‘Whitetards’: Politically incorrect insults common in South Korea
Re: “Is ‘retard’ acceptable as an insult in civil debate”, Have Your Say, June 9.
Dr Frank stated he was surprised The Nation would publish a letter that contained an insult based on the word “retard”.
Of course, it is not good manners to ever use the word retard, yet the fact that someone would use it says more about them than about this publication. Dr Frank acts as if this is the first time that “retard” has been conflated with another word. Perhaps he is an older person who comes from a more enlightened generation. But in fact it is now quite common to use the word retard in combination with another word, when seeking to discredit someone else.
For instance, when I was in South Korea a few years back, many locals would refer to the Japanese as “Jtards”, in order to express their hatred of their former colonial rulers. South Koreans would even call Americans “whitetards” when they disagreed with parts of American policy. I could give further examples here, but I think one gets the point. While this publication could perhaps have used more discretion in accepting a letter that used the insult “retard”, The Nation in fact was not doing anything extraordinary in publishing it.
Paul
Khon Kaen
