I was woindering if the media was going to report on Hines Wards Mom and omg she held nothing back.




Football Star's Mother Looks Back in Anger

Wednesday afternoon was an emotional time for Kim Young-hee when she visited a foundation for mixed-race children in Seoul with her son, the American football star Hines Ward. Visiting the Pearl S. Buck International Foundation, which was established in Seoul in 1964 to help children of mixed parentage, Kim was overcome with emotion and unable to speak for 20 minutes.

Across from her sat two fellow mothers of mixed-race children, the mother of Arum, 30-year-old An Jin-hee, and the mother of Yujin, Bae Seon-ju (45). While Kim’s Super Bowl star son, who is half African American, was posing for pictures and hugging the children, Kim's lips remained tightly sealed.

An told Kim there was much she wanted to talk to her about. “If I had the opportunity to get out of Korea right now, I would do it without a moment's hesitation,” An said. Kim silently held her hand. Then she said, "Yes, that is what you should do. I always used to think that too."

When she had composed herself, Kim said she had spent 30 years “without looking at Koreans and without thinking about them. What do you think would have become of us if I had kept living here with Hines? He would probably never have been able to be anything but a beggar. Do you think I would even have been able to get work cleaning houses?”

An agreed that it is hard here for single mothers to get a job, and even more difficult if their child is of mixed parentage.

Kim said this was the way Koreans are. “Even in America, Korean's don't get along. Koreans who immigrated ignored us. Koreans of the same skin color are even more racist among themselves. It doesn't make sense. If everybody hates our children so much because their skin is a different color, then why do Koreans run around dying their hair blond and red?

Kim noted the contrast between her difficult early years in the U.S., when no one wanted to help, and the sudden interest sparked by Hines Ward’s success. “It's hard, but that's just the way it goes," she said. "But I have no regrets."

As Kim was leaving the foundation, Jang Ye-eun (19), a girl who said she hoped to become a basketball star, bowed to her and said goodbye. Kim impulsively opened her wallet, took out a bill and put it in Jang's pocket. It was US$100. "It's Hines’ mother giving you this, so it’s fine. You go and buy books for school. And you make up your mind right now that you absolutely must succeed. You can do it," she said, and left.



url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200604/200604060002.html