Author: Jin Suk Bae
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793652619
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
Korean Immigrants from Latin America explores the migration and resettlement experiences of Koreans from Latin America now residing in the New York metropolitan area. It uses interview data from 102 Korean secondary migrants from Latin America to explore the religious, familial, economic, and educational dimensions of their migration and resettlement processes in the U.S. As Korean and Latino immigrants share increasingly close interactions with each other in various urban settings, these Korean remigrants can serve as links between Korean and Spanish speakers as well as liaisons among diverse groups. This book shows a surprising degree of diversity within the seemingly homogenous Korean population in the U.S. and demonstrates the unacknowledged linguistic and cultural differences among them.
Korean Immigrants from Latin America
Author: Jin Suk Bae
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793652619
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
Korean Immigrants from Latin America explores the migration and resettlement experiences of Koreans from Latin America now residing in the New York metropolitan area. It uses interview data from 102 Korean secondary migrants from Latin America to explore the religious, familial, economic, and educational dimensions of their migration and resettlement processes in the U.S. As Korean and Latino immigrants share increasingly close interactions with each other in various urban settings, these Korean remigrants can serve as links between Korean and Spanish speakers as well as liaisons among diverse groups. This book shows a surprising degree of diversity within the seemingly homogenous Korean population in the U.S. and demonstrates the unacknowledged linguistic and cultural differences among them.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793652619
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
Korean Immigrants from Latin America explores the migration and resettlement experiences of Koreans from Latin America now residing in the New York metropolitan area. It uses interview data from 102 Korean secondary migrants from Latin America to explore the religious, familial, economic, and educational dimensions of their migration and resettlement processes in the U.S. As Korean and Latino immigrants share increasingly close interactions with each other in various urban settings, these Korean remigrants can serve as links between Korean and Spanish speakers as well as liaisons among diverse groups. This book shows a surprising degree of diversity within the seemingly homogenous Korean population in the U.S. and demonstrates the unacknowledged linguistic and cultural differences among them.
Global Pulls on the Korean Communities in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires
Author: Won K. Yoon
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 149850843X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 217
Book Description
The Korean communities in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires were the first overseas Korean communities that the new Republic of Korea initiated and supported. The initiative was taken to relieve the economic suffering of the poverty-stricken country in the 1960s. Among South American countries that were open to Korean immigrants, Brazil and Argentina attracted the most, which included even undocumented Korean migrants from neighboring countries. The two Korean communities (about 45,000 people in Sao Paulo and 20,000 in Buenos Aires) represent almost two thirds of the Korean residents in Latin America. Over the years, global forces emanating mainly from East Asia, North America, and South America have affected the Korean communities. The intensity and directions of the triangular pulls and pushes have varied, reflecting changing global socioeconomic conditions. This has created tension and ambiguity among the Korean migrant and host communities. Looking at the two communities comparatively, the focus will be on the effects of the global pulls on Korean identity formation, community development patterns, integration efforts, social mobility, education for children, remigration, return migration, and relationships with the host communities. Wherever applicable, the experiences of Korean communities are compared with that of other East Asian communities, namely the Chinese and Japanese in Latin America.
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 149850843X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 217
Book Description
The Korean communities in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires were the first overseas Korean communities that the new Republic of Korea initiated and supported. The initiative was taken to relieve the economic suffering of the poverty-stricken country in the 1960s. Among South American countries that were open to Korean immigrants, Brazil and Argentina attracted the most, which included even undocumented Korean migrants from neighboring countries. The two Korean communities (about 45,000 people in Sao Paulo and 20,000 in Buenos Aires) represent almost two thirds of the Korean residents in Latin America. Over the years, global forces emanating mainly from East Asia, North America, and South America have affected the Korean communities. The intensity and directions of the triangular pulls and pushes have varied, reflecting changing global socioeconomic conditions. This has created tension and ambiguity among the Korean migrant and host communities. Looking at the two communities comparatively, the focus will be on the effects of the global pulls on Korean identity formation, community development patterns, integration efforts, social mobility, education for children, remigration, return migration, and relationships with the host communities. Wherever applicable, the experiences of Korean communities are compared with that of other East Asian communities, namely the Chinese and Japanese in Latin America.
