Korean Immigration to the United States - Case Study Example

and Number of the Teacher’s CHICAGO’S KOREATOWN: VIOLENCE IN U.S. HISTORY Introduction Although Korean immigration to the United States began more than a century ago, large numbers of Koreans started coming to the U.S. only after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Amendments policy was implemented. After Los Angeles and New York, the third largest Korean-American population lives in Chicago. Besides a considerable number of Korean-Americans living in Chicago’s north-western and western suburbs, they are also established in a northwestern neighborhood called “Koreatown”(Kim 207). Chicago’s Koreatown shares particular characteristics with the Koreatowns in New York and Los Angeles. These include serving as the economic and ethnic activities center for Korean immigrants, the Korean businesses catering to Korean Americans, Korean language sign boards, location in multi-ethnic, innercity neighborhoods, and several “business people and professionals who work in Koreatown live in the suburbs, while the poor and elderly tend to remain in Koreatown” (Hurh 120). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Chicago’s Koreatown, examine Korean-Americans’ struggle for cultural assimilation in Chicago, their fight for social justice, discuss the commercial significance of Chicago’s Koreatown, and compare it with other communities like Chinatown. Discussion The Violence of Cultural Assimilation of Koreans in Chicago Chicago’s Korean community has evolved from the time different groups of Koreans started migrating to the United States from the early twentieth century. Chicago Korean history can be divided into three periods of time: The Pioneeer Period from 1915 to 1950, the Korean War and after during 1950 to 1967 catalyzing large Korean influxes into America, and the bonafide period of Major Immigration from 1968 to the present “when the Korean community finally emerged as a major ethnic group in Chicago and elsewhere” (Ahne 464) after the immigration law was changed in 1965. Anecdotal studies of early Korean immigrants have revealed the hardships and sacrifices they undertook, while struggling towards a better future for their children. For the immigrant Korean-Americans, the essential centrality of their homeland diminshed, with consequent changes in the mutual regard among the Korean diaspora populations. Further, these shifts caused “a major structural re-organization of Korean-Americans’ positions, as well as transformation of their reference points and social fields” (Kim 207). The Los Angeles riots carried out by African-Americans on Chicago Korean-Americans, gave rise to identity politics resulting in adverse outcomes on inter-group relations. From suffering unequal power relations before they were considered as legal immigrants to the United States, the Chicago Koreans were positioned as a minority in the racial and ethnic hierarchy. Hence, it is evident that Chicago Korean-Americans’ “identity politics was a process of constant struggle and negotiation between “choice and constraints” (Ericksen 57). In American society today Koreans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups. They are “well educated, accustomed to urban life, prepared to succeed, and have achieved remarkably high levels of upward mobility and economic progress” (Ahne 499) as entrepreneurs in various businesses, professionals and technicians. They have breathed life into dying inner-city shopping districts, and developed thriving enterprises in them. The Korean Americans used personal savings, initial financial support from family and community, business advice, and rotating credit associations towards achieving self-employment. However, research conducted by Yoon (p.303) reveals that while the above ethnic resources are important in the initial stage of business, they become inadequate at more advanced stages. In the later stages, business success depends more on class resources or individual human capital. Additionally, though located mainly in low-income minority neighborhoods, the Korean-Americans’ businesses are a form of genuine public service since they enable proximity and self-sufficiency in shopping for inner-city residents. Chicago’s Korean-Americans’ Fight for Social Justice For the contemporary transnational immigrants, whose lives are divided between their homeland and their adopted land, local experiences have global impacts. There is a continued interplay between structural and cultural forces affecting transnational immigrants’ lives; in numerous ways these populations cope with the multi-dimensional power relations that are inherent in their lives. The development of a collective identity helps the group to make sense of their members’ life experiences, and for carving out a niche for themselves in society (Kim 228). Their main fight for social justice was in getting recognition as American nationals, and as a significant immigrant community. It has been observed by intellectuals, both American and Korean-American, that it may not be as easy for Koreans to be assimilated into the majority society of America as did their European predecessors. The factors that will potentially slow down assimilation of Koreans include “strong homeland culture, ancient traditions, hardened customs, their own language, and tightly knit families” (Ahne 500), along with their different appearance. On the other hand, surveys and anecdotal evidence indicate that significant changes are taking place, and acculturation is already an inherent part of Korean-Americans’ lives. Moreover, similar to other immigrant populations, the American born children of Korean heritage will be more American than Korean. The Visibility or Invisibility of Chicago’s Koreatown Chicago’s Koreatown is less visible than other commercial and business localities in Chicago because it is located in a minority neighborhood similar to most Korean immigrant businesses. Koreatown consequently occupies a marginal position among the city’s business districts. The marginalization is also evident by the “racial composition and income level of their customer base” (Yoon 139). The main customer groups for these businesses constitute Koreans, blacks, and Latinos. Most of the customers in Chicago’s Koreatown are from low-income backgrounds. Koreatown caters to the requirements of Korean-Americans for cultural products and services. Situated in a multi-ethnic neighborhood, and a long business strip covering several blocks, Chicago’s Koreatown is smaller and less conspicuous as compared to Los Angeles’ Koreatown (Kim 207). Most of the residents of