The Violence We Endure
The violence of words, the courage of artists, and the endurance of women.
Hi friends,
On July 4, 2026, I wrote and published a poem called, “250 Years of Colonization.” When I shared this piece on Instagram, it resonated with a lot of people, and those people began sharing it with their communities. As my words became read more widely, they found their way into the hands of fragile people who want to conceal this country’s history.
The Violence We Endure is a collection of hate messages I’ve received in response to “250 Years of Colonization.” The people behind these words are descendants of European colonizers, Koreans, Asians, and members of the military-industrial complex. Their words are racist, sexually violent, gaslighting, and defamatory.
The abusers are mostly men.
Over the years, I have received many hate messages. It’s the unfortunate result of being outspoken about injustices on the internet. I usually deal with hate messages by responding to them, deleting them, or letting them exist as evidence. I always talk about them with Greg, and we move through the experiences together.
I received this email on Monday:
These words were an extreme violation.
The hateful words I’ve received over the last two weeks have threatened to do exactly what they set out to do. They threatened to push me into fear. They threatened to push me into hiding. They threatened to make me stop speaking about the experiences of my life as a Korean woman who grew up in this country. They threatened to silence me.
I considered not sharing their words. Ultimately, I decided to share them so they can live as an archive.
This is the violence female writers endure, as they continue to write. This is the violence outspoken women endure, as they continue to speak. This is the violence courageous women endure, as they keep moving forward with bold, relentless courage. This is the violence our mothers, wives, and daughters endure, as they keep fighting to build a better world for the next generation.
With love,
Jieun
“Have fun in Korea! Have fun you dumb chinky eye cunt You wish you had a white man with a real cock not your tiny Asian dick man. Shame you’ll never cum. Dumb bitch”
—Chance News, chancenews58@gmail.com
“So what’s the solution? America is no angel and is guilty, yes. But what’s the solution? Cry about it and become North Korea? The irony is you write about this and you bring a white man to the peninsula. Aren’t you contributing to the colonization?
Realistic priorities would be to spread awareness of history, quit being weak, and work to bring solidarity and strength among the people in order to be truly independent. Not crying and biting the manipulative hands that feed us. Thats counterproductive. How did Japan get so powerful in the 20th century? Take all it can get from the West and then use it against them. Korea pales in comparison.
Diasporas have it hard, I’ll agree. You’ll never be accepted in the land you were brought up in, and you’ll never be taken back from the lands of your heritage. You’ll remain in that limbo because you yourself knows that you can’t relate with either one completely. Don’t try to stir up some stories for a land that is foreign to you. Korea is foreign to you. It is unfortunate that you are a victim in this that had no say, but crying with a victim mentality with no solution for a land and culture you haven’t fully grasped isn’t the move.
Wherever you go, you are the white worshipper who brought a colonizer to the peninsula that will raise an innocent child who will probably have to deal with even more identity crises (God forbid).
We can’t reclaim. We are angry. We need to do better. I don’t mean to come off so aggressive, but I have. As much as you want to use this platform to talk about this issue, I’ll assume you expected rebuttals.”
“This has nothing to do with race, given that not a single soul today was alive back then. Nobody should be ‘worshipped’ regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. Anger and resentment only harbor more negativity.”
—Michael Preston, @michaelprestonw
“Korea wouldn’t exist as it does today if America hadn’t helped. Quit acting like a victim. Nothing was stolen. Wildly delusional and desperate for attention.
Korea was a small, vulnerable country that repeatedly got invaded it, exploited it, and stole from by its neighbors. Korea wouldn’t exist as it does today if America hadn’t help”
“Wild how people are quick to say things and they dont even know about shinmiyangyo the culminating treaty which happened afterwards. When Joseon asked for help the USA just listened to the Japanese lol and we all know what happened next well maybe not all of you because its clear most the emotional posters here dont understand what led to the Korean War in the first place.”
“The vast majority of Koreans do not hold these sort of views. This individual is a huge outlier”
“250 years of IDGAF”
“Oh you love it!”
“Aren't you married to a white dude though?”
“She is married to a white man lmao”
—Parker Grosman, @parkergrosman24
“She is having an identity crisis because she supposedly hates white people but is married to a white man🤣”
“And of course you’re married to a white man! And you forget about Japanese and Mongol crimes against Chinese! Too rich 🤣”
—John T. Minton Jr., @greatphotos2023
“Pregnant by a white ni**a lmfao 😂😂😂😂😂”
“You like that white dick though”
“You asked for American help and for us to remain. Otherwise you are all North Koreans worshipping their leader. Most years starving . If you don’t like America leave. You complain but you live here”
“PEAK Delusion if the United States never intervened you would have been eating grass on the ground while the great supreme leader statue shadows over you.”
“These Westernized Asians who hate the West and ultimately themselves need to be studied.... You do not represent us so stop pretending🇺🇸🇰🇷”
“Yet you rather live here than anywhere else🇺🇸❤️”
“Nothing’s stopping y’all from leaving btw”