Sam Okyere recently held an interview with BBC News to discuss his perspective on the Euijeongbu High School students’ “blackface” graduation photos.
Previously, students from Euijeongbu High School stirred up a heated issue when they dressed up as Ghana’s famous dancing pallbearers and painted their faces “black,” commonly known as “blackface.”
During his interview, Sam Okyere said, “I think a lot of people misunderstood. A lot of people thought that my intent was to call out and bash the kids, but I understand where the kids were coming from. They did not mean to cause any harm. They thought that they were doing a parody, they might as well do it in detail. It was coming from a misinformed place, not from wanting to mock black people.”
He added, “I feel like the people did not know the history behind ‘blackface,’ and why it is offensive. People didn’t really understand or grasp that concept and went, ‘Oh, it’s just a parody,’ but some Koreans were able to make the connection.“
Regarding the controversy over his “controversial” gesture during the Abnormal Summit, he said, “We were trying to do ugly faces, so there was no intent of mocking Koreans or Asians. That wouldn’t make any sense because I work and live in Korea.”
You can check the interview here.
