alright, my thoughts. even though i genuinely don’t think mine is that important.
the facts are:
1. mark wore a shirt with a confederate flag on it
2. a photo was posted online which is how we found out about it
3. people brought this up to upperroom
4. upperroom posted an apology statement that stated they do not tolerate the meaning behind the symbol
those are simply the facts without everyone’s assumptions and added narratives.
now with that being said, i think:
first and most importantly, he’s ignorant as hell for this.
do i think he wore it with malice? judging from his statement. no. i don’t think so. i think it was just a shirt they found thrifting, hence the word “vintage” being thrown around.
does that make it okay? NO. NOT AT ALL.
mark lee is a public figure who is responsible for making sure he knows what he’s representing. and wearing a symbol you don’t know the meaning of is just plain stupid. he can no longer take away the fact that his name and face is now linked to the confederate flag — even though he rejects that he supports it — that is the consequence of his own ignorance.
i’ve seen people saying that mark is hiding behind upper room and/or separating the two, saying that it’s the labels fault. which i just personally think is ridiculous. how do you hide behind a label under your name? how do you blame a label when he is the label?
there is no one to blame but him. and that will be the case for everything in the future as well. he’s the literal CEO now. everything has to be approved by him. every decision, everything he wears, says, writes, does….it all falls on him.
which is why he needs to be careful and take the time to educate himself. now — i’ve seen a lot of people say he should’ve already known considering he spent time in america. but i’ve also seen so many people find out about the flag TODAY. so i do think it’s a bit unreasonable that everyone expects him OR anyone to know american history. if you do then good for you. but some people simply just do not know. it really depends on who you’re educators are and we do not know what he was taught.
BUT even with that being said — do i still think he’s dumb as hell? YEAH, I FUCKING DO! especially in our world now where information is at the tip of our fingertips. IT TAKES ONE SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH. he obviously did not do that.
i do think he deserves all the criticism. but at what point does criticism just turn into blatant lies and hateful narratives? there’s been so many takes/jokes made that are so clearly obvious that people don’t really care.
end of the story is - upper room and mark (you cannot separate the two; he is upper room) have taken accountability for what happened, have specifically acknowledged the symbol and apologized.
it’s up to you whether or not you accept that apology. if you do then ok. if you don’t then ok.
now for me, it’s really all up to time — if his apology is real and sincere, i expect things like this won’t happen again. but if it’s not, and he really turns out to be a racist, hateful individual then trust im the first one out the door. i’m not here to sway anyone to make a choice. nor am i here to defend him. i acknowledge that he’s a fucking idiot and i’m hoping he learns from this and make better decisions moving forward.
you guys can come to your own decisions. you’re all adults and you can all choose for yourselves.
since my mark fic blew up and the recent news regarding mark and his sponsorship with mcdonald’s all i have to say is 1. im a little surprised but also not, and 2. hes a grown man, he should know better and should understand what hes doing with his influence, 3. ik contracts are hard to get around especially with sm being very strict and just overall, not a good company when it comes to its idols and is money hungry, and 4. despite being stuck in contract, i feel that mark could have said smth ambiguous to show where he stands with all of this like taeyong did
with that said, i’m disappointed, but not so much surprised as everyone else because mark is a devout christian, that’s not to bash on christian’s (even though many of them are horrible, im looking at u evangelicals) as i grew up christian myself and still hold those values close to my heart, however, i can distinguish when something is morally wrong and right and what that country is doing to gaza rn, is a genocide, its ethnically cleansing a whole group of people for personal gain, no one should endorse it and no one should stand by that. its why i disappointed in mark because from what i saw from him, he seemed like a genuine person and someone who cares, i have no doubt that he cared about his fans and friends and family, but when it comes to promoting a company like mcdonald’s (which im that korean mcdonald’s isn’t apart of the same mcdonald’s as american that donates to commit genocide) it still influences fans in america to buy mcdonald’s which again, funds a genocide.
while i understand that maybe sm got smart and said that any kind of ambiguous post abt boycotting this sponsorship is a breach of contract, it’s still disappointing to see an idol you look up to, do something like this.
now, i stand on these things as i’ve notice my following growing just a tad, i wanna be clear.
1. gaza should be allowed to be its own state
2. there is a genocide going on in gaza
3. i stand with the lgbtqia+ as i am apart of the community, their rights are human rights and deserve to be treated as much
4. there are wrongful deportations happening right now in america that aren’t right and goes against the constitution
5. anyone born on america soil is an american citizen and is not anything less if they were born to two undocumented immigrants
6. religion has no place in the government, it’s a democracy not a theocracy
7. the current u.s administration is not doing things for the people, but doing things to keep the rich in power
8. i don’t feel bad for charlie, idc what anyone says
though this isn't related to my usual content, i'd like to take advantage of the platform i've grown and shine light on the raids that are happening in LA right now. as a POC who grew up in LA for the majority of her life, it is so incredibly heartbreaking to see the treatment ICE is doing to these innocent people and their families.
the fact that our rights are being threatened is actually insane to me. i can't believe we have to live in a world where people are being attacked for using their freedom of speech, families are being broken up, or people fearing of even going outside because of the possibility of their family being affected.
as an 18 year old, someone still so young, i never thought there'd be a time where i had to constantly worry about my own family, my life currently, and my future. please, if you think that these ICE raids are "helping our country" or support that man in the White House, do me a favor and unfollow my account. i will not interact. because yes, it is that serious.
both. raw. at the same time. no lube, no protection, all night, all day. from the kitchen floor to the toilet seat, from the dining table to the church, from the front porch to the balcony, missionary, cowgirl, reverse cow girl, doggy, backwards, forwards, sideways, upside down, on the floor, in the bed, on the couch, on a chair, against the wall, against the window, against the door, vertically, horizontally, quadratic, exponential, logarithmic, NEXT QUESTION.
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