Caught in the Middle: Korean Communities in New York And Los Angeles / Edition 1

by Pyong Gap Min

Overview

In this unflinching exploration of one of the most politically charged topics of our time, Pyong Gap Min investigates the racial dynamics that exist between Korean merchants, the African American community, and white society in general. Focusing on hostility toward Korean merchants in New York and Los Angeles, Min explains how the "middleman" economic role Koreans often occupy—between low-income, minority customers on the one hand and large corporate suppliers on the other—leads to conflicts with other groups. Further, Min shows how ethnic conflicts strengthen ties within Korean communities as Koreans organize to protect themselves and their businesses.

Min scrutinizes the targeting of Korean businesses during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1990 African American boycotts of Korean stores in Brooklyn. He explores Korean merchants' relationships with each other as well as with Latin American employees, Jewish suppliers and landlords, and government agencies. In each case, his nuanced analysis reveals how Korean communities respond to general scapegoating through collective action, political mobilization, and other strategies.

Fluent in Korean, Min draws from previously unutilized sources, including Korean American newspapers and in-depth interviews with immigrants. His findings belie the media's sensationalistic coverage of African American-Korean conflicts. Instead, Caught in the Middle yields a sophisticated and clear-sighted understanding of the lives and challenges of immigrant merchants in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520204898
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/30/1996
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	243
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Pyong Gap Min is Professor of Sociology at Queens College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables 
Acknowledgments 

I. Introduction 
2. Host Hostility and Middlemen's Reactions 
3. Korean Communities: New York and
Los Angeles 
4. Korean Immigrants' Economic Segregation 
5. Hostility toward Korean Merchants in
Black Neighborhoods 
6. Sources of Hostility toward
Korean Merchants 
7. Koreans' Efforts to Improve Relations with
African Americans 
8. Korean-African American Conflicts:
Positive Effects 
9. Koreans Merchants' Collective Responses
to Suppliers, Landlords,
and Government Agencies 
IO. Collective Actions and Power in the Korean
Community 
II. Korean Businesses: Negative Effects 
12. Conclusion 

Notes 
References 
Index