things. I find that is really difficult for African American women or African women. I think your hair is now gorgeous. Oh, no, that's the part. It's so hard to explain how my hair is. But thank you, I appreciate that. I invite her because I want to talk about prejudice about African American in Korea. Have you ever heard the word... No, I've never heard this. Oh wait, no, you're right. I'm sorry. I've never heard... How do you think about that word? I just want to say I hate those words. I hear them and I instantly feel like kind of disgusted. I just don't feel like they have a good meaning behind it. I've never heard someone actually say it to me. I've just heard it in between conversations. It's so common word. I will tell you what is the word mean. It's like Korean people think black people are physically superior. So it's kind of this packed word but it's so much racism. Many Koreans don't notice that this racism word. It could be a group of students talking maybe or talking amongst themselves. And I've heard this word spoken. And a lot of the times they underestimate foreigners' ability to understand or to speak Korean. So I will say something like, don't be disrespectful. That's gross. Don't use that word. Don't ever use it. And if you use it in front of me, it's a problem. There's going to be a fight. If they accept that it's uncomfortable and it's not only respectful, then you never use that word. I agree. Definitely. For example, oh I love your tiny single eye. So oh you look like the adorable monkey. It's the same thing. Sometimes I've told my Korean friends like I love the way your eyes shape. I'll say like I love your eyes. Like they're so cute. I'm not trying to be offensive. I swear. I'm not being offensive. I hope not to squeeze. I'm trying to respect. I like your eye shape. I promise. Oh adorable monkey. Oh my god. I hope no one ever says I will never say that. Okay, so another prejudice. Korean people think black people are good at singing and lapping and dancing and sports. Yeah, so how do you think about that? Do they really do that? And it's like they really relate to me. And I like the question sheet that you prepared for me. As far as black people being like superior and all these things, I'm not one to say that. First of all, like I guess that that's considered a compliment to black people. But when I listen to these kinds of things, it sounds more like a stereotype. Like we're good at dancing and singing and sports and all these things. Now don't get me wrong. This is true. But it's not everybody. Okay. Don't get me on the street and say, oh, I think you're a dancer. What? Not just dancer. They'll say I think you can twerk. Like they will say disgusting things like this. I will get so angry. Like what? Why? Oh, sorry. Never mind. Oh, yeah. Because you realize how ignorant you sound. Like this is your way of complimenting African people or African American people. But it's not a compliment. It's a stereotype and it's a prejudice. It's really weird and uncomfortable. Do not just assume I can sing because of my skin color or I can dance or do all of these things because of my skin color. I suck at sports. Do not ask me to play anything. Honestly, that's the worst thing. When anyone calls me Beyonce or Nicki Minaj, like I think when they say Beyonce, you're only saying because of my skin color and that makes me angry. When you say Nicki Minaj, you're saying because of my body and that's disgusting. So don't compare another black person to another black person that you've seen on TV. We don't look the same. We're not all the same. Don't do that to us. You look like Sai. Can you dance Gangnam Style? Can you do Gangnam Style? That's disgusting. Don't do that. We don't do that to you. Don't do that to us. I went to karaoke last week with my black friend and she was so bad. Your ears were like, ah! Oh, yeah, yeah. This question is important. Do you think there is still racism in America? Oh, definitely. Against black. Definitely. That's not going away anytime soon or ever. There's definitely racism against black people in America. There's way too many issues that are still present, that are happening in front of the media and, you know, not in front of the media. But people don't really like to talk about these things because it makes them uncomfortable. Have you ever experienced that? Oh, yes, of course. I chuckle because it's like, ah! I used to, before I used to really make me feel, used to make me feel sad and there was a point in my life where, honestly speaking, I didn't want to be black anymore. That's so sad. I felt this when I was a lot younger. There was a time in my life where I was just kind of like, ah! I wish I wasn't black. Like, I don't want to have to go through these things or deal with being looked at a certain kind of way. And I would think this. But over the last good five years of my life, four years of my life, I've gotten some awakening and I've learned so much about myself and I've learned I don't want to change for anyone just because people don't want to accept me like because of the color of my skin. That's your problem. That's not mine. And if you don't accept me, that's fine. I'm not here to please you. I'm here to live my life and be happy. So, hi. Yeah. I like that. How about Korea? Have you ever experienced any discrimination because of your skin color in Korea? Yes. Sadly, yes. But honestly, it's not surprising in a society where the lighter the pale your skin is, the more you're accepted as beautiful. So, yes, I've experienced it quite a bit. Even dealing with entertainment, I noticed that some of the jobs that I went for with modeling and even acting, they would pick me based on my skill and things like that and they'd say, you're really good and we want you to be the star of the show. But we have someone who is white and even though their skills aren't as matched with yours, they look the part. And I've gotten turned down for quite a few things solely based on my skin color because it wasn't white enough for them. I deal with it from time to time with not so good people in some places where they will say or do something against me and it makes me uncomfortable. But it doesn't really bother me as much anymore because I've had to deal with this for pretty much all of my life. So, you've got to develop some tough skin. