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Racial Conflict and Healing: An Asian-American Theological Perspective
Book by Park, Andrew Sung
- GenresTheology
198 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Sung Park
6 books10 followersAndrew Sung Park is a Korean American Methodist theologian. Park teaches at United Theological Seminary in Trotwood, Ohio. He specializes in systematic theology, global theology, cross-cultural theology, Asian American liberation theology, Christian mysticism, and the relationship between religion and science. He has expanded the theology of emotional pain by exploring the Korean concept of han.
Park was born in South Korea. His family emigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1973. He lives in Beavercreek, Ohio with his wife Jane Myong, and has two children, Amos Park and Thomas Park.
In 1973, Park received a B.A. at Methodist Theological Seminary. At Iliff School of Theology in 1978, he received M.Div.. Then he attended Claremont School of Theology and obtained a M.A. in 1981. Park finally received a Ph.D. at Graduate Theological Union in 1985; his dissertation there discussed minjung theology. He would go on to join United Theological Seminary in Ohio in 1992.
Park was born in South Korea. His family emigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1973. He lives in Beavercreek, Ohio with his wife Jane Myong, and has two children, Amos Park and Thomas Park.
In 1973, Park received a B.A. at Methodist Theological Seminary. At Iliff School of Theology in 1978, he received M.Div.. Then he attended Claremont School of Theology and obtained a M.A. in 1981. Park finally received a Ph.D. at Graduate Theological Union in 1985; his dissertation there discussed minjung theology. He would go on to join United Theological Seminary in Ohio in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 26, 2021
Park wrote this book in the wake of the Los Angeles riots exposure of racial division between Korean and Black Americans, both living under injustice, and oppression - a state of being characterized by han, the woundedness explored in this work and even more in Park's earlier book, The Wounded Heart of God.
Park writes this work as a plea toward Korean-Americans to not seek to assimilate or withdraw from the racial divisions of America but to engage in a journey of personal liberation and participation in the transmutation of American racial conflict.
This is a work of theology, not sociology, but the cultural and historical insights are sound. Even more, the philosophy and theology of seeing Park develops is the most beautiful, empowered relational theology of love that I have ever encountered. Park's theology of seeing is inspired by the Korean qualities of hahn (paradoxial inclusiveness) jung (affectionate attachment), and mut (graceful gusto) as well as the best of the Bible's call to oneness with God and other. It is a vision of no less than total redemption toward a world of peace and justice and a life of profound joy.
Park writes this work as a plea toward Korean-Americans to not seek to assimilate or withdraw from the racial divisions of America but to engage in a journey of personal liberation and participation in the transmutation of American racial conflict.
This is a work of theology, not sociology, but the cultural and historical insights are sound. Even more, the philosophy and theology of seeing Park develops is the most beautiful, empowered relational theology of love that I have ever encountered. Park's theology of seeing is inspired by the Korean qualities of hahn (paradoxial inclusiveness) jung (affectionate attachment), and mut (graceful gusto) as well as the best of the Bible's call to oneness with God and other. It is a vision of no less than total redemption toward a world of peace and justice and a life of profound joy.
July 31, 2020
I appreciated reading from a new perspective, and Park’s explanation of “han” is extremely insightful. I also find his solution of truly “seeing” each other and treating no one as an “other” is highly compelling. Great read!
December 29, 2014
Black and White voices are not the only voices that need to be heard in facing the realities of race in America. Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans and First or Native Americans also need to be heard. This older work (1996) from Andrew Sung Park offers a distinctively Korean-American perspective on both racial conflict and the healing that is needed.
Park begins with a cultural anthropology of the Korean-American community centered around the concept of Han which he describes as the unbearable pain, resentment, and bitterness resulting from intense suffering, particularly from oppression and injustice. The first part explores the experience of Han during the Korean war and the division of the country, the abandonment of wives in mixed marriages with servicemen, the experience of "comfort women" and experiences of discrimination in the US context with the white church and with other racial groups, particularly in the South L.A. context. He also looks at the distinctive sins he sees in Korean communities including racism, sexism and the exploitation of labor.
Part Two explores what he sees as the need of a common vision to bridge the racial divides in our society. He speaks particularly here of an "inmost vision" rooted in the parable of the lost sheep where none are considered dispensable. He extends this inmost vision to the church which brings its expectation of the return of Christ into the present through dealing with injustices and through reconciliation with our ethnic neighbors. Before moving on, Park also looks at Western and Eastern views of the self and the difference of individualism versus one's relation within family.
Part Three then turns to sociological analysis of models of interracial relationships, looking at assimilation, amalgamation, cultural pluralist, "triple melting pot", and newly synthesized ethnic identities. He then applies these to the Korean-American church, suggesting that none of these are adequate. He proposes instead a "transcendent, transmutational" model where the work of Christ transcends unity and diversity polarities holding these together in paradoxical tension while transmutation speaks to internal changes in prejudice and external changes in discriminatory practice that overcome racism. The aim is the formation of a "Christic" community, one characterized by paradoxical inclusiveness (hahn), affectionate attachment (jung), and graceful gusto (mut). He believes the filial piety of Korean extended families can be a place where this community is embodied in an American culture where family is in decline.
Part Four expands on the elements in Parts Two and Three that have to do with a "theology of seeing". This is a "seeing" that both understands the han or pain of the oppressed and also that envisions a new community through visual, intellectual, spiritual and soul seeing that contribute hermeneutics of questioning, construction, affection, and celebration that bring healing.
