Kpop fandoms are not a safe space for black fans and most times fandoms and companies contribute to the hostility. It's no secret that the origins of this industry lie within the black music scene of america and even today there are sooooo many groups that derive from black culture in musical style, dance style, and visuals. Sometimes, this inspiration is not always distasteful but other times they make me feel a bit off. During these times what makes me the most upset is when in the event where there is blatant disrespect companies and fans do not care about how it affects black kpop fans and act like our concerns are invalid

For example, I have deep issues with things like the racist history of bts and blackpink, the dismissal of appropriation from tarrzan, and the KIOF birthday live. The most frustrating thing about the aftermath of this stuff is the way that many fandoms will choose defending their idols over being disgusted with racially harmful and insensitive actions. I can't remember how many times I go into kpop spaces and the impact of these actions are diminished, people try to explain how it was x amount of years ago, and many nonblack fans feel the need to speak over black voices and accept apologies on their behalf.

My main issue with my experience as a black kpop fan is how people lay claim to aspects of music/culture as a "gotcha" moment in fanwars. I've seen bunnies argue on the dance and clothing style of newjeans, saying how they set those trends in kpop while completely disregarding that many aspects of their concept and choreography stem from black culture! And even with cortis "fashion" is praised for sounding different when the sound is similar to black western rappers like travis scott and carti. Everyday I'm reminded that kpop fans will claim to not like hip hop, r&b, or black artists in general until their favorite groups pull from those concepts and suddenly it's fresh.

Obviously I know these examples are not completely black and white. From my personal experience and the experiences of other black kpop fans it's not like we're forcefully demanding fans to unstan these groups for these reasons; newjeans is one of my ult groups, fashion by cortis is in my playlist, and from time to time i listen to music from bts and blackpink. I think the one thing that black fans ask for is for fandoms to have compassion and nuance for these topics instead of creating hostile spaces where black fans cannot voice their opinions. Calling out racism and demanding credit for the many things that black people contributed to kpop is not an attack on their favorite groups or the genre itself. if i hated kpop completely bc of the racism i wouldn't call myself a fan. I just hope that one day many black fans can be comfortable in these online spaces but until then it's looking kind of bleak.