American Koreans vs Korean Americans Research Paper

American Koreans vs Korean Americans - Research Paper Example Earlier migrants were mostly concentrated in Hawaii and were recruited to work in sugarcane fields in Hawaii region. Over the period of time, regional dispersion of Koreans increased throughout the mainland. From 1990 to 2000, concentration of Korean Americans was mostly in Georgia (Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard 192). Pre and Post 1965 wave of immigrants from Korea was associated with particular industries such as retail stores, nail salons, travel agencies, liquor stores etc. Most of such industries were labor intensive in nature; however, the major reason of why Koreans engaged into such labor intensive industries was to create better opportunities for their children to get into better schools (Choi 55). American Koreans however, is a very small group comprising those who were either defectors or were taken as prisoners during the war in Korea (Hastings 35). This group is relatively small; however, it is significant in the sense that it also represents dual cultures of America and Korea. What is critical to note also that some of the POWs were taken by China from North Korea, indicating involvement of multiple players in redefining the overall future and cultural identity of this new group. Most of the POWs were largely influenced by the Chinese ideology. As such, both groups have now developed their distinct and separate identity and political ideologies. Their distinct cultural identity is considered as an important way through which they actually separate themselves from other groups, and this also reflects their overall perceptions for admission process. This paper will discuss this, and it will also explore how American Koreans and Korean Americans actually carry the overall cultural identity for their admissions. 1. Cultural Identity and Admission Process Having students from countries where English is not a dominant language or students belonging to different cultural groups always raises certain important political as well as cultural issues. Universities require declaration of ethnic origin of the students and gaps have been observed in the admission scores of Asian and White students. Universities like Vanderbilt publically announced to increase the number of Jews students over a certain period of time however, ignore to take into consideration more able Asian students with better SAT and other scores. (Golden 69) Conflict theory, however, suggests that admission exams are often culturally biased and are made in such a way that only members from dominant groups can get admission into such universities as well as colleges. It is also critical to note that most of the American-Koreans have actually failed to get into the inner and deeper level of American society. This cultural aloofness therefore also reflects how American Koreans actually perceive the overall admission process. The monolithic and historical representation of Asian American students in universities has largely remained unstable. The race based c haracterization of the students not only remained contextual in nature but also shaped by multiple motives. (Hurh 65) Applying this theory on the American Koreans clearly suggests that American universities have certain preferences. The overall tests are designed in such a manner that only people belonging to certain ethnic and cultural groups are able to get through the admission process. Most of those who attend the church with me feel strongly that admission process is developed in a manner that favors certain groups, and despite all the merit and skills required to get into top universities, not many American Koreans are able to get through this. (Kibria, 30) There have been significant decisions by universities such as Yale and Harvard wherein minimum SAT scores