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I just hope that one day things in Korea will change to where I don't have to feel nervous about being myself. If you want to be this packed, you should this pack other people first. That's true. Korean people are generally nice to other foreigners and other people but they don't know what is the problem usually. So, I don't know I can ask this, but for me, I think black girls are so beautiful like Beyonce. Oh, thank you. What do you think about the beauty of black people? I think all black people are beautiful. I think black women, no doubt, like there's no arguing there. What makes black women so great, what makes us so great is that if we want to, we can wear our hair straight, if we want to wear our hair naturally curly, we just wash it and it's done. It's naturally curly. If we want to do, we can do anything we want with our hair, our clothes, our skin, everything. And I say our skin because that's what I like about being brown because I don't know what the way makeup goes on, the way it glows on our skin, just my skin in general, I love it. And I love all shades of black women. Black men are awesome as well. Like when black men go to all of these other countries, people are either fascinated or scared. And it makes me feel really sad for these people who fear black men just because of what they see on them in media. But black men are freaking cool to me because when I go to another country and I see a black man in a way, I feel protected. Like I feel like, oh, okay, cool. Like my people are here. They have really good vibes. I can make friends with almost any black male, black female that just comes my way. I love it. I think maybe it's a little bit stupid question. Do you proud that you're African American? Yeah. I'm definitely proud to be African American. I have no choice. It's not like I can change my skin. I can't change myself compared to how I felt years ago about being myself. I definitely had some identity issues and me and my blackness, we worked it out. Oh. And I love exactly who I am. I love being black. I love that black people aren't getting better representation throughout entire world through the media, through some things, like even with the Marvel movie with Black Panther and that Get Out movie. I love that. That's so cool, right? Get Out played in Korea and they're in fact, they're just, they're doing a good job by putting more black people in a good light and then movies and in front of people who don't have much experience with black. Like I'm proud of that and I'm happy to be black, not just for those reasons, but because I don't think I was meant to have an easy life. I feel like I had to go through some hardships from being African American and I still have a lot more to learn and I want to educate people and kind of give people the right idea. Like I don't want to misrepresent African. I love my people. Oh, I'm so happy that you proud of yourself. I'm proud that I'm Korean too. Love yourself. BTS. So it's the last question. If there are people who are afraid to come to Korea who are afraid that they're a skin color, can you tell anything for them? Okay, so I would say if you're afraid to come to Korea because you think that your skin or your ethnicity will be a problem, don't be. Because one thing I can say is Korean racism is a little different from American racism. I'm talking about experience-wise. Like when I experience racism in America, I feel like I take it more personally. When I experience racism in Korea, it's kind of like, just brush it off. So I think that if you came to Korea, you would definitely enjoy it. There's so many lovely things about Korea that I love and the people are great. The food is wonderful. Even the culture, their culture is really interesting. It's different, but it's interesting and it's not too bad to adjust to. So I would say definitely give Korea a try. And if you encounter ignorant people or people that just give you a hard time, ignore them. And I know that sounds easier said than done, but ignore them and go about your life and prove to them, prove to yourself that you're better than that. They don't define you. Who cares? You know, one teeny person's thinking, oh, your skin color and so on. Yeah, so what? So what? You can still, since you have these stereotypes, I can still dance and sing and do all these things. Yeah, I guess the beautiful and wonderful. So thank you for entering me, all the questions. It was a really good answer and I'm so impressed about that. I'm so glad that I could kind of educate and give my responses on that because I feel like there's not a lot of African-American representation here. So I'm so happy. I could do that. I will come back with another content. Bye. Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye everyone. Bye-bye. Happy to meet you. Something good. That one looks great. I'm probably going to steal that one from my...