I recently started looking for a position to teach English in South Korea, however after the common occurance of discrimination I have faced, and the countless reports of these incidents from other foreigners, I am quite discouraged from choosing this country for a teaching position.

I am Canadian, born and raised. English is my mother tongue and I have two university degrees in english, both a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts from the University of Ottawa. I live in the nations capital and work for the federal government. However, my qualifications have been undermined because I do not have white skin. I have been asked by Korean Employers "Where are you from?" despite reporting my country, citzenship, and qualitifications on all of my applications.

This message is to provide Korean employers who hold this type of prejudice with valuable information: English is the most widely spoken language in the world and in the Western World, a person's english ablities has nothing to do with skin colour. In my country (Canada), people are not discrimated based on skin colour. Human beings are treated equally, and employment opportunities are based on merit rather than race. I understand that providing a picture helps employers to familiarize themselves with potential teachers who are overseas, however using it for any of the above reasons is highly offensive.

Unfortunately, the future generations of Korean students are the ones most affected by this type of discrimination. If Korean Employers continue to hold these beliefs about skin colour, the students will inevitably miss out on the chance to benefit from a rich diversity of cultures, and most importantly, learn that rascism is ignorant, inappropriate, and a thing of the past.

**Educating students begins with educating teachers**