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Essay Subject: Discusses the value system of Korean Americans.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses the value system of Korean Americans. Describes the Korean American community as an extension of its tight family structure. Characteizes Korean Americans as hard working with the goal of achieving economic prosperity, thereby upholding the American economic & social system. Refers to the writings of several Korean immigrants dealing with racist attacks; problems from lack of English proficiency. Assimilation. Legacy of L.A> Riots of 1992. Paper Introduction: The Korean American community is bound by values that are derived from the Confucian ethos. From their perspective, education, hard work and family unity are the pillars of the Korean American community (Abelmann and Lie 163). Based on their Confucian values, Korean Americans tend to place tremendous pressure on their children to succeed academically in school. Living as an extended family, family members are available to help one another in times of strife. They also look up to religious leaders for guidance (Dean 319). Furthermore, the Korean American community believes in hard work and commitment. For example, the grocer owners featured in these writings all work long hours every day of the week in order to maintain their business. Through their long and arduous hours, the Korean Americans hope to achieve economic prosperity Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. These individuals constitute the model minority-thegroup of Asian Americans who have excelled academically and possess thecultural and linguistic proficiency to assimilate into the mainstreamsociety (Abelmann & Lie 167). Among the different writers, the bilingual Park who has interactedextensively with Americans even before his immigration to the U.S. For the most part, the bilingual Korean Americans are able toattain a middle class standard of living. For example, the grocer owners featured in these writings allwork long hours every day of the week in order to maintain their business.Through their long and arduous hours, the Korean Americans hope to achieveeconomic prosperity and elevate themselves in the economic and socialhierarchy. "War Zone." Kim and Yu 36-41.Park, Sung Yong. Furthermore, the Korean American community believes in hard work andcommitment. East to America: Korean American Life Stories. "Black and Korean." Kim and Yu 314-321.Kim, Bong Hwan. They realize that their acceptance intomainstream American society requires them to abandon their ethnic andcultural origins-an integral part of their identity. Works CitedAbelmann, Nancy, and John Lie. Kim's journey from anAmericanized Korean American who embraced American culture in order to beaccepted by his peers to a director of the Korean Youth and CommunityCenter captures this experience. Certainly, the children of the first-generation Korean Americanimmigrants are under tremendous pressure from their parents to succeedacademically and professionally and assimilate into American society. Therefore, by possessing thecultural and linguistic capacity, these bilingual Korean Americans want toassert the unique and distinctive Korean identity and create a life thatintegrates both their ethnic and American identities, instead of abandoningtheir origins. Thriving in hisbusiness, he feels comfortable in a white-dominated Monterey Park LionsClub and does not mention problems with racism. Insteadof conforming to their parents' expectations of realizing the AmericanDream and blending into mainstream American society, many Korean Americansrealize that they need to mobilize their community and resources in orderto acquire greater political representation. is thesole Korean American who has assimilated in the U.S. As an extension of thefamily structure, the Korean American community provides its members with astable support network by pooling their resources together (Abelmann andLie 164). Insteadof acculturating, they have become the voices of the Korean discontent withthe experience of racism. Instead of acculturating, thebilingual Korean Americans are often at the forefront of the KoreanAmericans' political struggle to assert their identity and power (Abelmannand Lie 184-6). For example, in "TastingAmerica," Park who is well-versed in English and American culture throughhis early interaction with the American Army forces depicts a positiveexperience of living in America. Beyond economic security, theKorean American community needs to understand that they need to acquirepolitical power as a people (Kim 344-51). His publication, KoreAm Journal, a monthly English-Languagenewspaper, encourages bilingual or English-speaking Korean Americans todiscover and explore their identity as Korean Americans. In Ryu's case, hisinvolvement in the newspaper has revived his Korean identity through hisinteraction with the Korean community and distanced him from the Americanculture he once embraced totally (Ryu 262-5). "As American as Possible." Kim and Yu 342-352.Ku, Dong Hwan. Slaving at hisgrocery shop for long hours everyday, Ku has no time to learn English.Thus, he feels trapped in his never-ending workload that does not get himany closer to the American dream (Ku 39-41). The writings highlighted in the Reader indicate that linguistic andcultural proficiency offers great potential for Korean immigrants tosucceed. Apart from economic prosperity, Ryurealizes that the Korean American community needs to be able to voice theirconcerns so that they can be heard in American society. First-generation Korean Americans