Korean BL Series With White Man x Slave Native American Couple Sparks Controversy, Author Responds
On June 23, an early access episode of “Song of the Wasteland,” a manhwa series, was published on the Manta platform. According to the synopsis, “Song Of The Wasteland” tells the story of Gerald Dern, the family’s eldest son, a war hero and heir.
After fighting in the Civil War, Dern lost everything and planned to commit suicide at a distant ranch he had inherited, but Ezra, a cowboy of mixed Native heritage, suddenly declares himself Gerald’s “loyal servant,” and wears him down with his affection.
While the setting already seemed a bit different from that found in Korean manhwas, the chapter’s content sparked controversy.
When Dern arrives at the ranch, there are enslaved Africans working, and the broker attempting to help Dern sell the ranch says that including the now-freed slaves as labor would make the price more. Dern then “frees” the slaves, handing out a large sum of money.
The final employee is stated to be the cowhand, who, upon his arrival, refers to Dern as “master” and calls himself his “humble slave.”
A number of issues were found with the content, including the scene involving the freedmen, including how they were drawn. Dern “freeing” them and giving them money was also seen as playing into a “white savior” complex. Ezra, the love interest, calling himself a slave for a white master, was also called out as problematic, given the history of Native American persecution in North America.
yall need to understand how tone deaf it was for jaxx to have a mixed american native character calling himself a humble slave to his white master and portraying white savior syndrome right in the first chapter. bipoc have all the right to find even the summary alone as offensive https://t.co/91lyKb1Ya3 pic.twitter.com/660AKrI8ZP
— olga fans loona island (@orbitju) June 24, 2026
I wanna add how disgusting this is when there was also a widespread genocide of Native Americans occurring around the same era, which was CONDONED by the union. There is just too much ignorance in this story pic.twitter.com/wbSbtZbzwM
— Vash of yaoi/meattwt (@RichCEOAlpha) June 24, 2026
“Separate the historical setting” from a civil war au???? do you think freeing slaves magically lead to the end of black oppression??? this is focusing on a white person being a savior, not really highlighting the suffering that black ppl had to go under while enslaved https://t.co/TLqou9hCeR pic.twitter.com/v6JQpyBS7C
— mae` | meltwt mayor 🇳🇬 (@marznotforu) June 24, 2026
As a result of the backlash, Jaxx, the series author, shared an announcement stating that they accepted the criticism and admitted to not approaching the subject and setting with sensitivity needed. The statement also revealed that the series would be discontinued immediately.
황야의 노래 (Song of the wasteland) 판매 중단에 관하여 알려드립니다. 책임을 무겁게 느끼고 앞으로 신중한 작품활동을 하고자 자의로 결정한 바입니다. 더 나은 작업물로 찾아뵙겠습니다.
To readers,
I humbly accept the criticism that several scenes in Episode 1 contained disrespectful… pic.twitter.com/aIGjDZxMqY
— 🤠JAXX🤠 (@jaxx_s2) June 25, 2026
Reactions to the announcement have been mixed, but the series’ first chapter has indeed been wiped from the website, along with any promotion on Manta’s social media deleted.
