BOOK

Koreatown, Los Angeles : immigration, race, and the \American dream\

Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee, 1975- author

2022

Overview

\"Koreatown, Los Angeles tells the story of how one ethnic neighborhood came to signify a shared Korean American identity. At the turn of the twentieth century, Los Angeles's Korean population stood at about 186,000--the largest concentration of Koreans outside of Asia. Most of this growth took place following the passage of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, which dramatically altered US immigration policy and ushered in a new era of mass immigration, particularly from Asia and Latin America. Over the following decades, Korean immigrants continued to build community in LA, and in 1979, a group of Koreans sought city development funds to turn the area around Olympic Boulevard near downtown Los Angeles into a full-fledged \"Koreatown.\" As Korean immigrants seized the opportunity to purchase inexpensive commercial and residential property and transformed the area to serve their community's needs, other minority communities in nearby South LA--notably Black and Latino working-class communities--faced increasing segregation, urban poverty, and displacement. Beginning with the early development of LA's Koreatown and culminating with the 1992 Los Angeles riots and their aftermath, Shelley Sang-Hee Lee demonstrates how Korean Americans' lives were shaped by patterns of racial segregation and urban poverty, and legacies of anti-Asian racism and orientalism. \"Koreatown, Los Angeles\" tells the story of an American ethnic community often equated with socioeconomic achievement and assimilation, but whose experiences as racial minorities and immigrant outsiders illuminate key economic and cultural developments in the United States since 1965. Lee argues that building Koreatown was an urgent objective for Korean immigrants and US-born Koreans eager to carve out a spatial niche within Los Angeles to serve as an economic and social anchor for their growing community. More than a dot on a map, Koreatown holds profound emotional significance for Korean immigrants across the nation as a symbol of their shared bonds and place in American society\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Subject: 1900-1999 / Korean Americans California Los Angeles Social conditions 20th century. / Immigrants California Los Angeles Social conditions 20th century. / Minorities California Los Angeles Social conditions 20th century. / Racism against Asians California Los Angeles History 20th century. / Immigrants Social conditions. / Korean Americans Social conditions. / Minorities Social conditions. / Race relations. / Racism against Asians. / Koreatown (Los Angeles, Calif.) History 20th century. / Los Angeles (Calif.) Race relations History 20th century. / California Los Angeles. / California Los Angeles Koreatown.
• ISBN: 9781503613737, 1503613739, 9781503631823, 1503631826

Item info:

1 item available

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
F869.L86 K675 2022	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE