‘TRANSRACIAL!’: white influencer takes heat for ‘publicly identifying’ as Korean
A white, British influencer named Oli London came under fire after announcing they publicly identify as Korean.
“If you can be transexual, you can be TRANSRACIAL,” London, who uses pronouns they and them, tweeted on Friday. “Why are there such double standards & hypocrisy with people criticizing me for being Korean. It’s the same as someone who was born in the wrong body and wants to become a man or a woman. I was actually born in the wrong body,” they continued.
Despite being British-born, London has always had a fascination with Korean beauty and culture. London’s fascination deepened when, in 2019, they underwent over 15 surgeries and spent over $150,000 to look like famous South Korean BTS band-member Park-Ji-Min.
London has been slammed online since making their announcement, with critics like Sandra Song noting that it was “highly offensive.” On Twitter, London has been told to “shut the f*** up”, and that they’ll “never be Korean.”
“I’m not actually changing my race,” London said during a 2019 post-surgery interview, “I have a deep respect for Korean culture. It’s cultural appreciation, not appropriation,” they continued. London elaborated on their announcement on their YouTube channel in a video called, ‘I’m Non Binary Korean’, which has since been viewed over 34,000 times. Throughout the video, they explain their appreciation for Korean culture, and also slam “woke” people.
“The only people that need to be canceled is woke people,” London explained in a YouTube video, “because they are so dangerous to freedom of speech in society.”
Back in 2015, former NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) President Rachel Dolezal made a similar claim. Despite having worked for the organization for several years, and leading it for a year, Dolezal was ousted after it was discovered that she was not African-American like she claimed, but rather 100% caucasion.
“Actually, I don’t like the term African-American,” Dolezal told a reporter in 2015, “I prefer black. So, if asked, I would say, yes, I consider myself to be black,” she continued. Right after making those comments, Dolezal was asked whether she is African American by a journalist. Rather than answering, Dolezal reportedly ‘froze’, and turned away without responding. Later on, it was discovered that Dolezal had a white mother and father, and that she had been undergoing cosmetic procedures to look black. Since making claims of transracialism, Dolezal has claimed that she can’t find a job.