Non-Whites Face Discrimination In English Job Market
No Rules on Race Discrimination in Schools
By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
A 32-year-old American college graduate was refused a job as an English teacher in a private institute (hakwon) in Apkujong-dong, southern Seoul, last week, allegedly for her mixed race heritage.
Her resume (minus photo) was accepted on the first round but she failed her interview. She said she was told by the interviewer, ``I'm sorry but we only want to have white people. We want a native speaker that parents approve of.''
It was the fifth time that she had been turned down from private language schools as well as public schools because of her skin color.
``I was just speechless. Korean people are just afraid of skin color. What is yellow gonna do to you? What is white gonna do to you? What is black gonna do to you?'' she asked The Korea Times.
``What was even more degrading was that this person even told me that Korea is a racist country and always will be so. I shouldn't take it personal, and not feel bad because the blacks have it worse here,'' she said on condition of anonymity.
Another 34-year-old black American male college graduate encountered the same embarrassment. He had more than 10 interviews for English teacher positions in language institutes and schools, only to hear that he could not be hired because he is not white.
``I was told repeatedly by recruiters that the schools would not hire black people. It's always the same story. I'm not prejudiced but... it's the parents, it's the directors. Not only are they racist, but they lie about it and deny it, which I think is worse,'' he said, wanting to remain anonymous.
``There's a sad amount of racism all over Korea. And if you're wondering why there aren't that many black people teaching English, it's because many schools refuse to hire people with dark skins,” he said.
Despite rising demand for native English instructors, qualified non-whites face open discrimination here in the English education job market.
Many hakwon recruitment notices on Internet say that they have only white native-English teachers.
When parents and students come to hakwons for inquiry or consultations, hakwon owners deliberately seat white teachers beside their consultants at the front counters of their institutes, to show off that they have white people.
``I admit that there is a tendency that hakwons and schools tend to recruit only whites as teachers for our image. However, it's hard for us to make changes since it's the parents who prefer to have their children taught by white teachers. I know it's a shame but we can't help it,'' said the owner of an English-language institute in southern Seoul.
According to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, there are no regulations that enable authorities to punish employees of schools or hakwons for discriminating against people based on skin color in employment.
An official from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said since this case is not a criminal lawsuit, the victims of such discrimination, or a third party who knows of such discrimination on behalf of the affected person, can file a complaint with the commission.
Another non-white American job seeker pointed out that Korean recruiters fail to thoroughly check educational background and qualifications of the candidates while just focusing on skin color, exposing young students to possible danger.
In fact, there have been a number of cases in which English teachers were caught involved in crimes and sex scandals.
``Just because you are white and speak some English, they think you must be good. However, if I were the parents who want my kids to be safe, instead of just checking teachers' skin colors, I would check their qualifications first to make sure they don't have any criminal records,'' she told The Korea Times.
She said making teachers' assistants sit through classes by foreign teachers would be a good way to protect children from possible danger if there is no way to check criminal records of foreign employees.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there is currently no way to trace the criminal records of foreign job seekers in Korea since their countries refuse to issue them for various reasons, including privacy and personal information protection.
michelle@koreatimes.co.kr
01-21-2007 17:58
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200701/kt2007012117581311990.htm
No Rules on Race Discrimination in Schools
By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
A 32-year-old American college graduate was refused a job as an English teacher in a private institute (hakwon) in Apkujong-dong, southern Seoul, last week, allegedly for her mixed race heritage.
Her resume (minus photo) was accepted on the first round but she failed her interview. She said she was told by the interviewer, ``I'm sorry but we only want to have white people. We want a native speaker that parents approve of.''
It was the fifth time that she had been turned down from private language schools as well as public schools because of her skin color.
``I was just speechless. Korean people are just afraid of skin color. What is yellow gonna do to you? What is white gonna do to you? What is black gonna do to you?'' she asked The Korea Times.
``What was even more degrading was that this person even told me that Korea is a racist country and always will be so. I shouldn't take it personal, and not feel bad because the blacks have it worse here,'' she said on condition of anonymity.
Another 34-year-old black American male college graduate encountered the same embarrassment. He had more than 10 interviews for English teacher positions in language institutes and schools, only to hear that he could not be hired because he is not white.
``I was told repeatedly by recruiters that the schools would not hire black people. It's always the same story. I'm not prejudiced but... it's the parents, it's the directors. Not only are they racist, but they lie about it and deny it, which I think is worse,'' he said, wanting to remain anonymous.
``There's a sad amount of racism all over Korea. And if you're wondering why there aren't that many black people teaching English, it's because many schools refuse to hire people with dark skins,” he said.
Despite rising demand for native English instructors, qualified non-whites face open discrimination here in the English education job market.
Many hakwon recruitment notices on Internet say that they have only white native-English teachers.
When parents and students come to hakwons for inquiry or consultations, hakwon owners deliberately seat white teachers beside their consultants at the front counters of their institutes, to show off that they have white people.
``I admit that there is a tendency that hakwons and schools tend to recruit only whites as teachers for our image. However, it's hard for us to make changes since it's the parents who prefer to have their children taught by white teachers. I know it's a shame but we can't help it,'' said the owner of an English-language institute in southern Seoul.
According to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, there are no regulations that enable authorities to punish employees of schools or hakwons for discriminating against people based on skin color in employment.
An official from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said since this case is not a criminal lawsuit, the victims of such discrimination, or a third party who knows of such discrimination on behalf of the affected person, can file a complaint with the commission.
Another non-white American job seeker pointed out that Korean recruiters fail to thoroughly check educational background and qualifications of the candidates while just focusing on skin color, exposing young students to possible danger.
In fact, there have been a number of cases in which English teachers were caught involved in crimes and sex scandals.
``Just because you are white and speak some English, they think you must be good. However, if I were the parents who want my kids to be safe, instead of just checking teachers' skin colors, I would check their qualifications first to make sure they don't have any criminal records,'' she told The Korea Times.
She said making teachers' assistants sit through classes by foreign teachers would be a good way to protect children from possible danger if there is no way to check criminal records of foreign employees.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there is currently no way to trace the criminal records of foreign job seekers in Korea since their countries refuse to issue them for various reasons, including privacy and personal information protection.
michelle@koreatimes.co.kr
01-21-2007 17:58
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200701/kt2007012117581311990.htm