Imperial Citizens
Author: Nadia Y. Kim
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804758867
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Examines how immigrants acquire American ideas about race, both pre- and post-migration, in light of U.S. military presence and U.S. cultural dominance over their home country, drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations of Koreans in Seoul and Los Angeles.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804758867
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
Examines how immigrants acquire American ideas about race, both pre- and post-migration, in light of U.S. military presence and U.S. cultural dominance over their home country, drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations of Koreans in Seoul and Los Angeles.
Blue Dreams
Author: Nancy ABELMANN
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674020030
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
No one will soon forget the image, blazed across the airwaves, of armed Korean Americans taking to the rooftops as their businesses went up in flames during the Los Angeles riots. Why Korean Americans? What stoked the wrath the riots unleashed against them? Blue Dreams is the first book to make sense of these questions, to show how Korean Americans, variously depicted as immigrant seekers after the American dream or as racist merchants exploiting African Americans, emerged at the crossroads of conflicting social reflections in the aftermath of the 1992 riots. The situation of Los Angeles's Korean Americans touches on some of the most vexing issues facing American society today: ethnic conflict, urban poverty, immigration, multiculturalism, and ideological polarization. Combining interviews and deft socio-historical analysis, Blue Dreams gives these problems a human face and at the same time clarifies the historical, political, and economic factors that render them so complex. In the lives and voices of Korean Americans, the authors locate a profound challenge to cherished assumptions about the United States and its minorities. Why did Koreans come to the United States? Why did they set up shop in poor inner-city neighborhoods? Are they in conflict with African Americans? These are among the many difficult questions the authors answer as they probe the transnational roots and diversity of Los Angeles's Korean Americans. Their work finally shows us in sharp relief and moving detail a community that, despite the blinding media focus brought to bear during the riots, has nonetheless remained largely silent and effectively invisible. An important corrective to the formulaic accounts that have pitted Korean Americans against African Americans, Blue Dreams places the Korean American story squarely at the center of national debates over race, class, culture, and community. Table of Contents: Preface The Los Angeles Riots, the Korean American Story Reckoning via the Riots Diaspora Formation: Modernity and Mobility Mapping the Korean Diaspora in Los Angeles Korean American Entrepreneurship American Ideologies on Trial Conclusion Notes References Index Reviews of this book: Blue Dreams--a poetic allusion to the clear blue sky that Koreans see as a symbol of freedom--is a welcome exploration by outsiders into the vexing and largely invisible Korean-American predicament in Los Angeles and the nation. [Abelmann and Lie 's] colorful interview subjects offer sharp observations. --K.W. Lee, Los Angeles Times Reviews of this book: An informed and thoughtful examination of Korean immigration to the United States since 1970...[Abelmann and Lie] show that even in a period as short as twenty-five years, there have been successive waves of differently motivated, differently resourced Korean immigrants, and their experiences and reactions have differed accordingly. --Michael Tonry, Times Literary Supplement Reviews of this book: [The authors'] transnational perspective is particularly effective for explicating Korean immigrants' behaviors, activities, and feelings...Interesting and readable. --Pyong Gap Min, American Journal of Sociology Reviews of this book: Beginning with a poetic book title, the authors recount in depth as to how the 'Blue Dreams' of the Korean-American merchants in East Los Angeles had shattered in the midst of [the] 1992 riot that turned out to be 'elusive dreams' in America...The book not only portrays the L.A. riot surrounding the Korean merchants, but also characterizes diaspora of the Koreans in America. The authors have also examined with scholarly insights the more complex socioeconomic and political underplay the Koreans encountered in their 'Promised New Land'. --Eugene C. Kim, International Migration Review
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674020030
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
