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Wednesday May 21, 2008
Are You More Asian or Are You More American? 
I read this interesting article recently, titled Koreans Have Beef with Korean Americans. It was about how South Korea recently resumed the importation of American beef after a moratorium placed a halt on all U.S. beef imports due to mad cow fears. Over the past few weeks, however, there has been a furor of public protest in South Korea, decrying the resumption of the imports, calling into question the actual safety of American beef. The contentiousness was further fueled by the backstabbing many South Koreans alleged of their Korean brethren in the U.S., as the majority of Korean Americans chose to side with America over the issue. One part of the article that made me somewhat reevaluate my dual identity as an Asian and an American was this one: “Proving its position as the most wired country in the world, Korean cyberspace has crackled with South Koreans’ disappointment towards the immigrants. They accuse Korean Americans for not standing up for Korea, or worse – of being a lapdog of the American government. One reader of JoongAng Ilbo, a major daily newspaper in South Korea, wrote in the comment section, ‘Korean Americans are those who would aim guns at us if Korea goes to war against the United States.’” Pause. Though I am not a U.S. citizen, I feel as though I am one, as I’ve called America home from the time I was barely a one year-old. And for any 1.5 and 2nd generation Asian American who grew up under the roof of those “traditional Asian parents,” who were fanatical about preserving the traditions of the old country in you by sending you back to the motherland every summer vacation for as far back as you could remember during your K-10 years will know what I’m talking about here. There is a tension inside all those like me, where it is nearly impossible to choose sides in situations like the one above. How does one choose between their birth mother and their adoptive mother? And even if you knew your “mother” was in the wrong, how could you not stand by her? God-forbid, if America ever went to war with your respective country of origin like the one reader eludes to above, who’s side would you choose? It is during times like these—as silly (as a beef ban) or as serious (as actual war) as it may be--that bring to the surface and really test perhaps a no greater defining characteristic of one’s loyalty and identity than to and of country. For as long as I was old enough to know about the role race played in my identity, I have always felt this way: During the times I am in America, I am ultra-patriotic of my Asian motherland. And during the times I am visiting my motherland, I somehow, very naturally, switch sides to become ultra-patriotic of America. What do you think? For any Asian American who’s lived in America long enough, do you see yourself as more Asian or more American? |
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Comments
Now the beef issue - some people would say that it's silly, however, as Americans, we do not have all the information accessible to judge the gravity of the problem. What we see is some beef import issue, but for South Koreans it's more than that - politics, power, health, domestic governance by its leaders, and standing up for themselves not against Americans necessarily but their Korean leaders.
Now, to answer your question, at this point in my life, I feel very Asian, American, and Korean. Three years ago, I would say that I felt more American than anything else culturally. Life experiences definitely change the way we see ourselves and it depends where you are in life. I'm very glad to have "found" my Korean and Asian heritage. I'm working on discovering more about the Hispanic culture, so I guess that makes me MULTICULTURAL.
Being culturally diverse, racially sensitive, gender open-minded, socially concerned is what makes me American. I can't say the same for many of the Korean traditions that have passed down through my upbringing and my filial obligations to obey the wishes of my family. However, I do not resent this aspect, I see a hope in reflecting the change in how I choose to define the terms: Korean AND American.
With regard to Kyopo in America and Koreans on the peninsula, as the clock ticks, values and cultures change. Koreans on the peninusla are not the Koreans of Chosun, or even Yushin Korea. Korean Americans tend to stop their watches at the time they depart from the Fatherland (or motherland) and assimulate, alculurate, and accommodate their new lives in the U.S. (and other countries as the case may be. So a divide between life on the peninusla and life abroad ensuses. The only thing permanent is change, and the more things change the more they stay the same.
In any case, i think the whole idea of the country barriers is getting old. Hopefully those barriers will diminish in time. And hopefully the idea, 'of pointing a gun at someone' in the name of patriotism will also become history.. hey one can dream right.. but ultimately that must be.
At the end of the day, we are human, we are all ONE!