The K in K-pop does stand for Korean, but often at times the artists involved in the industry happen to be of many other nationalities and ethnicities. One of them, for example, would be Amber Liu. A starlet who exploded on the scene with her girl group, f(x), under SM Entertainment, Amber grew to be a fun, well-loved idol known by all. So it was rather shocking to see her name trending on Twitter in a negative light.
The American-born Chinese star found herself in hot water only minutes ago, as a clip of her talking about a racially charged situation (where a black man was handcuffed by a white policeman, simply for eating a sandwich at a train station) on a radio show went viral.
like i said, amber is not clueless. right here in this video she explains police brutality, and how black ppl today get pulled over bc of their skin color. she understands how racism works, she’s just ignorant. https://t.co/jmZrDK5k8P
— shanice (@hyckthings) November 18, 2019
Amber has since released an official statement regarding the issue where she addressed her mistake and apologised for it.
I am so sorry pic.twitter.com/DJ4OKlDlNJ
— Amber Liu 刘逸云 (@amberliu) November 18, 2019
Fans are quick to jump to the star’s defense but this issue tackles at a bigger problem that Americans have, and they are not about to let her off the hook that easily.
i hope you understand that you will have to earn back the trust of the community you’ve disrespected. i do hope you leaned from this.
also to ambers fans remember that although she’s apologized, no black person has to accept her apology.
— ????? ♔ (@ddaeng8__) November 18, 2019
Spending long periods of time overseas is not an excuse, Amber. It’s 2019. The internet has made the corners of the world more accessible than ever. Social media puts it at your fingertips. The harassment of Black people on public transit has been ongoing & extremely publicised.
— space voldemort (@DBSK) November 18, 2019
Amber to be quite honest your lack of judgement just shows that the insensitivity of minorities in those situations shows the lack of knowledge in a black life vs another POC live. Please just remember that black people practically walk into war everyday because they are black.
— ?? (@UnorthodoxBrain) November 18, 2019
“Amber” is currently the number 1 worldwide trend, as Americans everywhere seem to be contributing their two cents in regards to the issue. While the backlash that Amber received from her initial statement may seem justifiable, it also makes us wonder why is it that celebrities who are misinformed or ignorant about social issues feel the need to voice out their opinions on such huge platforms. Amber has over 2.4 million Twitter followers, which is also what adds to the rage felt by the black community.
As K-pop fans face the conflict of wanting to forgive their idols but also feeling the need to ‘cancel’ them for problematic behaviour, it’s an interesting turn of events. #AmberLiuIsOverParty is also a growing hashtag under the plenty of replies to the pop star’s apology, as are fans begging others to leave the idol alone.
Regardless, we can always expect this reply whenever anything seems to break out on Twitter:
— nayla (@trolaxcx) November 18, 2019
What are your thoughts on this matter?