No one will soon forget the image, blazed across the airwaves, of armed Korean Americans taking to the rooftops as their businesses went up in flames during the Los Angeles riots. Why Korean Americans? What stoked the wrath the riots unleashed against them? Blue Dreams is the first book to make sense of these questions, to show how Korean Americans, variously depicted as immigrant seekers after the American dream or as racist merchants exploiting African Americans, emerged at the crossroads of conflicting social reflections in the aftermath of the 1992 riots. The situation of Los Angeles's Korean Americans touches on some of the most vexing issues facing American society today: ethnic conflict, urban poverty, immigration, multiculturalism, and ideological polarization. Combining interviews and deft socio-historical analysis, Blue Dreams gives these problems a human face and at the same time clarifies the historical, political, and economic factors that render them so complex. In the lives and voices of Korean Americans, the authors locate a profound challenge to cherished assumptions about the United States and its minorities. Why did Koreans come to the United States? Why did they set up shop in poor inner-city neighborhoods? Are they in conflict with African Americans? These are among the many difficult questions the authors answer as they probe the transnational roots and diversity of Los Angeles's Korean Americans. Their work finally shows us in sharp relief and moving detail a community that, despite the blinding media focus brought to bear during the riots, has nonetheless remained largely silent and effectively invisible. An important corrective to the formulaic accounts that have pitted Korean Americans against African Americans, Blue Dreams places the Korean American story squarely at the center of national debates over race, class, culture, and community. Table of Contents: Preface The Los Angeles Riots, the Korean American Story Reckoning via the Riots Diaspora Formation: Modernity and Mobility Mapping the Korean Diaspora in Los Angeles Korean American Entrepreneurship American Ideologies on Trial Conclusion Notes References Index Reviews of this book: Blue Dreams--a poetic allusion to the clear blue sky that Koreans see as a symbol of freedom--is a welcome exploration by outsiders into the vexing and largely invisible Korean-American predicament in Los Angeles and the nation. [Abelmann and Lie 's] colorful interview subjects offer sharp observations. --K.W. Lee, Los Angeles Times Reviews of this book: An informed and thoughtful examination of Korean immigration to the United States since 1970...[Abelmann and Lie] show that even in a period as short as twenty-five years, there have been successive waves of differently motivated, differently resourced Korean immigrants, and their experiences and reactions have differed accordingly. --Michael Tonry, Times Literary Supplement Reviews of this book: [The authors'] transnational perspective is particularly effective for explicating Korean immigrants' behaviors, activities, and feelings...Interesting and readable. --Pyong Gap Min, American Journal of Sociology Reviews of this book: Beginning with a poetic book title, the authors recount in depth as to how the 'Blue Dreams' of the Korean-American merchants in East Los Angeles had shattered in the midst of [the] 1992 riot that turned out to be 'elusive dreams' in America...The book not only portrays the L.A. riot surrounding the Korean merchants, but also characterizes diaspora of the Koreans in America. The authors have also examined with scholarly insights the more complex socioeconomic and political underplay the Koreans encountered in their 'Promised New Land'. --Eugene C. Kim, International Migration Review
From Sweatshop to Fashion Shop
Author: Jihye Kim
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498584020
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Since their arrival in the 1960s, Korean immigrants in Argentina have been massively involved in the garment industry. Nevertheless, despite their decades-long concentration in the same sector, over time they have reshaped their motivations and business styles throughout the twists and turns of the host country’s junctures. Applying rigorous immigrant entrepreneurship theories, yet wary of orthodoxies, Kim examines the intriguing paths which Korean entrepreneurs have taken to develop their businesses in the Argentine garment industry amidst complex, frantically volatile social and economic circumstances, and argues for the application of a new approach that combines existing theories with historically contextual perspectives. This unique case study on Korean immigrant entrepreneurship in Latin America represents a significant milestone in the fields of migration and Korean studies and a substantial contribution to bridging the gap between the North, where such inquiries abound, and the South, where the history, settlement, and current status of Korean immigrants have been notoriously under-examined.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498584020
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Since their arrival in the 1960s, Korean immigrants in Argentina have been massively involved in the garment industry. Nevertheless, despite their decades-long concentration in the same sector, over time they have reshaped their motivations and business styles throughout the twists and turns of the host country’s junctures. Applying rigorous immigrant entrepreneurship theories, yet wary of orthodoxies, Kim examines the intriguing paths which Korean entrepreneurs have taken to develop their businesses in the Argentine garment industry amidst complex, frantically volatile social and economic circumstances, and argues for the application of a new approach that combines existing theories with historically contextual perspectives. This unique case study on Korean immigrant entrepreneurship in Latin America represents a significant milestone in the fields of migration and Korean studies and a substantial contribution to bridging the gap between the North, where such inquiries abound, and the South, where the history, settlement, and current status of Korean immigrants have been notoriously under-examined.
