It is interesting to see how the media had impacted an ethnic group to hate another ethnic group. As we all know, the media has a great impact on our lives. Prior to Koreans coming to the United States, they watched American films that portrayed the lives of African Americans. The films portrayed African Americans as criminals and “gangsters.” Koreans carried these types of images of African Americans with them when they arrived in the United States.

When Koreans opened up supermarkets in African American neighborhoods in Brooklyn, they were accused of being rude to the African Americans. I think there are several reasons behind this type of accusation. First, I think Koreans might have been a little rude to the African Americans, but through word of mouth the rudeness was expanded to something bigger. For example, in the case of Felissaint, Witness Stein said that Felissaint “was not slapped, knocked down, or kicked.” But prior to the trial, through word of mouth, Felissaint was described as being beaten to unconsciousness. Second, because of different cultures and customs African Americans might view Koreans differently. For example, African Americans thought that the Korean supermarket owners were secretly hired by the government to “destroy” their neighborhood. Even before the arrivals of Koreans, African Americans did not fully accept Asian Americans as “brothers and sisters,” referring to when Chinese Americans were protesting about racism and the case of Vincent Chin, not all African Americans were willing to support the Chinese.   

In addition, it is interesting how one boycotter mentioned that “blacks were incapable of being ‘racist.’” Similar phrases were mentioned by White Americans during the Vincent Chin case. The judge for the Vincent Chin’s case mentioned how the criminals for the Vincent Chin’s case were not acting on racism. Words like “it’s because YOU *** ** ***** that we don’t have jobs” do not qualify as racial reference.