Korean Americans

Coming to Their Own

Until recently, Korean Americans were largely invisible in the U.S. However, like many Asian groups they had distinct immigration waves, suffered from race-based exclusionary laws, and endured a pivotal event that caused them to reexamine their place in the American landscape.

Immigration Waves

Korean Americans had three distinct waves beginning with 1903-1924. From 1903-1905, some 7,000 Koreans migrated to Hawaii as labor for the sugar plantations. Approximately 1,000 of these came to the continental US In 1905, Korea became a protectorate of and was later annexed by Japan in 1910. Japan then severely restricted further emigration to the US to stop the exodus of skilled labor and to stem the Korean independence movement. In 1924, the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act limited Koreans entering the US to 100 per year.

The period between the end of the Korean War in 1953 through 1965 marked the second immigration wave. It was mainly facilitated by an earlier law, the War Brides Act of 1945, which allowed spouses and adopted children of US military personnel to enter the US Today, it is estimated that one in four Korean immigrants can trace their lineage to the arrival of a Korean War bride. Also the end of the Korean War marked the beginning of American families adopting Korean children.

The third immigration wave began with the Immigration Act of 1965, which removed "national origins" as the basis for American immigration policy. Until then, Koreans were a small minority, with a population of around 10,000.

Exclusionary Laws

Korean Americans experienced discriminatory laws similar to those faced by other Asian groups. For example, in the early 20th century, laws prohibited Koreans from attending school with whites in San Francisco; the 1901 California Anti Miscegenation Law disallowed intermarriage with whites; and the California a 913 Alien Land Law prohibited Koreans ineligible for citizenship to own land. Yet another exclusionary law was the 1924 Oriental Exclusion, which barred the immigration of picture brides.

Population Estimates

Today, Korean Americans rank as the fourth largest Asian group in the US with a population of over one million, of which 150,000 are Korean adoptees. The state with the largest Korean American population is California with 33%, followed New York with 12%. Washington State currently has approximately 43,600 Korean Americans, of which, 67°/a reside in Seattle area and 19% live in the Tacoma area.

Visibility and Empowerment

Before the 1992 Los Angeles (LA) riots, which were precipitated by the April 29 not-guilty verdict of four white police officers in the assault and beating of Rodney King, Korean Americans were largely invisible. Perhaps no other recent event transformed the Korean American community across the nation as the staggering devastation of the LA riots—or what became known as "sa-i-gu" (pronounced "sah-ee-goo") by Korean Americans. Nearly half of the city's 1 billion in damages was suffered by Korean American mom-and-pop storekeepers. Not since the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans had another event wound a large Asian American community so deeply. The extreme disproportionate damage suffered by Korean Americans suggested that sa-i-gu was a model-minority myth backlash where Korean Americans took the hit for all Asian Americans. Before sa-i-gu, Korean Americans diligently and silently pursued the American dream, believing that hard work and low profile would ensure social and economic rewards. After the ashes fell and in full light of the media, sa-i-gu forced the community to face the myth.

After the LA riots, Korean Americans around the nation felt alone and deeply hurt by what Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams described as "the unspoken but widely held sentiment that they somehow deserved what they got." Sa-i-gu forced Korean Americans to reevaluate their assumptions and assert themselves in America. Sa-i-gu also forced a sudden shift in leadership from the first-generation immigrants to their more acculturated 1. 5 and 2.0 generations. Korean Americans coined the "1.5 generation" to refer to those who came to the US as children, and the "2.0 generation" as those born in America.. This generational-power shift paved the way to political empowerment.

On May 2 of the same year, more than 30,000 Korean Americans marched through Koreatown in LA, calling for peace and denouncing the police and criminal injustice in the Rodney King trial. This protest was the largest ever held by Asian Americans. Sa-i-gu and its subsequent political awakening resulted in a dramatic increase in Korean American organizations whose aims are to affirm Korean American civil rights, heritage, and place in the political arena.

Sources: Segmentdata, Asian Consumer Database Household Count, 2000; Takaki, Ronald. "Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans,°1989; Zia. Helen. "Asian: American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People," New York, 2000.

Korean American Day in Washington State

Senator Paull Shin of Edmonds, WA sponsored Senate Bill 5166, designating January 13th as "Korean American Day."  Senator Shin is the first and only legislator of Korean descent in Washington's history.  The non-legal holiday  commemorates the first arrival of Korean immigrants to Honolulu, Hawaii on January 13, 1903.  The day will honor the accomplishments and contributions of Korean Americans.  The Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs is directed to assist in the day of recognition by coordinating events and educational opportunities to private organizations and public entities.