Black, Korean, stateless: A Slickyboy’s American dream, part 1

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Growing up as the son of a sex worker and a black US soldier in South Korea in the '70s, Milton Washington was seen as an outcast, and "not Korean". He couldn't even get a birth certificate. Still, he was loved and protected by his mum, the two of them against the world. She told him his dad was in America, a land of flying cars and ice cream mountains - and that was where Milton wanted to be, too.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Laura Thomas

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life. So one day I'll be
0:23.5	helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature, and the next looking at
0:29.6	how a podcast connects with its audience. And maybe that's you. So if you like this podcast,
0:35.4	check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:42.5	What kinds of things with the children in the village saying do to make you feel unwelcome?
0:48.3	Well, I remember the song, One singing a non in a bagu.
0:53.3	And that's the part of the song that they sang to me the loudest.
0:54.5	You know, the part about the black monkey's butt being red.
0:58.7	That sets the tone, right?
1:01.6	So.
1:02.1	They were singing to you.
1:03.8	You were the black monkey in the song, as far as they were concerned.
1:07.3	Yes, I'm the black monkey.
1:08.9	It's hard to be the only black kid in a village in Korea
1:12.4	when no one will play with you.
1:14.4	At least it was in the 60s when Park Milton was a little boy.
1:17.9	His mum called him Milton R, my little Milton.
1:21.6	She was Korean.
1:23.2	Her beloved son couldn't be.
	...

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