I'm a 2nd generation Korean. To clarify, I'm the son of two immigrants who came to the US during their teens and twenties to pursue higher education. In fact, I'm the very first member of either side of my family to be born outside of Korea. I'm the splitting image of my mother and have all the mannerisms of my dad- no one would mistake me for anyone else other than a Korean just from the way I appear. But of course, I'm full-blooded American in my history and lifestyle.
Yankee/양키, Banana/바나나, Eagle/독수리, Kyopo/교포
These are some of the terms that American-born Koreans will often hear in their lifetime from others. Cute humor and analogies aside, they are verbal markers of this sense of implicit “otherness” that is more deeply rooted than differences in region, religion, community structure, etc. It is an acknowledgement sub-groups under the ethnic umbrella are not alike but drawing the exact boundaries is almost impossible.
Merging Two Identities
An Invisible Struggle
Why is this important? This transition process is a significant problem and often a trauma for immigrant families in a foreign country. The focus on this is often minimized due to a lack of explicit symptoms or larger political discussion. For most, individuals are unaware that this is an issue separate from the difficulties of typical growing and familial pains.
These will be a series of posts that look into the modern-day struggles of child immigrants (Koreans say “1.5 generation”) and the children of immigrants (2nd gen) like myself. This will hopefully translate to both sides of the Pacific one of the most significant issues facing international ethnic communities – the nature of the relationship between 1st and 2nd+ generations, and with other diverse “ethnic nationals.” This encompasses a number of typical situations such as local vs. international student or family visitor vs. resident.
What do you think? Do any of you have experience talking on this subject? Tomorrow, we'll go into the more specific examples of how this affects our lives.
Also... Hello from Korea!
follow me @hansikhouse! | design collective @hitheryon
Given that I'm also a child of immigrant parents, I'm especially interested in this subject! I don't discuss nor think about this nearly enough and really look forward to reading about your thoughts and experiences.
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I think location in the US matters a lot in relation to issues like this. I grew up with a lot of Korean friends, did martial arts almost all of my childhood, and work as a software developer in an extremely diverse city and I have never heard a single one of those terms.
The only stereotypes I have seen or had friends/coworkers complain about are "you must know karate" and mixing up specific ethnicities thinking most people of Asian decent are Chinese. This however could be because Atlanta has always had a large immigrant population that integrates to a high degree and that the multitude of Korean churches in the suburbs are some of the most helpful groups in the community and are thus looked at in a very positive light.
One of the splits my old boss discussed was that "traditional" families often lived in the suburbs, and that because he had married a white woman that he wasn't largely accepted outside of living in the city itself where that is far more common. You can see this among other nationalities as well. The people of all races who wish to have a homogeneous community tend to migrate to the suburbs and find an area specific to them, while everyone who lives in the city are largely mixed in and don't follow those same patterns. Having spent most of my life in the suburbs and the last few years in the city, it was an interesting shift to see.
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Thank you for this insight! And for engaging me on this topic. I'm guessing you grew up in a Korean family?
I'll clarify, the terms I listed are much more prevalent when internationals (students or workers) meet people who grew up abroad. And I also didn't want to highlight them in negative or stereotypical terms, but as cultural signifiers of how people even within an "ethnic group" distinguish sub-groups in our history. The focus of this and the next few articles will be how that manifests when one comes to study in the US for example or when "2nd gen" like myself visit or work in Korea. I'm definitely interested in the regional differences as well. I understand the New York/Northeast, LA, and Germany-based communities quite a bit more than places like Atlanta.
I think this is a period where new generations of ethnic immigrants are becoming more vocal, aware, and studious on their experiences growing up in a different country other than their parents. I didn't have that much an opportunity to meet many other Korean-Americans growing up, mostly international students in college/graduate school, but I wanted to stir up that conversation here!
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Nope, I'm middle class white suburban male.
The sub-groups thing is one I've heard from a bunch of people.
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Hahaa even more appreciated!
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Very interesting! As someone seriously considering moving overseas I can't wait to read more.
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태극문양은 빨간색이 아래쪽인 것만 봐왔던 것 같은데~저 태극문양은 어떤 의미가 있는 건가요?
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글쓰신 분의 내용으로 보아 미국에서 태어나 교포로 살아가는데 있어 한국인 인종이지만 미국사람의 정체성의 의미를 표현하고자 하는 극기 인것 같습니다. 성조기와 태극기가 합쳐진 모양입니다.
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