Profile of A Korean-American Journalist

Oh My News has an interesting article about Korean-American CNN news reporter Kyung Lah.  She had a lot of interesting things to say about growing up in America and the Korean-American community in general in America:

Americans see Koreans in a myopic manner because Koreans tend to sequester themselves within American society. I have felt frustration to some degree myself with how much Koreans see church as the center of their lives, but do not have a tradition of reaching out to the larger community. My family, and the Koreans they knew, did not do any outreach to the community. The most basic problem is that they did not know how to reach out. That gap created a problem with the community that they so wanted to serve.

Some Korean immigrants felt unease as people new to the country. Korean-Americans in the future have to make an effort to reach out.

At the same time, there is a problem in the U.S. of the next generation of Koreans not identifying with Korea themselves, not feeling any connection with that country. Sometimes we even see resentment on the part of younger Koreans that they had to play the role of translator and mediator with America for their parents.

I tend to think that the Asian community in general doesn’t flex their collective muscles enough in politics and main stream American society in general compared to other minority groups in America.  Just like Ms. Lah’s parents the Asian community may be more focused on working hard and trying to educate their children then worrying about politics and other areas of American society:

I am ethnically Korean. I was born in Korea, in Seoul, and immigrated here at the age of seven with my family. My parents were the typical Korean immigrants who opened up a liquor store in Chicago. They embraced the American dream, raised their kids, and made sure to send them off to good universities. My experience followed the standard pattern for Korean-Americans. Much of my family life revolved around the church, and that is where I had my first experiences with the community. On Saturdays I was at church for Korean study school and at service on Sundays. My experience was pretty representative.

Some may remember the Daniel Hong controversy from last summer where he speculated that Asian reporters were not hired due to racist reasons along with a host of other complaints against whites in America which I proved false by providing example of both female and male Asian reporters in America.  So I find it interesting that more and more Asian reporters are appearing on televisions every day, not to mention the success of Korean actors such as Daniel Dae Kim and Yu-jin Kim.

Maybe this is all a sign of not only the “Korean Wave” hitting America, but an “Asian Wave” in general.