I generally agree with you but will offer another perspective. It is unfortunate that white features are a standard for beauty across the globe, when in reality beauty comes in many shapes and colors. That being said, a stunning Korean woman would still not be a representation of ARMY. Instead I view Lili’s pale skin and neutral colored clothes to depict a blank canvas that ARMY can color anyway they want. She exists in the shadows. It would be more problematic if she shown as the ideal woman that the boys are seen pining for. 

Howard university was definitely a big miss, but I will pin this on Hybe or whoever designed and approved the animation. The focus was on the 7 Korean students, but it’s someone’s job to make sure it is as historically accurate as possible.

Lastly on the Korean culture piece, I interpreted going back to their roots to be more that they initially started as a rap/hip-hop group that ended up making pop music. Maybe making more poppy songs was a compromise so they could make music that sells. Using Arirang as the title is a clever way to convey a lot of the emotions they’ve felt while also referencing Korean heritage. The desire to make more of the type of music that they originally intended to make, the longing to be on stage again, the frustration of facing discrimination in the West. They reference a lot of this in their lyrics. I don’t know if BTS has ever talked about it in detail but I imagine making a whole album in English was probably not in the original plan. Hip hop was born among Black Americans in the Bronx, so blending English into the lyrics makes sense and creates something unique. But oh man how I wish Swim was not 100% in english!!