yearn to achieve the American Dream. Although not all the writers manage to attain thesame level of prosperity as Park, the bilingual Korean Americans such asPak in "The Court Interpreter" and Ryu in "Hanging Onto My Dream" stillenjoy a relatively comfortable, though hectic lifestyle. In his situation, the lack oflinguistic and cultural proficiency has severely handicapped his ability torealize his true potential as an architect. Furthermore, bilingual Korean Americans who are familiar with theAmerican culture through their extensive involvement with white peopleduring their childhood and adolescence have also undergone a painful periodof denial and reawakening. In his writing, "War Zone," Kuexpresses his constant struggle with racist attacks and his frustration athis inability to improve his plight by learning English. "Tasting America." Kim and Yu 1 8-113.Ryu, James. "Hanging Onto My Dream." Kim and Yu 26 -265.Pak, Ty. Cambridge: Harvard UP, N.I..Kim, Elaine, H., and Eui-Young Yu, eds. Proud and independent,the Korean Americans will not go to the government for welfare even whenthey face economic crises. In Ryu'scase, he has dedicated himself to producing a Korean American journal thathelps the Korean American community even though his work is not aprofitable enterprise (Ryu 263-5). In fact, in Park's ownwords: "I consider myself an American born in Korean" (Park 113). Although their linguistic and cultural proficiency has enabled thebilingual Korean American immigrants to succeed in the U.S., some of themhave used their skills to assert their difference and uniqueness. In "The Court Interpreter," Pak expresses hisfrustration at the biases of the media against the Korean community andbelieves that he is helping the Korean community by participating in thecontroversial court case as an interpreter (pp. Disillusioned by theirpowerlessness and the lack of assistance from government authorities, theKorean Americans realize that they need to be represented by linguisticallyand culturally proficient Korean Americans who can best serve the interestsof the community in American society. N.I.: The Woodhouse, 1999. Based on their Confucian values, Korean Americans tend to placetremendous pressure on their children to succeed academically in school.Living as an extended family, family members are available to help oneanother in times of strife. While many Korean Americans are caught up in the pursuit offinancial security, others such as Ryu are barely able to make any incomefrom their work, in spite of the their cultural and linguistic proficiency.Ryu is dependent on his wife to provide the income for his family. Instead, they turn to their relatives and thecommunity for assistance (Abelmann and Lie 164). 92-1 6). However, he feels that they should be dedicated to thefight for the rights of minority communities. According to Kim, many bilingual KoreanAmericans have used their linguistic and cultural proficiency to climb thesocial hierarchy. They also look up to religious leaders forguidance (Dean 319). Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Starting with a grocery store business,Park has risen up the ranks by acquiring properties and renting them tobusinesses (Park 11 -2). For Ryu, hislinguistic and cultural proficiency has enabled him to provide a forum forKorean Americans to voice their concerns about their community and Americansociety. Thus, the traditional Korean American immigrants uphold thesocial status quo and the capitalist system and do not endorse changing thesocial system social justice (Abelmann and Lie 155). While many bilingual Korean Americans havedecided to assimilate in the American society in pursuit of financial andsocial security, others have chosen to use their linguistic and culturalproficiency to forge an unique Korean American niche in American society.However, for Korean Americans who decide to assimilate in American society,assimilation often entails the sacrifice of abandoning their traditions andethnic origins. As a social activist, Kim does not believethat Korean Americans should blend into mainstream American society.Instead, he advocates for the political participation of Asian Americans inthe formulation of public policy. "The Court Interpreter." Moonbay: Short Stories by Ty Pak. Without a doubt, linguistic and cultural proficiency has enabledKorean Americans to enjoy a higher standard of living than their non-English-speaking counterparts. On the other hand, Korean American grocers who do not speak Englishsuch as Ku have to fight for their survival. The Korean American community is bound by values that are derivedfrom the Confucian ethos. New York: The New P, N.I..Dean, Kook Kim. Ryu represents the younger generationsof Korean Americans who are governed by a different set of values than thetraditional Korean American immigrants. Furthermore, the tragic legacy of the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 hasreawakened the dormant political consciousness of the second-generationKorean Americans who are linguistically and culturally proficient. Thus,their linguistically and culturally proficient children are expected toblend into the high echelons of mainstream society in repayment of theirparents' sacrifices. From their perspective, education, hard work andfamily unity are the pillars of the Korean American community (Abelmann andLie 163). However, the prosperity of the Korean Americans also depends on theirpersonal beliefs and objectives in life, apart from cultural or linguisticproficiency. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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