Koreatown are engaged in small business mainly located in two major business sections of Chicago: the northwest side and the south side. The former is located in the Koreatown area and serves co-ethnic clientele; the latter is in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, and serves those residents. These latter areas are located far from the Chicago Koreatown area as well as from most of Chicago Korean-Americans’ working and residential areas; and are the sites of Chicago Korean-Americans’ interracial and inter-ethnic conflicts. Evidence from research conducted by Park & Kim (p.613) reveal that “Korean-owned stores providing important ethnic goods or services are spatially concentrated in Koreatown”, located in Lawrence and Lincoln Avenues and the northwestern suburbs. Korean businesses serving innercity minority customers, established predominantly in southside Chicago provide general merchandise and other essentials. A distinctive feature about Korean entrepreneurs is that they dominate the dry-cleaning business which mainly serves white middle-class people, and is thus prevalent all over the metropolitan area. The diverse areas of business activities Korean-Americans are involved in is based mainly on their effective utilization of ethnic resources, as well as their association with the export-oriented government of their home country. Overall, Koreatown and other Korean-American business localities in Chicago and in other major American towns, indicate the complexity of the immigrant businesses run by a dynamic, resourceful and hard-working people. Comparison of Chicago’s Koreatown with Chinatown A large number of ethnic groups live in Chicago, reflecting the ethnic history of the United States. The U.S. national tradition of the “Melting Pot” does not prescribe the total elimination of the new cultures of the people from other regions such as Asia settling down in the country. Hence, immigrants from various countries preserve their unique cultural identities (Holli & Jones 1). Chicago’s Chinatown is populated mainly with Chinese immigrants, and it is an ethnic-Chinese neighborhood. In the past, various less visible organizations related to merchants, clanship members, religious followers, those with a political agenda, etc. helped significantly in binding the community together. These organizations lent permanency to Chinese American communities, attracted Chinese immigrants, and served as links to other Chinese communities across America. “Each association was also active in providing social and economic services” (Ho & Moy 57), as well as spiritual comfort to their members. Shrines of different cults and religions were maintained within the organizations, and separate temples were not provided. Thus, cohesiveness among the community members was emphasized on. Since Chicago’s Koreatown has a multi-ethnic population, business dealings and interactions with other ethnic groups such as African-Americans, there is a multicultural effect, with low levels of bonding among the communities. Further, intraethnic competition among the Koreans causes a decline in cohesiveness. The lack of community feeling among contemporary Korean-Americans in Koreatown is further explained by the following factor. The success of wholesalers in Koreatown depend on the performance of Korean retailers in minority areas, who are in turn dependent on the economic condition of blacks and Latinos. During periods of economic downturns, the wholesalers have difficulty in collecting delayed payments for their goods, from the retailers. Similarly, the retailers in Koreatown are affected by low salses in minority areas, which results in reduced spending in Koreatown. This is because the residents of minority areas along with their family members are the main customers of the Korean retail stores in Koreatown. Thus, in Chicago “the deteriorating economic conditions of blacks and Latinos hurt first Korean retailers in minority areas, then Korean retailers in Koreatown and finally Korean wholesalers” (Yoon 149). Additionally, intraethnic competition is severe among Koreans in black areas as compared to those in Koreatown. This results from the concentration of Koreans in a particular number of businesses due to vertical integration, and their extensive dependence on a limited pool of customers. Conclusion This paper has highlighted Chicago’s Koreatown, and investigated Korean-Americans’ efforts towards cultural assimilation in Chicago. Further, their fight for social justice as citizens of the United States and as a significant immigrant community was examined. The commercial position that Chicago’s Koreatown occupies in the city’s business world was discussed. It was found that Koreatown’s visibility is low because of its multiethnic low-income neighborhood and clientele. As compared to other ethnic communities such as Chinatown, Koreatown has less cohesion among the members of the multiethnic group. Chinatown’s culture of cohesiveness has been developed by providing its immigrants with social and economic support systems through various organizations. Contrastingly, high levels of intraethnic competition between Koreans was found to exist because of the concentration of Korean immigrants in certain types of businesses, and reliance on a limited clientele. Works Cited Ahne, Joseph. Koreans of Chicago: The new entrepreneurial immigrants. In Melvin G. Holli & Peter d’Alroy Jones (Eds.). Ethnic Chicago: A multicultural portrait. Edition 4, Michigan: B. Eerdmans Publishing. (1995). pp.463-502. Ericksen, Thomas H. Ethnicity and nationalism: Anthropological perspectives. London: Pluto Press. (1993). Ho, Chuimei. The rise of Chinatown. In Chuimei Ho & Soo Lon Moy (Eds.). Chinese in Chicago: 1870-1945. California: Arcadia Publishing. (2005): pp.57-80. Holli, Melvin G. & Jones, Peter d’Alroy. Ethnic Chicago: A multicultural portrait. Edition 4. Michigan: B. Eerdmans Publishing. (1995). Hurh, Won Moo. The Korean Americans. The United States of America: Greenwood Publishing Group. (1998). Kim, Kwang C. Koreans in the hood: Conflict with African Americans. The United States of America: Johns Hopkins University Press. (1999). Park, Siyoung & Kim, Kwang C. Intrametropolitan locations of Korean businesses: The case of Chicago. Urban Geography, 19.7 (1998): pp.613-631. Yoon, In-Jin. On my own: Korean businesses and race relations in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (1997). Yoon, In-Jin. The changing significance of ethnic and class resources in immigrant businesses: The case of Korean immigrant businesses in Chicago. International Migration Review, 25.2 (1991): pp.303-332. Read More