Posted on 09/20/2009 8:04:15 PM PDT by joey703
But, what's interesting is to see the parallels between what this paper finds and how it stacks up to how ethnic Koreans are perceived or how Koreans are expected to be in the United States. Considering that China too is a very diverse, multiethnic country and that, at least on paper, the Chinese have a similar definition of identity as that of the United States, I'd like to argue that it can be shown that the expectations or beliefs that Americans may hold towards Korean-Americans can indeed be validated. We can show by seeing if these same expectations can be confirmed from data found among ethnic Koreans living in China (Joseon-jok, 조선족). Hence, we have that:
In terms of achievement in standardized tests and percentages of high school and college graduates, the Koreans not only do better than any other minority group in China, they also outperform the Hans, the majority group in China. For example, 175.3 Koreans completed four years of college per 10,000 Koreans six years old and over, compared to 72.9 for the total Chinese population and 31.6 for all minorities (C. Lee, 1986)
Now, I couldn't get the primary source for this data, but based on what is said here, it wouldn't be to hard to say that Koreans as a people very much value education (I can also recall reading that another source puts South Korea as being the largest source nation of foreign students in both China and the United States). Recall that South Korea is half a country of less than fifty million. I'd also argue that by extension that this also quantifies the argument that Koreans have been most influenced by neo-Confucian values and institutions as well as a number of other conclusions. [...]
(Excerpt) Read more at northxkorea.blogspot.com ...
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There is a large influx in Northern VA of Koreans.
There’s a large Koreatown in Dallas and another in Garland. Love going there to shop and eat bulgogi. Price ranges vary widely, from $6 to $40+. Lots of furniture, small appliance, rug, artwork, etc shops.
Take this from a guy who LIVES and WORKS among both Chinese and Koreans in the city of New York.
If you want to see how well the Koreans do economically vs. the Chinese, there is no better place to look than the town of Flushing in the borroagh of Queens, New York City. One part of Flushing, notably around MAIN STREET, looks practically like Taiwan or Hongkong. The neighboring section of Flushing along Northern Blvd. is entirely made up of Korean shops ( you’d be hard press to find a shop with no Korean signs ).
There are also places where you have an AMALGAMATION of Koreans and Chinese (e.g. a Korean-Chinese restaurant ).
So, who does better as immigrants ? I’d call it a tie with Koreans doing just a little better on the average.
My guess is because Koreans, coming from a smaller country with less diverse ethnic groups, tend to take care of their own better. Hence, they tend to be more homogeneous and tend to be more affiliated with each other.
China, a country bigger than the USA with scores of ethnic groups, tend to be less unified and a lot of them still harbor a — “I am from this province, you are from that province” or “I am of this ethnic group, you are from that ethnic group” attitude.
The one thing most immigrants both countries share in common is this — THEY COME HERE TO WORK AND SUCCEED.
They might be a small minority group in the USA compared to others, but IMO they have done an excellent job @ assimilating into our country. Now if only other minority groups would follow their lead (hint, hint).
I have a hard time believing that China is a multi-ethnic country comparable to the United States.
I have Korean, Chinese and Japanese neighbors here in the immediate viscinity, and when I walk my dog, I can see it when they all eye my pug Gus with varying degrees of cold calculation of how much tenderloin (and other choice cuts...) he would yield. He’s a well-fed (but not fat) 9 month old fawn and he goes about 22 pounds, and he would probably feed a family of four (considering leftovers...) for at least a week. I’m certain they all have different recipes in mind and I’ve had nightmares about seeing him served on a bed of rice with an Chinese Pear in his mouth....
It’s such a terrible burden....
Well, you can think about it linguistically. China resembles Europe more than the United States in a linguistic sense (think that most people have their own dialects and large linguistic subgroups, i.e. germanic/slavic/romance), but a language that most people can speak (like English in Europe vs Mandarin in China).
But, ethnically speaking, it should be very, very diverse (it's just that the diversity doesn't span from people from different continents and skin colors)...I'd put India in this category too...
I agree; but as soon as you bring race into it it gets complicated.
Here in the USA, blacks comprise about 13%, Hispanics about 15%, Asians about 5% and Whites about 68%.
While in appearance the skin color gives away blacks versus whites, but if you think about it, China I would say is also diverse, although along a very different line. The 90% you speak of, is actually many different races assimilated into the Han Chinese majority. But you see, that 90% of China speak different languages and such.
Anyways, I view their empire (similar to American) definition of what it means to be Chinese as bankrupt (for example, their treatment of Eastern Turks and Tibetans)... For more on that, check out this. But, yeah, perhaps, I could've been oversimplifying. It is a touchy subject after all and we are talking about Communist China and their history of conquering/assimilating people for many millenia.
Not too sure about these figures, but since all of them are Chinese citizens (unlike the very few minorities in Korea or Japan), but Manchu is no longer an ethnic group really. The Manchu language is no more and people do not call themselves Manchu-Chinese;they would say they are Han Chinese.
I had a Korean engineer once, excellent worker and a wonderful family man. He was a Baptist too.
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