I appreciate you being open to discussions regarding the Mark controversy, but I think his response to the backlash tells us everything about his views. It’s one thing to unknowingly wear a shirt with a racist flag, but his disregard for the hurt that he’s caused to the Black community is disgusting. Not only was the apology vague and did nothing to show that he truly understood the magnitude of his actions, but him and his company are currently pretending nothing has happened while showing up to events and talking about how thankful they are for the fans that are sticking by him.
Additionally, it’s not fair to say that”Oh maybe he didn’t know” considering he’s from a country that is right above the United States and he spent several years in the US as well. His first appearance after leaving NCT was at a UN event and him stating that he wants to make the world a better place just for this BS to happen is quite distasteful honestly. He is in a position where he has more autonomy than ever before and yet chooses to be ignorant. So I would say that it’s fair to call him racist.
I understand that changing the whole plot of a story that you’ve worked very hard on can be difficult and frustrating, but I think it might be worth it to not have someone such as Mark representing it.
thank you for sharing with me your views on the situation itself, i really appreciate it and i fully understand your point of view! i've went back to read the apology that upper room had released and i thought it had addressed the situation quite clearly and well in a way that is respectful while acknowledging the issue at hand. i believe part of the phrase in the apology also says "upper room and the artist unequivocally reject and do not tolerate racism, hate, discrimination, or any form of intolerance. we understand the seriousness of the concerns that have been raised and deeply regret the distress this incident caused." and "in response, we will strengthen our internal review procedures for wardrobe selection and content approval to help prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future" that itself to me was proof that he did not disregard the community and had taken future plans to make sure that such occurrences never happen again. there are many people online as well who commented the same thoughts as you as well so i'd like to ask other than this apology what would you like the mark or the label to do? i ask this in the most respectful way as i'd like to know what other steps can entertainment labels and artists do to take better accountability for mistakes like this?
regarding the part on how he's showing up for the fan event, i objectively do not think that it's him and his company pretending that nothing has happened but rather to pull out of the event that tons of fans have spent money on, some even made travel plans for is partly irresponsible but also there's a huge fee that artists have to pay for such events whenever there's a postponement or cancellation to the organiser. i think it's very easy to be hyper fixated on nuances of certain phrases when we have our own opinions but when i saw the texts, i saw it as how mark is thanking fans for sticking by his side and still showing up for the event despite after making the decision of leaving dream. with context of how this event was originally supposed to be with 7dream but due to him leaving, there were many uncertainties that i'm sure he himself had. i'm not saying that the lens that you're viewing his actions at the fanmeet or the things he said during the event/on instagram is wrong but i do ask you to look from the lens of someone who's been an integral part of nct making the difficult decision to leave and starting afresh on his own in a completely different ball game on his own. that itself is scary for anyone at any age.
i'm not sure on the education system in america/canada so i don't feel like i have the rights to comment anything on wether he's actually learnt it in school. but as i've mentioned in the previous ask, mark moved to korea at a very early age of his life. even within canada/america, he's also been moving around quite a lot so i think there's some benefit of the doubt that his education isn't as consistent since there's always some difference in curriculums. i lived in my home country for all my life but admittedly there are a lot of things that i've learnt when i was younger that i've forgotten or am not sure about today and have to go back to learn it again. i'm not defending mark in any way i promise, but i'm saying that mark is human and if we are capable of such things, chances are he will too. i think the fact that he chose to appear at UN as his first official appearance shows even more of the kind of person mark is and proves his sincerity on wanting to make a change. keep in mind that, he could've chosen any other events to make his solo debut after leaving sm with a record as an artist like him with brands but he chose UN.
in my previous answer to the ask i've also said that there hadn't been any signs of racism from mark's actions or interactions off and on camera with people of different race and skin colour. i can't find any other proof that mark had ever been racist in any situation before this incident and even during the time when we've worked together, mark had been respectful of my colleagues of a different race. i cannot agree that this incident makes him in any way 'racist' besides the lapse in judgement and lack of knowledge.
you don't have to agree with what i've said above, i fully respect your perspective even though it doesn't align with mine! my answers are based off your response and if there's other concerns regarding this issue that you think i'm not looking at it right, please do let me know! as i've mentioned beforehand, i'm always open to learning and improving myself so that i can do my part in the society so please do educate me respectfully! i will still continue with mark as the second lead of all for you for the time being until there's a reason not to have him part of the story i hope you understand that! all the characters in all my writings are a work of fiction hence the mark in all for you isn't any sort of representation as well. however, i understand that the use of mark's likeness may be uncomfortable for some readers so the choice to engage with the story is fully up to the readers themselves.
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic