As I stated in my first post on the subject, the dictionary was last published in 1994, which made the most recent publication at the time I acquired the book 2 years prior. After some people in a discussion board started wending their way into subjects far away from what I had been talking about, the subject of "who" was "responsible" for Korea's racial attitudes came up. Apparently, because "whitey" wrote the book, or because it must have been published by mysterious racist missionaries 50 years ago, Koreans are off the hook. Don't I know that there was racism in America, too? Obviously, according to one poster, I am worthy of being labeled an "idiot." But what this self-anointed "genius" fails to see is that while such facts are "true" – the subject of of racism in America has been the focus of some of my posts – this is not the point of the present post.
Regardless of whatever obvious connections there are between Korean attitudes and other countries – namely the United States and Japan, which I pointed out clearly in another post on the subject – the point is that the dictionary entries and other learning materials were what Korean children had in front of them at that time, regardless of the origins. Hence, the name of the post being "Where Do Koreans' Ideas about Race Come From?" The point here is that through materials such these were were focused many Korean people's negative view of African Americans. Well, at least through 1973 to 1996, when I had acquired a copy. My students were reading it – that's the point.
If you are really interested in the background of the book, I offer the only existing publishing information, printed on the publication card that is included in the back of all Korean books. Such publication records are far more informative than the publication information found in American books, making it easier to see the lifespan of a work at a glance.
First printing: 1973.
Last printing (at that time): 1994.
So, although, like many books, the first printing was indeed in the 1970's, the book was considered appropriate for sale and distribution, which was printed along with an update in 1981 and a new printing in 1994. And for the information of the reader who called me an "idiot" while linking the fact that the book bragged about being printed "In 4 Colors!" to it having been necessarily published in the 1970s – if you had been through archives of textbooks like I have, and were in possession of a stack of books personally collected in the mid-1990's, you would know that bragging about being printed in color and on thicker paper stock (as the dictionary is) meant that this was a niiiiice, "deluxe" book. All textbooks at the time were printed on the cheapest paper stock available and only had about 6 pages of color printing on the end pages, which was usually reserved for a picture of the Korean national flag, the Rose of Sharon, and other images of national power and growth. So thanks for stopping to consider that you might not know everything before labeling others fools and "idiots."
