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A Nation Within a Nation: Korean Americans in New
York City
Andrew Yoon and Thomas Ahn
Introduction
We focused our studies on the Korean
American communities in Manhattan and Queens. The Korean population in
Manhattan is concentrated between 32nd Street and 34th Street and 6th
Avenue and Park Avenue. This area is commonly referred to as "Korea
Town". "Korea Town" is mostly a commercial district with many Korean
restaurants, entertainment centers, food stores, and just about everything
else found in a typical mall. We also studied the Korean American
community in Queens, more specifically Flushing. The Korean American
population is primarily located between Union Street and Main Street and
Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard. Here, the area seems to be
composed of a concentrated commercial zone surrounded by a residential
zone. The residential zone is dispersed throughout the Flushing area.
Primary Language
In both communities, Korean, Chinese,
English, and Spanish can be heard on the streets. The dominate language
spoken in both communities, however, is Korean. On the streets and in the
businesses, it is the language heard most frequently. Korean is the
primary language because many of the business owners, employees, and
residents are immigrants from South Korea since North Korea banned their
citizens from leaving the country. One employee at the Empire Korea
restaurant located on 32nd Street summarized the usage of language in
"Korea Town" by saying, "I don't think that this area would change much if
no one spoke any other language besides Korean." This statement proved to
be very convincing as at first we tried to communicate with just English but quickly realized that it was
very difficult to communicate with the business owners, and especially the
residents and shoppers. We tried to use English because our fluency in
Korean is sub-par. We were afraid of the scorn we would receive from
older Korean Americans. Unfortunately, we were unable to communicate in
solely English and were forced to use a combination of Korean and English.
Some of the adults did seem to look down upon us for not speaking Korean
fluently, but then there were others who tried to make it easier for us by
speaking some English as well. We figured the adults looked down upon us
because they thought we were losing touch with our heritage, which is
considered by many Koreans to be ignorant.
Education
Though we could not find any high schools
near the areas, residents of both communities told us that the high
schools around the area are public schools; therefore, they are taught in
English. "Korea Town" is more of a commercial district, so as we talk
about education we will focus on Flushing. According to two students we
talked to a majority of the Korean American students do not take ESL
classes. They said that most of the Korean Americans in their high
school, Flushing High School, were born in America or came to America at
an early age. Nonetheless, they said that ESL classes are readily
available because there are a significant number of immigrant students and
many of them are Korean. There are approximately 49,088 Koreans living in
Queens, and approximately 23% of the population that has the eligible age
to attend elementary school to high school.
Governmental Services
In both communities, in fact in most major
cities, many accommodations are made by government agencies for native
Korean speakers. At the Department of Motor Vehicles, Korean is one of
the languages that the written test can be taken in. Also, there are
Korean organizations that collect social security checks from the
government and
distribute them to the elderly citizens. That way if the elderly have any
questions, they can contact the Korean organization and speak to a
Korean-speaking operator.
Medical Services
In both communities Korean American private
practitioners are available. Doctors, dentists, and pharmacists have
business signs that have both Korean and English on them. Many Korean
American residents prefer to go to these private practitioners rather than
to go to large hospitals that may or may not have interpreters available.
Large hospitals, though, do tend to have interpreters or doctors who can
speak English as well as Korean. This is according to Doctor Ahn of Rusk
Institute at the New York University Medical Center.
Religion
There are numerous churches in Flushing that
are owned by Korean Americans and have services in Korean. Services for
religions ranging from various branches of Catholicism to various branches
of Protestantism are available in Korean. Many of these churches also
have services available in English. For example, the Messiah Korean
American Lutheran Church in Flushing and the New Joy Fellowship Church on
33rd Street in Manhattan have services in both Korean and English. Most
churches have their youth group services only in English, though. This is
due to the fact that most Korean American children now have at least some
sense of the English language because they are better able to assimilate
into the American society.
Public Services
Many organizations are set up to help the
Korean Americans live comfortably in America while at the same time
keeping in touch with their culture. For instance, the National Korean
American Service & Education Consortium, Inc. focuses on civil rights,
education, and community advocacy for Korean Americans. The Korean
American Family Service Center offers support for abused women and
children. Plus, many universities have Korean clubs, such as New York
University's Korean Students Association and Korean International Students
Organization. These clubs give Korean Americans a place to go to interact
with fellow Korean Americans and to learn and experience Korean
traditions.