Understanding Korean Americans’ Mental Health
Author: Anderson Sungmin Yoon
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 179363646X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
The Korean American community is one of the major Asian ethnic subgroups in the United States. Though considered among one of the model minority groups, excelling academically and professionally, members in this community are plagued by unaddressed mental health obstacles. In Understanding Korean Americans’ Mental Health: A Guide to Culturally Competent Practices, Program Developments, and Policies, the editors, Anderson Sungmin Yoon, Sung Seek Moon, and Haein Son, examine a variety of mental health issues in the Korean American community, including depression, suicide, substance abuse, and trauma, and convincingly connect these challenges to cultural stigma and racial prejudice. The editors argue that this population and its mental health needs are neglected by current approaches in mainstream mental health services. Alarmingly, the very cultural values that help make up the Korean American community are contributing to its members’ reluctance to seek care, counting both familial and communal shame among the most pressing culprits. This book supports these claims with statistical realities and seeks to gather the relatively scarce research that does exist on this topic to underscore the heightened prevalence of mental health issues among Korean Americans, and the contributors make recommendations for more culturally competent practices, program developments, and policies.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 179363646X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
The Korean American community is one of the major Asian ethnic subgroups in the United States. Though considered among one of the model minority groups, excelling academically and professionally, members in this community are plagued by unaddressed mental health obstacles. In Understanding Korean Americans’ Mental Health: A Guide to Culturally Competent Practices, Program Developments, and Policies, the editors, Anderson Sungmin Yoon, Sung Seek Moon, and Haein Son, examine a variety of mental health issues in the Korean American community, including depression, suicide, substance abuse, and trauma, and convincingly connect these challenges to cultural stigma and racial prejudice. The editors argue that this population and its mental health needs are neglected by current approaches in mainstream mental health services. Alarmingly, the very cultural values that help make up the Korean American community are contributing to its members’ reluctance to seek care, counting both familial and communal shame among the most pressing culprits. This book supports these claims with statistical realities and seeks to gather the relatively scarce research that does exist on this topic to underscore the heightened prevalence of mental health issues among Korean Americans, and the contributors make recommendations for more culturally competent practices, program developments, and policies.
Nation Building in South Korea
Author: Gregg Brazinsky
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 145872350X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Nation building has been a ubiquitous component of American foreign policy during the last century. The United States has attempted to create and sustain nation-states that advance its interests and embody its ideals in places ranging from the Philippines to Vietnam to Iraq. At no time did Washington engage in nation building more intensively than during the Cold War. The United States deemed capturing the loyalties of the vast regions of the globe emerging from colonialism as crucial to the struggle against Communism. To achieve this end it launched vast efforts to carve diverse parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America into reliable ''Free World'' allies. U.S. officials believed that, by providing the right kinds of resources, they could stimulate economic development and democratization in regions where neither of these phenomena had made significant inroads. This book examines one of the most extensive, costly, and arguably successful of these efforts - South Korea.... Throughout these chapters, I have sought to demonstrate the agency of South Koreans in determining the ultimate impact of the United States on their society. To the extent that the U.S. influence could be called hegemonic, American hegemony was a dialectical process that Koreans played a significant role in shaping. To emphasize this point, I have approached the process of nation building from both sides through the use of American and Korean sources. This analysis makes it clear that the evolution of the South Korea we know today did not entirely reflect the will of Americans or Koreans. It was achieved only through constant negotiation between the two. ----Preface.
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 145872350X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Nation building has been a ubiquitous component of American foreign policy during the last century. The United States has attempted to create and sustain nation-states that advance its interests and embody its ideals in places ranging from the Philippines to Vietnam to Iraq. At no time did Washington engage in nation building more intensively than during the Cold War. The United States deemed capturing the loyalties of the vast regions of the globe emerging from colonialism as crucial to the struggle against Communism. To achieve this end it launched vast efforts to carve diverse parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America into reliable ''Free World'' allies. U.S. officials believed that, by providing the right kinds of resources, they could stimulate economic development and democratization in regions where neither of these phenomena had made significant inroads. This book examines one of the most extensive, costly, and arguably successful of these efforts - South Korea.... Throughout these chapters, I have sought to demonstrate the agency of South Koreans in determining the ultimate impact of the United States on their society. To the extent that the U.S. influence could be called hegemonic, American hegemony was a dialectical process that Koreans played a significant role in shaping. To emphasize this point, I have approached the process of nation building from both sides through the use of American and Korean sources. This analysis makes it clear that the evolution of the South Korea we know today did not entirely reflect the will of Americans or Koreans. It was achieved only through constant negotiation between the two. ----Preface.
