Stray Kids’ Bang Chan is under fire for the Jim Crow controversy after an old video of him making a ‘racist’ pose resurfaced. Black Stray Kids fans have expressed their outrage against the apology he released on Bubble, a paid platform.
On August 3, an old video of Stray Kids’ leader, Bang Chan, imitating a racist pose recirculated. After the video got much attention and globally sparked outrage on social media, Bang Chan took to Bubble, a paid fan app, to apologize for his past actions.
BANG CHAN’S JIM CROW CONTROVERSY EXPLAINED
For a lot of Stray Kids fans, the Jim Crow reference isn’t clear. For the unversed, Stray Kids’ Bang Chan was seen playfully posing as Childish Gambino, imitating a scene from ‘This is America’, which was a direct reference to the racist Jim Crow laws that existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
THE ORIGIN OF ‘JIM CROW POSE’ AND JIM CROW LAWS
The origin of Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ shooting pose was a direct reference to the theatrical character, Jim Crow, from the 19th century. The character was mostly played by a Caucasian man in blackface, who portrayed the outlook towards the Black community during that time.
Along with the Jim Crow character, the term was also used in making racially segregating laws that denied the basic rights to black people. Known as Jim Crow Laws, they led to segregate the Black community using the same restroom, transports, restaurants, public schools, or any public place.
The laws ensured disenfranchising and removing political and economic gains made by black people during the Reconstruction Era. Jim Crow laws were in practice till 1965.
BANG CHAN’S APOLOGY ON BUBBLE
After Bang Chan’s controversial video surfaced online, Stays took to Twitter to demand an apology. The 23-year-old Australian-Korean K-pop star addressed the issue on Bubble.
He wrote: “STAY, as a member of Stray Kids, ‘Stray Kids Everywhere All Around the World’ is a very special slogan. Even if my intentions meant no harm, that doesn’t matter at all because there are people out there who were very hurt by my decisions. I should have thought about it more thoroughly and clearly before initiating those actions.
“Once again, I am very sorry and would like to ask for forgiveness to those who have been offended. We, Stray Kids, do not support any racism in any form and matter.”
STRAY KIDS FANS REACT TO BANG CHAN’S APOLOGY
Many Stray Kids fans were not happy with the fact that Chan chose to apologize on Bubble, which is essentially a paid platform that many fans cannot afford. Others pointed out that Bang Chan chose Bubble as it felt more personal to him and not a formal statement from his label, JYP.
A user wrote: “I mean I have respect that he did it on bubble where he has more freedom to speak without it being watered down by the company and he seems to be genuine with his apology, but imma let it marinate before I decide if I wanna accept it or not.!”
Another user tweeted: “AS A BLACK STAY, I’m am not clearing the searches of this recent incident but I’m an still standing by and supporting Bang Chan. He took it upon himself to speak after seeing that he hurt STAYS without his knowledge, because he loves each and every STAYS.”
One user, however, had a different opinion: “Black stays deserve better and always have cause they endure this shit almost every other month. and y’all see as the villain every single time we ask for a genuine apology because we feel like sh*t seeing people we love cause us so much harm #blackstaysdeservebetter!”
i mean i have respect that he did it on bubble where he has more freedom to speak without it being watered down by the company and he seems to be genuine with his apology, but imma let it marinate before i decide if i wanna accept it or not.
black stays deserve better and always have cause they endure this shit
black stays deserve better and always have cause they endure this shit almost every other month. and y’all see as the villain every single time we ask for a genuine apology because we feel like shit seeing people we love cause us so much harm #blackstaysdeservebetter