S. Korean gamer tells of bullying in Dallas
A video in which a prominent South Korean gamer tells of “terrifying” bullying in the US has caused a stir in the competitive video-gaming community and in the Texas city where he is based.
Lee “Fearless” Eui-Seok plays with the Dallas Fuel, one of the city-based teams in a global competition for a shooting game called Overwatch. He is one of eight players from South Korea on the roster of the team, which competes in the Overwatch League, or OWL.
His complaints about racism in the US come amid a sustained increase in attacks on Asians in the United States.
Speaking in Korean on the phone, Lee said: “Being Asian here is terrifying, seriously. People keep trying to pick fights with us.”
He said that some US players will come up to him and his South Korean teammates, take off their masks and deliberately cough on them, harass them and curse them.
“I think Koreans living overseas should be careful. The racism here is no joke,” Lee said.
“It’s been happening basically every day. It’s my first time ever experiencing racism. They try to scare us. Lots of them just try to scare us.”
Sometimes he wears his esports team jersey as a shield.
“If I have my jersey on, I think they realize we’re part of some kind of team, so they don’t bother us as much. But if I have my everyday clothes on, they run up to us, harass us, then run away.”
On Tuesday, Dallas Fuel owner Mike Rufail took to Twitter to post a video condemning racism and encouraging people to speak up when they see it.
“(The players) were confronted by numerous people on numerous occasions who made really racist remarks to them,” said Rufail in the posted on Twitter. “No one should ever feel that their safety or their livelihood is in danger. They should never feel threatened. They should never feel bullied just because of their race. This is the most ridiculous thing.”
Rufail said that racism has been the topic of a long, strenuous conversation in this country and encouraged people to confront it.
What an irony
Twitter user Danny Lewis commented on Rufail’s post: “Honestly this is really upsetting, these players — all young guys living away from home pursuing their dream are being made to feel unwelcome in a city and country which celebrates freedom.”
Kim Kyoung Ey, general manager of OWL team Paris Eternal, said in post on Reddit: “I also live in Dallas and have experienced a similar issue. Happened most to me when I wasn’t with the CDL (Call of Duty shooting game) team. Generally made me stop shopping at the local supermarkets and just get groceries online.”
Another Reddit user said: “I’m sorry. I wish it were better here. I honestly grew up thinking we were. But every year we get just a little bit uglier, and I don’t see it changing for a long time.”