I have to admit that I struggled as I read this book between appreciating the sociological and cultural anthropology that explored the character of Korean-American community and its experience of race in America and what I felt were at best preliminary theological formulations that seemed to me a synthesis of Christian language with Korean and Taoist conceptions. It seemed to mean to illustrate the fine line between contextualization and syncretism and I'm not sure which side of the line this fell on. My caution comes as a result of being an "outsider" to Korean culture on the one hand, and on the other to a cursory connection between Christian theological concepts and biblical texts and ideas like han, hahn, jung, and mut. I would have liked to seen further work in "connecting the dots". I feel that a more honest subtitle might have been "toward an Asian-American theological perspective". Nevertheless, there is value in this work in both the description and analysis of Korean-American experience and the awareness and exploration of how cultural conceptions native to Korean-Americans might shape a theology of racial conflict and healing.
Park begins with a cultural anthropology of the Korean-American community centered around the concept of Han which he describes as the unbearable pain, resentment, and bitterness resulting from intense suffering, particularly from oppression and injustice. The first part explores the experience of Han during the Korean war and the division of the country, the abandonment of wives in mixed marriages with servicemen, the experience of "comfort women" and experiences of discrimination in the US context with the white church and with other racial groups, particularly in the South L.A. context. He also looks at the distinctive sins he sees in Korean communities including racism, sexism and the exploitation of labor.
Part Two explores what he sees as the need of a common vision to bridge the racial divides in our society. He speaks particularly here of an "inmost vision" rooted in the parable of the lost sheep where none are considered dispensable. He extends this inmost vision to the church which brings its expectation of the return of Christ into the present through dealing with injustices and through reconciliation with our ethnic neighbors. Before moving on, Park also looks at Western and Eastern views of the self and the difference of individualism versus one's relation within family.
Part Three then turns to sociological analysis of models of interracial relationships, looking at assimilation, amalgamation, cultural pluralist, "triple melting pot", and newly synthesized ethnic identities. He then applies these to the Korean-American church, suggesting that none of these are adequate. He proposes instead a "transcendent, transmutational" model where the work of Christ transcends unity and diversity polarities holding these together in paradoxical tension while transmutation speaks to internal changes in prejudice and external changes in discriminatory practice that overcome racism. The aim is the formation of a "Christic" community, one characterized by paradoxical inclusiveness (hahn), affectionate attachment (jung), and graceful gusto (mut). He believes the filial piety of Korean extended families can be a place where this community is embodied in an American culture where family is in decline.
Part Four expands on the elements in Parts Two and Three that have to do with a "theology of seeing". This is a "seeing" that both understands the han or pain of the oppressed and also that envisions a new community through visual, intellectual, spiritual and soul seeing that contribute hermeneutics of questioning, construction, affection, and celebration that bring healing.
I have to admit that I struggled as I read this book between appreciating the sociological and cultural anthropology that explored the character of Korean-American community and its experience of race in America and what I felt were at best preliminary theological formulations that seemed to me a synthesis of Christian language with Korean and Taoist conceptions. It seemed to mean to illustrate the fine line between contextualization and syncretism and I'm not sure which side of the line this fell on. My caution comes as a result of being an "outsider" to Korean culture on the one hand, and on the other to a cursory connection between Christian theological concepts and biblical texts and ideas like han, hahn, jung, and mut. I would have liked to seen further work in "connecting the dots". I feel that a more honest subtitle might have been "toward an Asian-American theological perspective". Nevertheless, there is value in this work in both the description and analysis of Korean-American experience and the awareness and exploration of how cultural conceptions native to Korean-Americans might shape a theology of racial conflict and healing.
November 19, 2016
**true rating 4.5
In the wake of the L.A. Riots of 1992, Andrew Sung Park, Korean American theologian, wrestles through the overt realities of sin and brokenness. As a spokesperson for the Christian Korean American community, Park unveils (1) the han (the dross of being sinned against) of and the han caused by Korean Americans; (2) biblical societal visions; (3) unique sociological methodologies through hahn (divineness), jung (affections), and mut (creative beauty); and (4) a theology of seeing as the Korean American balm for community. Utilizing a 'beauty from ashes' metaphor, Park advocates a deep, reflective, compassionate, and holistic theology of seeing to absolve and restore broken relationships in a han-ridden world. The four ways of seeing are hermeneutics of questioning the han (vision-seeing), hermeneutics of construction with hahn (intellectual-seeing), hermeneutics of affection through jung (spiritual-seeing), and hermeneutics of celebration with mut (soul-seeing). These four simultaneous avenues of seeing the self, others, the world, and God unleash the gracious healing balm.
cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com
In the wake of the L.A. Riots of 1992, Andrew Sung Park, Korean American theologian, wrestles through the overt realities of sin and brokenness. As a spokesperson for the Christian Korean American community, Park unveils (1) the han (the dross of being sinned against) of and the han caused by Korean Americans; (2) biblical societal visions; (3) unique sociological methodologies through hahn (divineness), jung (affections), and mut (creative beauty); and (4) a theology of seeing as the Korean American balm for community. Utilizing a 'beauty from ashes' metaphor, Park advocates a deep, reflective, compassionate, and holistic theology of seeing to absolve and restore broken relationships in a han-ridden world. The four ways of seeing are hermeneutics of questioning the han (vision-seeing), hermeneutics of construction with hahn (intellectual-seeing), hermeneutics of affection through jung (spiritual-seeing), and hermeneutics of celebration with mut (soul-seeing). These four simultaneous avenues of seeing the self, others, the world, and God unleash the gracious healing balm.
cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews