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TO1 Chan slammed for cultural appropriation at KCON LA, his 'trendy' response has fans tired

TO1 Chan has often come under fire for wearing a durag even after fans told him why he shouldn't

LA, CALIFORNIA: It seems that the culture professor who went viral for saying idols continue to do cultural appropriation because of apathy seems to be onto something. TO1’s Chan has become the latest K-pop idol to be slammed by international fans as he wore a durag at none other than an American event, a country that has a painful history when it comes to racism. On the main stage of KCON LA 2022, TO1 got a hot response for their energetic cover of PSY and BTS Suga’s ‘That That’. 

However, during the BTS member’s rap, Chan took off his cowboy hat and was seen wearing a durag underneath it. It did not help that the rap started off with the lyrics “Yah naega.” While “naega” just means “I” in Korean, it also sounds very similar to the n-word in English, which made the situation worse. And TO1 fans are frustrated as this does not seem to be a case of ignorance, which is a defence for first-time offenders in K-pop. Chan has often been slammed for cultural appropriation and has also been made aware of it. However, his response is less than satisfactory as he claimed he was just being trendy.

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TO1 Chan slammed for wearing durag at KCON LA

After Chan started wearing a durag in his personal life and posted it on social media, fans clamored to get his attention. When he finally asked why fans did not want him to use a durag, many clearly explained its significance. The durag started out as a headscarf for Black slaves to protect their natural hair. It was later reclaimed as a sign of liberation in the 1930s in USA. Unfortunately, this did not stop the TO1 star, who said that while he understood the meaning behind it, he just saw it as a clothing item that was popular. With Chan again wearing a durag at KCON LA, fans are protesting on social media.

‘A big no no’

We also have non-fans sharing that they were close to liking the boy group but Chan’s cultural appropriation had hurt them. One user tweeted, “Nah bc chan (to1) has really disappointed me… like the fact that he’s done ca multiple times calling it “trendy” is really f**ked up.” Another couldn’t understand his response, “So yeah basically chan (to1) has been wearing durags multiple times and not only during schedules, fans talked to him on bbl saying how inappropriate it was and apparently he didn’t apologized, saying it was « cool » and hoping people wouldn’t misunderstand (?).”

With him also wearing braids and dreadlocks on ‘Road to Kingdom’, another said, “Mhm while y’all talking about to1 member Chan and his durag let’s talk about these too cause I haven’t seen ANY conversation about it.” One fan felt bad for the rest of the group, “Nah because i’m so mad at chan . to1 gets dragged soooo much because he CONSTANTLY does this shit . like this just one of the many time he does something.  i feel so bad for the boys honestly they deserve better and already going thru enough with the damn stupid ass company fr .”

Another fan found it funny, “Could you imagine telling someone all the problematic things that to1 has done and then they ask by which members and you tell them that it's literally only by Chan.” One commented, “Man… did no one tell Chan from to1 that wearing a durag at an american convention is a big no no… like he was the ending fairy too 😭 I WAS JUST ABOUT TO STAN THEM TOO.” Another fan added, “I get it, he did ca again and its a big deal but i have no say in it so im not gonna get involved. please dont bring hate to the other boys, ive seen a lot of people bashing to1 bc of chan when they have done nothing and thats not fair.”

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