Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Not sure what has gotten into the water recently, but I had to return for a bit because apparently we now have idols techbro-posting about eugenics to fans, which is not really something I was prepared for. I brace myself for a lot, but can’t really say I saw this one coming.
Anyway, JYP Entertainment boy band member Jun Han of Xdinary Heroes decided yesterday would be a good time to share his thoughts on racial “science” and promote eugenics with fans on Bubble, responding to a fan message about them doing research in school.
Basically, he ended up making sweeping generalizations about races and then promoted selective breeding for desirable traits.
흑인들이 귀에 세포가 많아서 청각이 좋다고 하거든요. 그래서 음악을 잘 한다고.”
“They say Black people have more cells in their ears, which gives them better hearing. That’s why they’re good at music.”
“인종의 장점을 모아서.”
“By combining the strengths of different races.”
“당 분해 능력이 뛰어난 백인의 능력과, 흑인의 신체 능력, 그리고 두뇌에 능한 황인, 인도인 쪽.”
“The superior sugar metabolism of white people, the physical abilities of Black people, and the cognitive abilities of Asians and Indians.”
“뭐… 이게 줄기세포 연구이긴 한데…”
“Well… this is related to stem cell research…”
“이미 하고 있긴 해요.”
“It’s already being done.”
“윤리적인 문제가 이슈죠.”
“The ethical issues are the real problem.”
“어떻게 생각해요? 윤리적으로 문제가 있다 vs 좋은 게 좋은 거다.”
“What do you think? Is it ethically wrong, or is good just good?”
“윤리적으로 문제가 있다고 생각하는 사람은 하지 말고, 원하는 사람은 알아서 해라.”
“If you think it’s ethically wrong, don’t do it. But if you want to, then go ahead.”
In a way, I think the whole exchange is almost worse in a general sense than just representing him specifically. At least in the sense that it depicts a young guy who clearly thinks he’s figured it out after doing a little reading or gone down a questionable rabbit hole on YouTube and thinks this will make him edgy in a cool way as a deep independent thinker or something. It’s not something that should be all that unfamiliar to people in the West by now.
And this kind of stuff reminds me of something else, which is that people get on my ass sometimes for being a stickler about not believing in fantastical shaman bullshit, or horoscope shit, or MBTI, or physiognomy, or any other pseudo-science shit. It’s just a bit of fun, they argue, which can definitely be true! However, there are a lot of cases where if you don’t shut that type of dipshit thinking down, it inevitably leads them down a rabbit hole of illogical bullshit, and a lot of where that illogical bullshit ends up is absorbing a ton of Hitler particles and spewing it out like we see here (or just harmful medical beliefs, in general). Just what I’ve observed as a growing trend over the years in this increasingly online world. It sucks!
Anyway, he’s apparently apologized.
Hello. This is Xdinary Heroes Jun Han. First, I would like to sincerely apologise for causing a lot of hurt and displeasure to many people with my careless remarks. I realised that the remarks I made contained a prejudiced view and I’m deeply reflecting on myself. I would like to bow my head and apologise once again to everyone I’ve hurt and caused displeasure to due to my lack of history, social consciousness, and sensitivity. In the future, I will continue to learn and change so that I can act based on the right knowledge. I will also take this as an opportunity to be more cautious and responsible with my words and actions. Once again, I sincerely apologise.
Yeah, okay, but you just basically decided to share your eugenics journey with fans on Bubble, so forgive me if I’m skeptical of “my bad”.
