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...
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...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.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner,1996. Print.
In this article, Semple explains to us the hardships of three immigrants. Mr. Sanchez, Zhang Yulong, and Kim Ki Chol. All immigrated from different places all over the world. Felix Sanchez de la Vega Guzman immigrated from Mexico and is now running a multi million dollar food manufacturing company. Zhang Yulong immigrated from China runs a $30-million-a-year cell phone accessories empire in New York. Last but not least it describes the journey of Kim Ki Chol, an immigrant from South Korea who
Gibb, Thomas. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby" The Explicator Washington: Winter 2005. Vol. 63, Iss.3; Pg. 1-3
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
...ald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Bruccoli, Matthew J. Preface. The Great Gatsby. By F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. vii-xvi.
...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.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print
9. Pencak, William, Selma Berrol, and Randall M. Miller, Eds. Immigration to New York. Philadelphia: Balch Institute Press, 1991.
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.
...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”
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
In 1987 Carlo Petrini started a coalition dedicated to the politics and pleasures of slowness and the opposition of fast food. (Leitch 439) He describes one of his goals by saying: