Racist Cartoon?

In an article posted on Daum.net July 13, 2007, an expose was written on the prevalence of 'fake' English phone call centers in Korea. These call centers in question are, according to the article, made up of a workforce with 90% Filipinos. While I find nothing wrong his opinions and research. Lemme make it clear. MY POINT IS NOT TO ATTACK THE EXPOSE ITSELF.

At this point I'd like to note that the word 'Filipino' was mentioned throughout the article, emphasized by the said '90%' statistic. This brings us to the cartoon. Note the dirty clothes, 'Ita'-hair, and mustache... yes... mustache on an either clearly female figure OR a dude wearing a SACK (as in where you put your rice) OR a really badly dressed drag person.



Now, as a Filipino, doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

A Korean friend asked me if I could remember Koreans being portrayed in a racist way in Filipino popular media. The only example I could think of is Sandara Park playing a Korean in one Filipino movie. That wasn't negative at all.

Now let me remind you that though this is found on a Korean site posted by a Korean author in the Korean language, one must not assume this is the opinion of the general Korean populace about the appearance of the Filipino. The cartoonist is now held liable for using the internet as a medium without thinking about how racist his cartoon appears. I mean c'mon, nearly the whole world knows y'all gotta be PC (Politically Correct) before you can post any cartoon if you don't wanna get smacked at back.

Here's the article if you can read Korean- http://news.media.daum.net/society/affair/200707/13/munhwa/v17432805.html

Now if you feel like e-mailing the dude (hope that he can understand English), here goes-
hhandc@munhwa.com


EDIT-
The article basically states that there are many complaints as to Phone English companies having been discovered not to have 'native' speakers but instead Filipino speakers.

Just to let you know, a vast majority of the comments on the article speak against it, stating that many consider Philippine English-speakers as either Native speakers or very close/standard. They also question why the writer is sparking racist controversy and do research without including Seoul, which is the capital. Please note that the comments are in Korean and made by Korean nationals. Gotta love em. :)