Korean-Americans attachment to their homeland

Korean-Americans maintain a strong attachment to their homeland for a number of reasons, although all of them provide the same benefit--a cohesive Korean-American community in a society which has not yet fully accepted Koreans or Asians without discrimination.

Like other Asians in the United States, Koreans are seen as hard-working, industrious, thrifty individuals who live and work together. All of this is true, although it is often said as if it were a negative set of qualities. The hard-working part of that equation is important in establishing lives in the United States, but it is also a sign of the Korean way of life which has been maintained by Korean-Americans. One aspect of life which Korean-Americans do not miss is low-pay for very hard work at long hours. While the discipline and selflessness which comes from such work are traits which Korean-Americans are grateful, they certainly appreciate that they are paid much more for their labor in the United States than they were in Korea. That aspect of Korean life they do not miss:

Because of the conditions in their homeland, Korean immigrants were no strangers to hard work at low pay. They were used to it. They expected it. They might be eager to escape it as an inevitable feature of ;life for themselves and their children, but they also had the experience to know they could survive it, if necessary (Light and Bonacich 360).

The Korean-Americans obviously left their homeland for the United States, so it is clear

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a result of the difficulties Koreans faced in finding employment. It was easier to apply themselves to a small business and work hard for themselves. This entrepreneurship helped establish Koreans in their new land more than any other factor, but, unfortunately, it did not necessarily mean the end of discrimination (Light and Bonacich 318). The latter factor also kept the attachment for the homeland, where at least they not discriminated against for being Korean, no matter how hard they had to work for low pay. Those who find little or no success and assimilation in the United States will obviously long for their homeland, where at least they felt a part of the culture. Also, no matter how successful the Korean immigrant experience might be for some, even those immigrants maintain a connection with the homeland. The migration experience is a difficult one: It tears people from their often beloved homelands, breaks up families, and forces them into as prolonged, sometimes lifelong period of adjustment to a strange and alienating environment. In a mass migration such as that from South Korea to the United States, a whole generation may suffer these pains of dislocation (Light and Bonacich 430). However, precisely because so m

Category: Psychology - K