She watched Korean dramas, obsessively, keeping a spreadsheet of the 175 titles she consumed, cooked Korean food and studied Korean. She’s planning a trip to South Korea.

For Lewis, 52, the Korean dramas were an escape from the unbearable news in 2020, as racial tensions flared across America, adding to her constant worries about her two sons. Scripted television, she said, was no better. “Either there are no Black people or we’re criminals.” The Korean dramas provided a road map for potential healing.

When a White student called her son a racial slur at school, she looked to the dramas for the type of recompense she wanted. “I wanted the boy’s parents to come to our house with their son and get down on their knees and bow and apologize,” she said, referring to a Korean ritual when a deep apology is called for.

Like Lewis, many Black women have turned to Korean scripted television for escapism and comfort, often years before most Americans had ever heard of “Squid Game” (the 2021 K-drama that became the most watched show in Netflix history), creating a passionate and influential fandom. Black K-drama…