Sources from the readings

Home Is Where the Han Is: A Korean American Perspective on the Los Angeles Upheavals

This 1993 essay by Elaine H. Kim explores questions of whether or not recovery is possible for Korean Americans after the 1992 Riots, and what will become of attempts to “become American” without dying of han. Han, a Korean word, means the sorrow and anger that grows from the accumulated experiences of oppression. The condition it describes is taken quite seriously. When people die of han, it is called hwabyong, a disease of frustration and rage following misfortune. She says that the Korean Americans cannot call the trouble an “uprising” or a “riot.” To them, it is a sa-i-ku, a combination of three words used to describe uprisings in Korean history. If put into musical terms, Han would be the blues. Kim says, “What is clear is that we cannot ‘become American’ without dying of han unless we think about community in new ways.” She also states, which I find very helpful for this project, “If Korean national consciousness is ever to be such a weapon for us, we must use it to create a new kind of nationalism-in-internationalism to help us call forth a culture of survival and recovery, so that our han might be released and we might be freed to dream fiercely of different possibilities.” Because this article is written from a Korean-American Perspective, it provides insight into the life of an immigrant and how she feels about assimilating into American culture. While it may not be extremely recent, it does give a fairly modern perspective on the issue. I could quite possibly use this article for my paper.


From Different Shores: Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America

In his book, written in 1994, Ronald Takaki compiles 35 essays focused on race and ethnicity in America, past and present. The book is organized into six sections: 1) "Patterns" focuses on the racial and ethnic patterns seen in society 2) "Culture" covers the contradiction between typical American "Culture" and race and ethnicity, based on issues of identity and conflict 3) & 4) "Class" and "Gender" both focus on issues such as political economy, immigration, labor movements, class conflict, and feminism. This section seems to be the most helpful for my project. Section 5) "Public Policy" focuses on the government and policy workings for the topics covered in 3 and 4, and finally Section 6)"Prospects" ties together all of these topics by trying to dictate the future of these issues. This could also be helpful for Essay 4. Written from a scholarly perspective, both past and present, this book could be useful for my Writing 140 essay, however it may not provide a "real-life" perspective on immigration and living in the US, and could be difficult to find material worth including. Also, since it was written in 1994, the sections on public policy and section 6 could be dated and no longer relevant.

Ad Hominem Fallacy #2

In this news report by CNN about Ron Paul's tweet about WikiLeaks, CNN analysts Roland Martin and Erick Erickson attack the politician, rather than his argument. Quotes such as "I have trouble calling myself a Texan if Ron Paul is a Texan" and "he starred in a cartoon a while back as Marvin the Martian." By attacking Ron Paul, they get no where with the argument about the WikiLeaks, and essentially are working against themselves.



This is a prime example of Ad Hominem fallacy.

Tracy Kidder-Social Issues Speaker

I actually, to my surprise, really enjoyed hearing Tracy Kidder speak about his writings. His purpose was to teach that without knowing the details, struggles, and obstacles a person has overcome, a bystander cannot possibly understand the importance of an event. He uses the lives of Paul Farmer and Deo, both men who have seen the world from a different perspective than I have, to examine the tragedies that have occurred and are still occurring in Africa and in Haiti.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician focused on relieving the terrors of Aids and tuberculosis in Haiti, is the central figure in Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains. Kidder says that "[he] understands the world best through stories, but doesn’t search for subjects to write about, [he] looks for characters." It is Dr. Paul Farmer, a character that inspired Kidder to write his story delineating his efforts to establish clinics and hospitals in Haiti, that ultimately allowed Kidder to understand the compassion and wisdom that Farmer shares with the world.

He says his job as a writer is to "make what's true believable" and "bring people to life and scenes to life." Deo's story in Strength in What Remains is one about coming to terms with memory, as he survived the horror of genocide in Burundi, Africa and moved to Columbia University to complete a degree in Medical School. He has now started Village Health Works in Burundi, a medical clinic focused on bringing relief to his home country. His story is one of persistence and second chances, and Kidder uses him to show that we must question everyday people’s life stories, what they have endured and experienced before we make judgments.

I found Tracy Kidder's speech inspiring and it allowed me to think outside of myself as he quoted from his novels. Overall, it was a successful night. In a sense, I judged the seminar just as Kidder says we judge people--without knowing the backstory, and in the end was pleasantly surprised to learn the details behind his books. I think that his speech had a lot to do with compassion, something that I often find lacking as we study the history of Los Angeles in our American Studies class. If the people of the United States weren't so quick to judge, it is likely that we wouldn't have suffered through as many cultural and racial problems as we did.

