After legions of K-pop fans hijacked the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag with anti-racist posts this week, the world’s biggest K-pop act, BTS, has taken a stand against racial discrimination in a rare political statement.
The group posted in both Korean and English, “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter.”
우리는 인종차별에 반대합니다.
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) June 4, 2020
우리는 폭력에 반대합니다.
나, 당신, 우리 모두는 존중받을 권리가 있습니다. 함께 하겠습니다.
We stand against racial discrimination.
We condemn violence.
You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter
Earlier this week, K-pop fans began trolling white supremacist hashtags on Twitter, including #WhiteLivesMatter and #WhiteOutWednesday, the former a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement and the latter in response to Tuesday's social media blackout. The aim was to drown out racist messages with anti-racist ones featuring K-pop memes and videos.
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While some Twitter users initially thought fans were using the hashtag seriously, others quickly realized what was going on and began praising the fandom.
“K-Pop fans completely hijacking the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag makes me so proud,” one person tweeted.
"kpop stans ruining every white supremacist hashtag. i truly love to see it," tweeted another.