Alex Reid, a member of the Korean girl group, BP RaNia, shares her hardships as an African-American star in a KPop group. Since Alex Reid joined BP RaNia way back in 2015, she had experienced a ton of criticisms, due to her being an African-American in a Korean KPop group.
She had been through all of the endless scrutiny just because of her race. According to Billboard, Alex Reid has been accused of bleaching her skin so that it would turn white, similar to the skin color of her group members. She has also been said to have forcefully incorporated the Korean culture so that she gets a rightful place in the industry.
She confirms that she has gone through all of these challenges in the past few years. In one occasion, she was even criticized for wearing a traditional Korean Hanbok in one of BP RaNia's photoshoots. However, the funny thing is that no one criticized the Chinese member who wore the Korean clothing. She has to go through all of these, every day of her life, ever since she entered the KPop group.
Another example was with the group's latest single, "Start the Fire". In the song's music video, she was then again criticized for not having her natural curly hair. She later explains that no one could style her hair in a curly fashion in Korea, which is why she was forced to do it on her own. According to SBS, despite all of these challenged, hardships, and endless criticisms she gets, she still remains resilient and optimistic.
Thanks to her loyal supporters, she still finds the will and courage to continue with the KPop group, BP RaNia. In an environment where race and physical looks are the main focus, she knows how to do her thing, despite all the odds against her.