Industry
There are many businesses in "Korea Town"
and Flushing that target Koreans. In "Korea Town," there are
approximately 15 Korean restaurants, 1 Korean grocery store, 1 Korean
bookstore, 5 Korean fast food restaurants, 8 Korean cafes, 10 Korean
bar/clubs, 8 karaoke bars, 4 Korean hair salons, a few Korean
clothing/accessory stores and a few other necessity stores. In the
commercial region of Flushing, there is an even larger number of these
types of businesses. Many of the restaurants employ Spanish-speaking
workers because of the easy accessibility to them. Particularly in
Flushing, many Spanish speakers live within a close proximity of the
Korean Americans and their businesses. The Korean Americans know this and
take it into account. A few stores we saw had not only Korean and English
on their street signs, but Spanish as well. Some of the stores even had
Spanish names, such as one mattress store that had "El Mundo" written in
both Korean and Spanish. To make sure that it was not Spanish people who
owned the store we went inside. We found several Spanish-speaking workers
and only a few Korean Americans workers giving the Spanish-speaking
workers instructions. This led us to believe that the Korean Americans
owned the store.
Publication
There are many Korean periodicals available.
Most are imported from South Korea, but still many are printed in New York
City. These periodicals range from newspapers to magazines touching on
various topics like politics, sports, entertainment, and daily news.
Besides written publications, there are television stations that broadcast
Korean programs. Most of the programs are aired from South Korea, but
some are broadcasted in New York City. The programs that are broadcasted
from New York City not only deal with issues in South Korea, but also with
the issues in Korean communities in America, such as in Los Angeles and in
New York City. Programs from both South Korea and America also provide
entertainment for Koreans who want to keep in touch with their culture.
Korean dramas, Korean music videos, Korean game shows, and Korean talk
shows are commonly seen on television on the international channel or the
New York Korean television channel. If one cannot catch these programs on
cable television, Korean video stores are abundant in "Korea Town" and
Flushing.
Personal Interview
One girl that we did happen to meet who
lives in "Korea Town" is Jessica Hae Mee Lee. She goes to Parson's School
of Design, a division of New School University. Due to Parson's lack of
dormitory space, she did not receive housing from the school. Thus, was
forced to room with her older cousin who lives on 35th Street. I, Andrew,
met Jessica at an Asian fellowship event. I began to talk to her because
she attended high school in an area not too far away from where I attended
mine. We talked that night and I got to know her a little better.
Luckily, I had the chance to meet up with her and ask her a few questions.
She moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from South Korea when she was in
8th grade. She said that her first year in an American school was tough
and the fact that no one could pronounce her name did not help. Her
official name, the name she writes on standardized tests for example, is
Hae Mee Lee. She adopted the name Jessica so that people would not have a
difficult time pronouncing her name or an excuse to make fun of her. Even
though she has a complete grasp of the English language, she feels more
comfortable speaking Korean rather than English. She says it feels more
natural for her to speak Korean. She said that she even tends to think in
Korean. She is actually happy that she did not get housing because she
enjoys living so close to "Korea Town". She likes the fact that she can
walk a block or two and get Korean groceries or Korean CD's. She likes
the area so much that she wants stay with her cousin for her remaining
years in college rather than reapplying for school housing.
Conclusion
In our opinion, the Korean American
community is not fully assimilated; however, they are not fully
congregated as in Chinatown. In the Korean American communities, other
nationalities and languages are abundant. Many businesses employ African
Americans and Hispanics. Most of the Korean Americans we talked to use
code switching as a form of linguistic practice. They speak in their
native tongues at home and with fellow Koreans and use English at work or
when necessary. It seems that the younger Korean Americans are
assimilating more to America than are the generations before them. This
is probably because most of the older Korean Americans finished their
schooling in South Korea, whereas many of the younger Korean Americans are
attending at least a few years of school in America. If the younger
Korean Americans continue to quickly assimilate into "white" society we
predict that a few generations down, most Korean Americans will have a
full understanding of the English language. This does not mean that the
Korean American communities will disappear though. For the most part
Korean Americans, like people from other nationalities, will want to
retain parts of their culture and living in close parameters makes it
easier to do so.
