Caught in the Middle: Korean Communities in the New York and Los Angeles

by Pyong Gap Min

In this unflinching exploration of one of the most politically charged topics of our time, Pyong Gap Min investigates the racial dynamics that exist between Korean merchants, the African American community, and white society in general. Focusing on hostility toward Korean merchants in New York and Los Angeles, Min explains how the "middleman" economic role Koreans often occupy―between low-income, minority customers on the one hand and large corporate suppliers on the other―leads to conflicts with other groups. Further, Min shows how ethnic conflicts strengthen ties within Korean communities as Koreans organize to protect themselves and their businesses.

Min scrutinizes the targeting of Korean businesses during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1990 African American boycotts of Korean stores in Brooklyn. He explores Korean merchants' relationships with each other as well as with Latin American employees, Jewish suppliers and landlords, and government agencies. In each case, his nuanced analysis reveals how Korean communities respond to general scapegoating through collective action, political mobilization, and other strategies.

Fluent in Korean, Min draws from previously unutilized sources, including Korean American newspapers and in-depth interviews with immigrants. His findings belie the media's sensationalistic coverage of African American-Korean conflicts. Instead, Caught in the Middle yields a sophisticated and clear-sighted understanding of the lives and challenges of immigrant merchants in America.

Genres: Sociology

243 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1996

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN EXCELLENT STUDY OF KOREAN MERCHANTS, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

Pyong Gap Min is Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York. He also serves as director of the Research Center for Korean Community at Queens College.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1996 book, “Korean-African-American conflicts have been fully covered by mainstream media. Not so well covered by the media, but sociologically important, is how these conflicts have increased solidarity in the Koren community. The day after the [1992 Rodney King] riots ended, thirty thousand Koreans in Los Angeles held a rally for peace and solidarity…The victimization of Korean merchants during the riots also heightened Koreans’ political consciousness and second-generation Korean Americans’ ethnic identity… Why is it that Korean merchants have encountered multifaceted intergroup conflicts that have enhanced their ethnic solidarity, whereas … other entrepreneurial groups have not? To answer the question, one needs to pay special attention to the location of major Korean businesses and the nature of their commercial activities. Many Korean immigrants run… businesses [that] are heavily concentrated in minority neighborhoods. Korean merchants rely mostly on White suppliers… Korean merchants in the United States play the role of a ‘middleman’ minority… and thus are more likely to be involved in intergroup conflicts and to have developed collective strategies to protect their economic interests.” (Pg. 1-3)

He continues, “despite their education, Korean immigrants have faced problems in the American job market because of the language barrier and their unfamiliarity with American customs…. Most Korean immigrants also being a significant amount of money from Korea. Big corporations and White merchants are unwilling to invest in low-income minority neighborhoods where the residents’ spending capacity is low and the crime rate is high. Korean immigrants, on the other hand, prefer these neighborhoods because they can start businesses with small amounts of capital without encountering competition from established businesses. Thus, certain types of Korean businesses, such as grocery and liquor retail, heavily concentrate in minority neighborhoods, setting the stage for Korean-African-American conflicts.” (Pg. 4)

He explains, “the major focus of this book [is] Korean ethnic solidarity affected by Koreans’ business-related intergroup conflicts. The secondary objective of this book is to examine systematically hostility toward Korean merchants in African-American neighborhoods and Korena merchants’ reactions to it. My central thesis is that Koreans’ middleman role has increased their intergroup conflicts, which, in turn, has enhanced their ethnic solidarity… hostility toward Korean merchants in African American neighborhoods has enhanced Korean ethnic solidarity more than anu other form of business-related dispute.” (Pg. 6-7)

He observes, “I argue that Korean immigrants’ problems with the English language and other disadvantages for employment in the general labor market… are the main reasons for their concentration in small business. Moreover… I consider big corporations’ unwillingness to invest in low-income minority neighborhoods a major factor that significantly contributes to Korean merchants’ concentration in such neighborhoods.” (Pg. 20)

He notes, “South Korean people are increasingly well informed of the difficulties of Korean immigrants in adjusting to the United States. Therefore, at present middle-class Koreans generally do not hold it an attractive prospect: a survey conducted in Seoul indicates that lower-class Koreans, rather than middle-class Koreans, show a strong preference for emigration to the United States… in recent years, many Korean immigrants have returned to Korea permanently, giving up their ‘American dream.’” (Pg. 30)

