Black Culture From a White Perspective: What Happens When You Bring Your Black Friend to South Korea

What happens when a deeply American social cue gets lost in international translation?

Years ago, my buddy (a Black, African-American Person of Color) and I hit the mean streets of Seoul, South Korea.

(Actually, the streets aren’t mean at all. Seoul is a great city, and South Korea is a great place to visit. But I digress…)

We were two American travelers — one Black, one white — navigating culture, food, and daily life in a country that does things just a little differently.

Like many Black Americans, one of them carries an unspoken ritual: the nod. That quick, subtle gesture of recognition passed between Black Men — a sign of solidarity, presence, acknowledgement, community, and shared experience.

But in Seoul?

The nod bounced.

No return.

No rebound.

Be clever, and put an Angel Reese rebound comment here.

Or, just mention Angel Reese, and pretend you made a joke.

Either/or.

It was an unexpected moment of culture shock.

Not in language or food, but in the invisible rules of social recognition. A minor encounter that reveals something major: race, identity, and belonging don’t mean the same thing everywhere. Especially when American norms are used on someone who comes from a place that has its own history, its own lens, and its own version of what “seeing” someone looks like.

And sometime, you’re too close to see that yourself, and you need your Cracker-a$$ honkey friend to point that out to you.

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