Korean Job Discussion Forums

[in_seoul_2003]

I wasn't aware Koreans are "America's favorite urban scapegoats". Mind you, the logic of the piece seems to transition between America and then end with LA.

It's, however, unfortunate that the writer wants to focuss so much on advocating English comprehension among Korean-Americans for purposes of self-preservation - fending off the bullies and race-mongerers. The least we'd like to indicate is that english comprehension could assist Koreans rid themselves of stereotypes against various other ethnicities in urban locales.

For, if Koreans are indeed America's favorite urban scapegoats, they are probably also, among the newest arrivals in America, the worst offenders of applying stereotypes against others.

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/04/113_42985.html


To avoid falling into America's favorite urban scapegoats when crimes happen, Korean-Americans should need to improve their English language proficiency, a veteran Korean journalist in the U.S. said.

K. W. Lee, an 80-year-old Korean American journalist who became the first Asian immigrant to work for mainstream daily publications in the United States, said in a piece published in a Korean community newspaper that many Korean-Americans are still "without the common English medium of communication in this nation of competing groups and interests," placing them in a disadvantaged position.

In a piece, titled "No English Final: the unlearned lesson of 4.29: an English voice is the key to urban survival," he took the example of the 1992 L.A. riot in which thousands of Koreans fell victims to the racially motivated violence.

In the riot, "Korean-Americans witnessed their American dream go up in smoke overnight," he said.

"Without our own timely proactive English voice, we are shut out of the 24/7 news cycle with devastating consequences, in cases of fast developing urban unrest or anti-Korean rumor- or race-mongering. Even a high school kid learns fast that English is his or her best weapon in classrooms and school yards and dealing with school bullies."

With the impact of the economic crisis still unfolding, Lee said, "These are harder times with rising tension everywhere. Among the most misperceived and misrepresented minorities, our seemingly thriving tribe of voiceless newcomers is more vulnerable to potential flashpoints of ethnic conflict than ever before."

Lee was born in 1928 at Gaeseong, North Korea, and attended Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. In 1950, he immigrated to the United States and studied journalism. He is also the founding president of the Korean American Journalists Association.

[waynehead]

It's obviously important to be able to understand the news and what's happening in your neighborhood.

But it's not as if the LA race riots and/or mass anti-Korean violence are everyday events in the US. But I suppose a less extreme example would attract less attention.

[Ilsanman]

They don't need an excuse to tell immigrants to America that they should learn English. It should go without saying.

[Rory_Calhoun27]

Say that on the Rio Grande, especially at 4 in the moring!



Or, actually, "Usted dice que en el R�o Grande, especialmente a las 4:00 de la ma�ana!"

[jajdude]

One thing about living overseas is it gives you some empathy for others doing the same. Koreans are not the only ones who struggle abroad. There are many communities of Chinese and others too. It is hard for many of them to relate to other cultures or learn another language. Some do so successfully, while others remain pretty much the same as they were in their home countries. A lot of westerners in Asia are the same way, though we delude ourselves thinking we're more worldly and aware, or some such nonsense. I've done that too.

Heard a few stories from Koreans during my time there. They lament the difficulty they have relating to other cultures. Some might seem freaked out around foreigners, but really they would like to be able to feel natural around people from other cultures. Mostly because of language, so much of the world and its people are beyond us. I get the same impression in China.

Some Koreans, as I heard a Korean guy say, have poor jobs abroad even though they are well-educated and might have stayed in Korea with a good job. It's the language. Another Korean guy told me how many Koreans go abroad to study English, but really are just wasting time and money, uninterested in the whole thing, too awkward to relate to the foreign place, putting their heads on the desk during class, living the same way outside class as they did back home, not wanting to try to make more of what could possibly be a great experience in their lives. Of course many try harder than this and many do well, but the number that are really unsuited for it is pretty high.

I'm curious about all this because it applies to me and millions of others who have left their familiar grounds behind. Koreans abroad are merely one group who experience this.

[jkelly80]

[Smee]

Why debate the merits of his point? For an article about the need for English proficiency, that was awful. Almost trumps this English advice fail from last week.

[bogey666]

[travelingfool]

Here in LA many Koreans come across as rude and insular. I am not justifying what happened during the riots, but if the Koreans would have treated the blacks a little better than dogs, they might not have burned their stores down. I mean, how would you feel if a foreigner set up a store in your neighborhood then refused you service or treated you like complete crap? Call me a racist but I will try to avoid Korean establishments at all costs because they are so damn unpleasant to deal with. Their gruff, abrasive, treating everyone with suspicion type of behavior doesn't fly in this country.

In addition to learning English, just as important is learning western cultural things like small talk, waiting in line, holding doors open for people, saying a simple hello to a stranger once in awhile.

Sorry for the negativity, but being an LA native these have been my observations.

[alphakennyone]

^

Actually, the blacks burned down Korean businesses because the white media created a race conflict between Koreans and blacks...to prevent them from uniting against whites.

No, really, you should join an Asian or ethnic studies class at a UC.

[jkelly80]

If there's one thing I'll say about Korean businesses in Korea, it's great customer service (usually). If there's one thing I'll say about them in Chicago, it's that they're rude as sh**. I guess serving foreigners will boil the 민족 a bit.

[mistermasan]

well. LA is a pit.

[harlowethrombey]

While i dont want to make light of violence done to anyone (well, ok, with a few exceptions). I think I can say, confidently, that the LA race riots were not about Koreans.

It sounds like the author of the piece sure wants Koreans to be that important to America (or, really just L.A. since there are very few Koreans living anywhere remotely close to where I live in the U.S.), but I'm pretty sure the race riots were about some other races.

Sorry.

It reminds me of the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting when the Korean community 'braced for the outrage and violence' that others would heap on them because they were the same race as the shooter. And when none of that happened. . .

[ChinaBoy]

[Ilsanman]

I thought it was because that K lady shot the black girl in the supermarket.