He points out, “Recent Korean immigrants were … a select group in terms of their disproportionately Christian background. Though less than 25% of the Korean population is affiliated with Christian churches… the majority of Korean immigrants practiced Christianity in Korea… This heavily Protestant background clearly separated Korean immigrants from other Asian immigrant groups.” (Pg. 31)

He recounts, “two weeks after the Los Angeles riots, the city’s Korean community leaders met with Jewish leaders to learn now Jewish Americans had responded to the 1965 Watts riot. Jewish speakers emphasized that Jewish merchants quickly departed African American neighborhoods after the riot and that Koren immigrants should do the same. They suggested that Korean immigrants should try to establish corporations through partnerships in White areas… However, current Korean immigrants have fewer alternatives: the vast majority of Koreans have come to this country over the last twenty years and thus experience serious language barriers… they chose small businesses that served minorities because they had no other alternative.” (Pg. 70-71)

He observes, “In South Central Los Angeles, which has the highest percentage of African American residents, Korean stores were more likely to be damaged by arson; a higher proportion of Korean stores in other areas were simply looted… While looters basically wish to acquire merchandise, arsonists are motivated by hatred and revenge. Thus, the destruction of Koren stores in South Central … during the 1992 riots was partly a reflection of African American residents’ longer-standing hostility toward Korean merchants.” (Pg. 91)

He acknowledges, “Nearly all Korean merchants in Black neighborhoods are ‘absentee owners’; that is, they live outside of he neighborhoods where their stores are located. The fact the Korean merchants do not live in the neighborhoods where they operate businesses has helped to lead Blacks to perceive Korean merchants as exploiters.” (Pg. 111)

He comments, “In the 1986 Los Angeles survey, Korean business owners who hired Latinos but not African Americans were asked why they preferred Latino employees. Most respondents viewed the Mexican workers as cheap, docile, and hard-working, and believe that African-American workers exhibit more or less the opposite characteristics.” (Pg. 114)

He notes, “because of frequent shoplifting, many Korean merchants closely watch customers, who naturally resent being treated as shoplifters… Second, language barriers and cultural differences contribute to Korean merchants’ alleged rudeness. Many Krean merchants in black neighborhoods cannot communicate with customers effectively and thus can be easily misinterpreted… Customers tend to take this as a sign of disrespect… Native-born store owners who … are familiar with American customs … are likely to avoid many of the problems that arise from these cultural differences.” (Pg. 120)

He records, “[In] 1991, Ice Cube, a Los Angeles-based Black rap singer, released a new album entitled ‘Death Certificate.’ ‘Black Korea,’ a controversial song included in this album, reflects African-Americans’ hostility toward and violence against Koreans… Ice Cube stated that the song reflected African Americans’ and Koreans’ mutual hatred rather than his own contempt for Koreans… the Korean-American Grocers Association of Southern California threatened to boycott the [St. Ice Beer] company if it did not stop using Ice Cube as a model… The grocers’ boycott inflicted severe monetary damages on the beer company… the company acceded, firing Ice Cube as a model. They also asked him to make a formal apology to the Korean community. Under pressure from the … Company, Ice Cube apologized to Korean merchant leaders in Los Angeles for his inflammatory lyrics… He later sent copies of a letter of apology to the Korean community and to members of the media.” (Pg. 147-148)

This book will be “must reading” for those studying Korean immigrants, and Korean/African-American relations.

[Sooho Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

** true rating 4.5

A celebrated sociologist, Pyong Gap Min retraces, reviews, and reassesses a forgotten side of the L.A. Riots 1992 in the wake of the Rodney King event: the Black-Korean conflict. Reaching as far back as 1965, Min briefly retraces the history of Black and Korean interactions in Los Angeles and New York City. Min brings to light possible, probable, and definite factors for the grinding tension between these two minority groups. Min does not accept a reductionistic assessment of the rupture as solely from economic, cultural, ethnic, or white power issues. Rather, mustering all his scholarly tact, Min offers a complex and comprehensive mixture of economic disparity, cultural barriers, ethnocentrism, media irresponsibility, and lack of political engagement. Truly, Korean immigrants were caught in the middle.

Note: This was a 'scholar-read.' In other words, the book was not read in its entirety.

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