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'Aren't there Asian Americans?' White House slammed for inviting BTS to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes

BTS is invited to the White House for AAPI Heritage Month to talk about anti-Asian hate crimes and as youth ambassadors spreading positivity and hope

The K-pop supergroup BTS has pretty much taken over the world from making BBMAs history to turning Las Vegas purple for their concerts and Grammy appearance. And now, the next feather in their cap comes from the White House as BTS has been invited to meet American President Joe Biden to talk about anti-Asian hate crimes and celebrate AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. This comes after their stint at the UN General Assembly last year where they spoke on climate change.

The White House has shared that President Joe Biden and BTS are set to discuss diversity inclusion and how BTS as youth ambassadors can spread the message of hope and positivity. In the past, BTS had also spoken up on the worldwide anti-Asian hate crime that had risen due to the Covid-19 pandemic and how they themselves still faced racism. And while their fans are honored and cheering, the Internet is divided over the choice of guests.

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BTS part of the White House guest list for the AAPI Heritage Month

BTS happens to be one of the many guests that have been invited to the White House including Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders who visited the President in honor of the AAPI Heritage Month. ARMY also shared BTS was the right choice as with their global platform they were speaking up for Asians all over the world and the hate they had been receiving. Their fans also felt that selecting BTS was perfect as it proved that not just normal Asian-Americans, but even Asian celebrities all over the world visiting USA had faced racism. 

However, there are many Internet users who pointed out that BTS had already joined UNICEF to talk about universal racism and hate and the AAPI Heritage Month was solely for Asian-Americans whose experiences only actual Asian Americans would be able to understand. Many K-pop fans also reminded users that if the White House wanted to capitalize on the popularity of K-pop, they could have called actual Asian American K-pop idols who were born and raised in USA and would have a better understanding of the challenges they faced.

‘Pick a struggle’

Users made tweets like, “It would have made more sense to have American born and raised idols attend this "discussion" cause there are more than enough of them... I digress,” and “The thing about inviting Badum-TS to the White House is that there are plenty of actual Asian Americans who are kpop idols so if you really wanted to go the kpop route you could have actually gotten Asian American kpop stars for APAHM. Another user posted, “K-pop fans not knowing, understanding or acknowledging the difference between the Asian experience of Asians from and in Asia, and ASIAN AMERICANS who live in NORTH AMERICA, is actually a form of racism and xenophobia most don't want to acknowledge exists. But, carry on.”

However ARMY feel that this is just an opportunity to hate on BTS, “First BTS was too westernized to be considered Asian and now they too Asian to talk for Asian Americans? 🥲 can y’all pick a struggle.” Another commented, “This is not about "Asian Americans" it's about ASIANS  in general, bts being the most successful korean artist all over the world made them the easiest target of h@te speech and choosing them to speak and address this was definitely the right decision.”

One ARMY asked, “I'm so confused- asian americans are ostracized from american society for their perceived ties to foreign countries. this is why ppl from the mainland also face racism when they come to america. why then is bts, a group from mainland korea, not suited to speak on aapi hate?” Another pointed out, “Emmy Award winning anchor Dion Lim, The first Asian US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Korean American Actor & Producer Daniel Dae Kim and other Asian American political figures like Grace Meng, David Chiu, Evan Low etc have been in that list. BTS was just added to it and they're the reason the entirety of Twitter is talking bout it ONLY rightnow and adding their little two cents when it's been going on for a whole goddamn month. See the undeniable impact? Thats exactly why they were added to the list despite of not being Asian American.”

But one fan explained why people might be having a negative response to BTS’ invite for this particular reason, “In non-Asian centered countries. So thank God the boys can’t relate to some of the Asian American speakers that came earlier in the month talking about how they were terrified to even let their own grandmother walk up to the store because she might get jumped by ignorant White man. However nobody can say the boys aren’t valid because they deal with discrimination all of the time but the specific type of events that were happening over the past two years were specifically happening to people of Asian heritage living in Westernized countries. So it’s just a different perspective that the boys are giving. As opposed to if the boys were living in Los Angeles during the pandemic when literally people were just getting attacked on the daily for breathing. So I can understand the logical perspectives of both sides.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.