Ted, Do you have any idea how Koreans treated blacks BEFORE the riots?
Actually, I do. Most 1st-generation Korean-Americans didn't have any time or energy to devote to "sensitivity" toward blacks. They were too busy working their asses off so that their children don't have to.
Nonetheless, Koreans in LA chose to do it because it was very profitable for them. Like those before them, they made money hand over fist and they rarely treated their customers well.
Pardon the circular argument, but Koreans chose L.A. because other Koreans chose L.A. Profitability? Maybe, but it's more because most Koreans pretty much follow a model of success that other Koreans followed. It's quite conformist, but hey, what do you expect from a people group who came from a cramped peninsula?
As for customer service, well, it's already bad for fellow Korean customers. Mix in some racism embedded within the culture, and you can imagine how worse it is for non-Koreans, especially blacks. That's something 2nd generationers has to reconcile.
Its much easier and more acceptable to heap all the blame on the black community.
That was never my intention. Lots of screw-ups that 2nd-generation Korean-Americans will have to clean up. However, it doesn't help when the successes of the 1st generation are to be ignored or denied just because they were racist. It's not like their ancestors owned black slaves or anything like that. In fact, they come from a society that was enslaved just a generation prior to them (thank you Japan).
Tenchusatsu |
