Korean Collective Action
Throughout the past two decades, boycotts and demonstrations against Korean-American grocers by African-Americans have become increasingly common. This Anti-Korean stance has been fueled by complaints of Koreans' rudeness and physical violence towards customers, shoplifting suspicions, and price discrimination. However, using these same grievances, Korean-Americans have also done their share of shaking up the system.
By the early 1980's produce retail had become the dominant business among Koreans in New York City (Min, 61). There are several reasons to explain this phenomenon. One reason is because of new immigrants' lack of English language and professional service skills. Although most Korean immigrants arrive in America with high levels of education and professional experience, these skills cannot easily be translated into American white-collar work ("The Koreans," 223). Therefore, the only alternative for them is to invest in small businesses. Furthermore, Koreans entered America at the time when retiring Jewish and Italian produce store owners were willing to sell their stores because their children had already transitioned into the mainstream American economy ("The Koreans," 239).
These stores are located in predominantly low income minority neighborhoods where vandalism, high crime rates, and the perception of residents' low spending capacity exist (Min, 67). Since large chain stores have been unwilling to invest in these areas, opportunistic Korean immigrants have stepped in to fill this void (Min, 230).Consequently, to where have the Jewish and Italian Americans transitioned?
One area where Jewish and Italian Americans predominate is the wholesale business. Korean produce retailer...
... middle of paper ...
...that mean that Korean merchants, who have been mistreated by Jewish wholesalers, will someday BE the wholesalers of the future and mistreat the next wave of immigrants? I am angered by this generalization because it assumes that all Koreans will climb up America's socio-economic ladder. Personally, this concept is hard for me to grasp since my father has actually fallen down America's ladder after losing his store due to bankruptcy.
Works Cited:
Kim, Illsoo. "The Koreans: Small Business in an Urban Frontier." New Immigrants in New York. Ed. Nancy Foner. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987. 219-242.
Kim, Illsoo. New Urban Immigrants: The Korean Community in New York. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
Min, Pyong Gap. Caught in the Middle: Korean Merchants in America's Multiethnic Cities. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Throughout the early 1900s an American immigrant experience was subject to society’s opinion and the nation’s policies. Various ethnicities endured the harsh reality that was American culture while familiarizing themselves with their families. Immigration thrived off the strength and pride demonstrated by their neighborhoods. Notions of race, cultural adaptations and neighborhood represented the ways by which human being were assessed. In a careful interpretation of Mary Lui’s “The Chinatown Trunk Mystery” and Michael Innis-Jimenez’s “Steel Barrio”, I will trace the importance of a neighborhood in the immigrant experience explaining the way in which neighborhoods were created, how these lines were crossed and notions of race factored into separating these neighborhoods.
Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally, economically, and structurally through his growing entrepreneurship. Lee, on the other hand, devoted herself not only to her husband’s business but also to the Korean American society. By investing her time in the Korean Methodist Church and the efforts of its associated societies, such as the Methodist Ladies Aid Society and the Youngnam Puin Hoe, Lee made a worthy contribution to the emergence and existence of Hawaii’s Korean American community.
Gibb, Thomas. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby" The Explicator Washington: Winter 2005. Vol. 63, Iss.3; Pg. 1-3
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
In America, there are many considerable companies created by immigrants during the height of immigration. During the early 1900s, the American Dream was in full swing and patriotism was found amongst most Americans. During this time, Americans had a sense of vivaciousness when talking about America and the economy. With the roaring 20s and significant economic growth in the 1910s, many non-natives flocked to America in search of a better life. However, as time went on and America’s economy started to adjust, the American Dream and patriotism of indigenous Americans also evolved. Bogged down with the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s, second and third generation Americans fell out of love with America. Immigrants kept hope though,
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph, ed. (2000). F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference. New
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
...on-Asians do not take the time to put themselves in our shoes. My mother who immigrated to the United States for graduate school faced racial discrimination. Many workers in restaurants, grocery stores, and administrators mocked her accent and believed her to be “inferior” in some way because of that. They did not consider that English is her second language. If they had just imagined if they were in Taiwan, struggling to adjust to the new culture and language and away from all family and friends, they would not have discriminated my mother. As the years go by, American society is becoming more accepting of racial minorities, but there is always improvements to be made. It is up to posterity to change this hateful practice of racial discrimination. Thus, it is our generation’s duty and responsibility to address these issues and strive to bring changes for the better.
For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The “success” of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term ...
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
...such as “ supporting farmers markets and CSAs, creating school and community gardens, and joining members from disparate ends of the food system in debate and common cause”