Reflection on My Social Location

Instructor: Claassens, Juliana

Practicum in Biblical Interpretation BI-341

February 17, 2009 

Reflection on My Social Location

The assigned articles for reflection deal with reading the Bible in a particular social community. While reading given articles, I thought about what defines me. When I introduce myself to others, I say that I am an international student from Korea. In my introduction, there are three particular characteristics about me: I am a foreigner, unemployed, and Korean.  Actually, these are not enough to adequately define who I am. I have been interwoven with multiple social backgrounds and I view the world through a multi-layered social lens.

I am not only an international student from Korea, but also the son of a Korean immigrant. My parents operate a beauty supply shop in Newport News, VA.  My dual identity makes me consider not only my Korean background, but also my life as a son of Korean immigrants in the U.S.  When I observe my family, and its community in Newport News,VA, I often feel that they live as strangers in America even though they are U.S citizens. Also, Koreans in Korea regard Korean immigrants in the U.S. as foreigners both in America and in Korea. Therefore, my social location is caught somewhere between American and Korean society, which makes me feel doubly marginalized in both communities.

The article ‘Reading The Bible As Asian Americans’ provides insight that enables me to look deeply at my social location. The article focuses on the diversity of Asian Americans. Also, there is diversity in the Korean immigrant community. The different groups within this community can be categorized by generation, legal status, economic status and social status. Also, intermarriage between Korean immigrants and other ethnic groups produces new multi-cultural communities. When I observe the totality of these communities, sorrowfully, there are conflicts.

Conflicts exist between the first and second generations of Korean immigrants in America. The first generation brings Korean values and teach them to the second generation who are taught American values. Also, differences in legal, economic and social status create conflict in the relationship between oppressors and the oppressed. When Korean immigrants arrive in the U.S. they usually ask for help from the existing Korean immigrants. Some of the existing Korean immigrants take advantage of their status in order to exploit new Korean immigrants. New Korean immigrants have no recourse against ill-treatment in the form of very low salaries and extremely hard work because of their limited status. Also, many Korean immigrants hold unpleasant views on multi-cultural communities because they want to keep their identity as one pure race. However, an hidden reason for hostility arises from their jealousy of multi-cultural families. Actually, multi-cultural families have more opportunities to merge into the American main stream. American spouses can help Korean immigrants obtain citizenship or a green card. Although multi-cultural families serve as bridges to connect Korean immigrants into American society, they are marginalized by Korean immigrants.

For twenty-eight years, my experiences in Korea shaped my interpretation of the Bible. During the last three years, my experiences with Korean immigrants added a new layer on my existing lens of interpreting the Bible. My experiences at Wesley have added yet another layer. My multi-layered lens provides insight which enables me to find other ways of viewing Korean immigrants.

The last argument of ‘Reading the Bible as Asian Americans,’ which is “people of America,” reminds me of a small chat I once shared with a fellow minister. Our chat focused on the identity of Korean immigrant children. Some people say that they need to keep their Korean identity while others say that they need to be American.  The given article argues that Asian Americans will experience the land of promise only as they identify as Americans. However, I am arguing that Korean immigrants should not identify with any particular nation. I think national identity is not important for them, or for myself. Rather, I believe we should proclaim that we are “the people of God or the people of the Kingdom of God.” I believe that God has called Korean immigrants as His children in order to fortify the Kingdom of God in the land of America.