The distance between the countries of South Korea and the US are over 6,000 miles long. A flight from one country to the other lasts 13 hours: almost half an entire day. Yet, there are over 1.8 million people of Korean ancestry living in the United States, dating to approximately 0.6% of the entire US population. These families have all immigrated for a variety of reasons, whether it is for work, education, or simply a place for a brighter start.
The first wave of immigrants to the United States came to Hawaii in 1903, arriving on the island to work on pineapple and sugar plantations as cheap labor forces. From the years 1910 to 1924, a flux of “picture brides” arrived from Korea - women who had gone through marriage ceremonies in Korea before sailing to join their husbands in Hawaii and on the Pacific Coast, such as California.
This immigration was abruptly abridged when the Congress passed the Oriental Exclusion Act of 1924, banning all Asian immigrants from entering the US, identifying Asia as a “barred zone.” The only group of immigrants allowed were a few hundred Korean students studying at universities, who were allowed to stay in the country as long as they were registered for school.
The racial prohibitions against Koreans initially arose from local residents, who provoked anti-Asian violence, eventually leading to anti-Asian legislation. Koreans, like others of color, were subject to employment and housing restrictions, while many of these facilities were reserved for white immigrants and residents. This period of restriction continued until the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, allowing family and employment immigration, abolishing the discrimination against ethnic groups, including Asians. This allowed Koreans to gain a sense of value in America by acquiring diverse occupations, leading to large Korean communities to grow and flourish throughout various states.
Today, the result of these growing communities represent one of the fastest-growing and successful immigrant groups in the United States. With their arrivals, Koreans have brought with them a diverse diffusion of its cultural heritage, including its foods, arts, and music. From familiarizing different Korean cuisines to reaching worldwide charts with Korean movies and Korean bands, each community has added a valuable piece to enriching the Korean culture to their homeland.
Indeed, my family has taken part in spreading these Korean cultures around my community through everyday life that I may not even notice. My parents always remind me of how proud I should be living as a Korean-American in the United States. They used to tell me about the butterfly effect––of how their immigration to the United States led to me standing right here, speaking in fluent English.
Recently, I felt a sudden sense of national pride during the annual Lunar New Year festival held in my town. Serving as a working volunteer for the ceremony, I had an initial worry that the timely preparations wouldn’t meet the expectations, and that not enough people would visit. However, I was certainly wrong. Over two hundred families joined the ceremony; a mix of Korean children, as well as other families of non-Korean heritage hoping to learn more about the culture. In the end, my expectations were surmised as the crowd rapidly filled the entire auditorium.
Not only as a volunteer, but as a Korean, I was not only proud of our preparations to pay off, but also in being able to see the gathering of the current Korean community. I cannot fathom how glorious I had felt to be a part of the cultural heritage, one that has prospered for over a century.
On the 13th of January, 2003, President George W. Bush commemorated and celebrated the centennial anniversary of Korean immigration to the United States, acknowledging their invaluable contributions to the Nation’s rich cultural diversity, economic strength, and proud heritage. He stated during the proclamation, “the United States was the first Western country to sign a treaty of commerce and amity with Korea in 1882, promising ‘perpetual peace and friendship’ between our nations.” As Bush acknowledges, since that signing, the United States and South Korea have built a healthy relationship of “peace and friendship” addressing both countries’ mutual national goals.
In a country like the United States that is filled with a plethora of different groups and communities, it is paramount to preserve that as a Korean, my Korean identity and culture must be kept intact to keep the strengths of our community eternally connected. Although every Korean immigrant has faced struggles during their journey, each of their efforts serve as a glamorous and precious treasure that helps to carry the Korean identity in the United States.
As the years pass by, let us collectively preserve this treasure of Korea, and maintain the spirit of national identity and pride for our nation.
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