Divided Fates
Author: Kazuko Suzuki
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739129562
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
Winner, ASA Book Award on Asia/Transnational (2017) This book compares the Korean diasporic groups in Japan and the United States. It highlights the contrasting adaptation of Koreans in Japan and the United States, and illuminates how the destinies of immigrants who originally belonged to the same ethnic/national collectivity diverge depending upon destinations and how they are received in a certain state and society within particular historical contexts. The author finds that the mode of incorporation (a specific combination of contextual factors), rather than ethnic ‘culture’ and ‘race,’ plays a decisive role in determining the fates of these Korean immigrant groups. In other words, what matters most for immigrants’ integration is not their particular cultural background or racial similarity to the dominant group, but the way they are received by the host state and other institutions. Thus, this book is not just about Korean immigrants; it is also about how contexts of reception including different conceptualizations of ‘race’ in relation to nationhood affect the adaptation of immigrants from the same ethnic/national origin.
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739129562
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
Winner, ASA Book Award on Asia/Transnational (2017) This book compares the Korean diasporic groups in Japan and the United States. It highlights the contrasting adaptation of Koreans in Japan and the United States, and illuminates how the destinies of immigrants who originally belonged to the same ethnic/national collectivity diverge depending upon destinations and how they are received in a certain state and society within particular historical contexts. The author finds that the mode of incorporation (a specific combination of contextual factors), rather than ethnic ‘culture’ and ‘race,’ plays a decisive role in determining the fates of these Korean immigrant groups. In other words, what matters most for immigrants’ integration is not their particular cultural background or racial similarity to the dominant group, but the way they are received by the host state and other institutions. Thus, this book is not just about Korean immigrants; it is also about how contexts of reception including different conceptualizations of ‘race’ in relation to nationhood affect the adaptation of immigrants from the same ethnic/national origin.
Black Flower
Author: Young-ha Kim
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547698364
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Book Description
In 1904, a group of Koreans seeks a new life in Mexico, in this “powerful, sweeping” novel based on a little-known chapter in history (List Magazine). In 1904, facing war and the loss of their nation, more than a thousand Koreans leave their homes for the promise of land in unknown Mexico. After a long sea voyage, these emigrants—thieves and royals, priests and soldiers, orphans and families—discover that they have been sold into indentured servitude. Aboard the ship, the orphan Ijeong falls in love with a nobleman’s daughter. When the hacendados claim their laborers and the two are separated, he vows to find her. But after years of working in the punishing heat of the henequen fields, the Koreans are caught in the midst of a Mexican revolution . . . A tale of star-crossed love, political turmoil, and the dangers of seeking freedom in a new world—from an author who is “at the leading edge of a new breed of South Korean writers”—Black Flower is an epic story based on a little-known moment in history (Philadelphia City Paper). “‘Can a nation disappear forever?’ . . . [In] a tale of collective loss, political revolution and the individual quest for self-determination . . . Kim brings us the souls caught up on the ground of this larger drama.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Spare and beautiful.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Readers who remember the historical fiction of Thomas B. Costain, Zoe Oldenbourg [sic] and Anya Seton will appreciate [Kim’s] extensive research and empathic imagination.” —Kirkus Reviews
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547698364
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Book Description
In 1904, a group of Koreans seeks a new life in Mexico, in this “powerful, sweeping” novel based on a little-known chapter in history (List Magazine). In 1904, facing war and the loss of their nation, more than a thousand Koreans leave their homes for the promise of land in unknown Mexico. After a long sea voyage, these emigrants—thieves and royals, priests and soldiers, orphans and families—discover that they have been sold into indentured servitude. Aboard the ship, the orphan Ijeong falls in love with a nobleman’s daughter. When the hacendados claim their laborers and the two are separated, he vows to find her. But after years of working in the punishing heat of the henequen fields, the Koreans are caught in the midst of a Mexican revolution . . . A tale of star-crossed love, political turmoil, and the dangers of seeking freedom in a new world—from an author who is “at the leading edge of a new breed of South Korean writers”—Black Flower is an epic story based on a little-known moment in history (Philadelphia City Paper). “‘Can a nation disappear forever?’ . . . [In] a tale of collective loss, political revolution and the individual quest for self-determination . . . Kim brings us the souls caught up on the ground of this larger drama.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Spare and beautiful.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Readers who remember the historical fiction of Thomas B. Costain, Zoe Oldenbourg [sic] and Anya Seton will appreciate [Kim’s] extensive research and empathic imagination.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Loneliest Americans
