As a Korean-American student in law, I sense both
the hallowed traditions of my venerable ancestors and the righteous
individualism of Capitalist Liberalism. I try to balance Confucianism with the
doctrines of Locke and Rousseau. I munch hamburgers for lunch and relish den
jang jee ke for dinner. Despite earlier childish impulses to deny the colour
of my blood, I now begin to understand the import of my Korean roots. I freely
associate with my friends, who are all of different background and ethnicity,
but I acknowledge that, despite the melting pot pluralism of our modernity, I
sometimes feel the subterranean rumbling of isolationist sentiment and a
right-wing backlash against all the achievements of our multicultural society.
Our leaders like to say that we live in a plural society where, so long as we
respect democracy and human rights, all constructive cultures will be welcomed.
But as a Korean, I sometimes harbour the deep suspicion that this world is a
House of Cards, and that it is only a matter of time before a gust effortlessly
knocks it down. I know that many Koreans, living here in a foreign land, never
feel fully secure and at peace. Thus Koreans form tightly knit immigrant
societies to compensate for isolation from their home-town networks. Eventually,
we see various 'Koreatowns' springing up in major cities.
There is a danger, however, that Koreans are not
engaging in society to the extent that we should if we are to establish
ourselves as both Korean and American. The LA riots resulted in the Korean
community taking the brunt of the violence, but even more frustratingly, public
sympathy for the Korean community in the aftermath was starkly lacking. Even
today, despite the academic successes of our students and the economic success
of our communities, I see in many of my Korean friends, an idiosyncratic embrace
of the homeland and a lamentable lack of willingness to engage in Western
society. Certainly acknowledgment of our cultural history is healthy and to be
encouraged, but not if it impairs our realisation that, when in Rome, we should
do as Romans do. We must never forget that persecution and xenophobia remain our
perpetual enemies, but we must never let these fears push us back into the days
of a hermit kingdom.
Jewish and Overseas Chinese societies have managed
to thrive despite atrocities and persecution. Their influence in mainstream
politics, culture and society is waxing, and they are gaining more control over
their destinies. I see no sociological basis for asserting that Koreans can not
achieve the successes of our counterparts. Koreans have, throughout the
millennia, demonstrated that we are a remarkably resilient and determined
people, and in crises we have shown that we can work with cohesion of military
proportions. Unless we can constructively balance our cultural history and role
as citizens in a new home, our inquisitive Western friend will only ever present
us the question, 'Are you Japanese or Chinese?'