Author: Jay Caspian Kang
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0525576231
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
A “provocative and sweeping” (Time) blend of family history and original reportage that explores—and reimagines—Asian American identity in a Black and white world “[Kang’s] exploration of class and identity among Asian Americans will be talked about for years to come.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Mother Jones In 1965, a new immigration law lifted a century of restrictions against Asian immigrants to the United States. Nobody, including the lawmakers who passed the bill, expected it to transform the country’s demographics. But over the next four decades, millions arrived, including Jay Caspian Kang’s parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They came with almost no understanding of their new home, much less the history of “Asian America” that was supposed to define them. The Loneliest Americans is the unforgettable story of Kang and his family as they move from a housing project in Cambridge to an idyllic college town in the South and eventually to the West Coast. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Asian America, as millions more immigrants, many of them working-class or undocumented, stream into the country. At the same time, upwardly mobile urban professionals have struggled to reconcile their parents’ assimilationist goals with membership in a multicultural elite—all while trying to carve out a new kind of belonging for their own children, who are neither white nor truly “people of color.” Kang recognizes this existential loneliness in himself and in other Asian Americans who try to locate themselves in the country’s racial binary. There are the businessmen turning Flushing into a center of immigrant wealth; the casualties of the Los Angeles riots; the impoverished parents in New York City who believe that admission to the city’s exam schools is the only way out; the men’s right’s activists on Reddit ranting about intermarriage; and the handful of protesters who show up at Black Lives Matter rallies holding “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” signs. Kang’s exquisitely crafted book brings these lonely parallel climbers together and calls for a new immigrant solidarity—one rooted not in bubble tea and elite college admissions but in the struggles of refugees and the working class.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0525576231
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
A “provocative and sweeping” (Time) blend of family history and original reportage that explores—and reimagines—Asian American identity in a Black and white world “[Kang’s] exploration of class and identity among Asian Americans will be talked about for years to come.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Mother Jones In 1965, a new immigration law lifted a century of restrictions against Asian immigrants to the United States. Nobody, including the lawmakers who passed the bill, expected it to transform the country’s demographics. But over the next four decades, millions arrived, including Jay Caspian Kang’s parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They came with almost no understanding of their new home, much less the history of “Asian America” that was supposed to define them. The Loneliest Americans is the unforgettable story of Kang and his family as they move from a housing project in Cambridge to an idyllic college town in the South and eventually to the West Coast. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Asian America, as millions more immigrants, many of them working-class or undocumented, stream into the country. At the same time, upwardly mobile urban professionals have struggled to reconcile their parents’ assimilationist goals with membership in a multicultural elite—all while trying to carve out a new kind of belonging for their own children, who are neither white nor truly “people of color.” Kang recognizes this existential loneliness in himself and in other Asian Americans who try to locate themselves in the country’s racial binary. There are the businessmen turning Flushing into a center of immigrant wealth; the casualties of the Los Angeles riots; the impoverished parents in New York City who believe that admission to the city’s exam schools is the only way out; the men’s right’s activists on Reddit ranting about intermarriage; and the handful of protesters who show up at Black Lives Matter rallies holding “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” signs. Kang’s exquisitely crafted book brings these lonely parallel climbers together and calls for a new immigrant solidarity—one rooted not in bubble tea and elite college admissions but in the struggles of refugees and the working class.