Watts Riots, What I've Learned through Research

What was done after the riots in order to prevent Watts from becoming a repeated war-zone? It only makes sense that the efforts would be focused on easing the three sources of the uprising: Education, the deteriorating workforce, and habitual animosity between the Blacks and the police. Nevertheless, a list of reforms does not indicate the effects; we must analyze the progression of these remedies and their effectiveness of society. Thousands of ideas originated out of desperation for change within the Watts area, but instigation does not mean accomplishment. In order for a program to be considered accomplished it must clearly define a goal, follow through with execution, and see advancement or additions to the program.

Although this plan seems straightforward, many reforms left the people of Watts with nothing more than a false hope for change. Immediately following the uprising, a multitude of Federal Programs commenced, with high hopes of a radical change for the city of Watts. A few of these reforms included adding a Watts bus run to the Southern California Rapid Transit District, placing over 2,000 African Americans in jobs within one hundred aerospace and industrial corporations, and allocating money to the state in order to relieve the dire housing situation in Watts. Louis Smith, an employee of CORE who helped start a job reform program named Operation Bootstrap, warns the people of Watts in the Wall Street Journal just a year after the riots:

“When levels of expectation are raised and bureaucratic or other obstacles keep those expectations from being realized, the net effect is often worst than if the encouragement hadn’t been provided in the first place.” (Watts 1)

Most of the federal projects quickly encountered problems that prevented them from becoming a successful public reform. For example, even though the Rapid Transit District did add a bus route that stops in Watts, less than 1% of the neighborhood’s adults actually use the system due to the lack of employment outside of their area. The neighborhood quickly disintegrated into an imprisoning confine, as no one would hire an African American from Watts outside of the areas boundaries, therefore negating the need for this twenty-seven million dollar project. In addition, promises of ”Operation Cool It,” a summer swimming project also nose-dived when Washington failed to issue the $300,000 grant, and similarly, the Office of Economic Opportunity had promised the Youth Opportunities Agency $3.5 million to provide summertime employment and recreation, but later stated there had “been a mistake”—the money was reapportioned to other programs instead. This lack of follow-through and poor division of funds left Watts with nothing but wrong anticipations and ultimately a feeling of deceit.

Visions and Voices: Hearing America Singing

On Thursday evening I attended a Visions and Voices event titled, "Hearing America Singing: Multiracial Cultures in America." It was focused on American Poet Elizabeth Alexander, the fourth poet to compose and recite a poem at a presidential inauguration in 2009. She spoke about the importance of racial diversity and poetry as a "place of the soul, reaching across the void of human beings" and unifying them into a whole. Alexander explored the necessity of African American Studies in college academics, and explained how poetry has helped her to "hear America singing in varied tones."

So you ask, what does this have to do with our American Studies class? In reality, it connects quite closely. Elizabeth Alexander, an African American herself, recognizes that the world is ever changing. She says that it is no surprise to her that "Latinos will be the largest single ethnic group at the next census," and even quotes Poet James Baldwin when he says "The world is "white" no longer, and will never be white again." Alexander believes that we must allow the change, debate, tensions to amalgamate in our culture: she says "I don't think poetry needs to be "hard," but it does need to be "heated."" Los Angeles is not Los Angeles without a study of it's issues: the Riots of 1965 and 1992 and The Water Wars help to define the cultural tensions that make the city what it is today.

Elizabeth Alexander realizes that "art has a place of civic discourse," and "our difference is what makes us American." She is a woman of poise and strength, and I quite enjoyed her speech.

I will end by quoting her speech, just as she did, from President Obama's Inaugural Address:

Praise Song for the Day

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other’s
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what’s on the other side.

I know there’s something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

"Can We All Get Along?"

The cover of Time Magazine on the 40th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots states, "Can We All Get Along?" This is the question that plagues generation after generation as it seems there is always a new conflict forming beneath the surface. The 1965 Watts Riots was a 5 day civil unrest that took place in Watts, Los Angeles, leaving 34 people dead, 1,032 injured, and 3,438 arrested. Until the 1992 Rodney King Riots, it was the most severe unrest in the history of Los Angeles.

The Riots broke out when a Caucasian policeman named Lee Minikus arrested African American Marquette Frye after he failed to pass a sobriety test while driving. Prior to this event, however, racial tensions in the Watts neighborhood had escalated, and therefore black citizens lived in fear of the white policemen. After Minikus refused to let Frye's mother drive his car home, calling for it to be impounded, she and his brother Ronald resisted, gathering a crowd of a couple hundred around the scene.

When the police withdrew, the people--angered and tense--began to riot, threatening the police and stoning cars. The mob grew and buildings were soon set on fire. By the fourth day, 13,000 National Guardsmen had arrived in the area hoping to stop the more than 100 building fires that had resulted from the riot. By the last day, almost 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, causing an estimated $40 million in damage.

I chose to study the implications of the racial tensions boiling in Los Angeles during this time, as I still see traces of these conflicts in the present day. I am interested to see the connections between the 1965 Riots and the 1992 Riots, and how the latter could have been prevented had we learned from our mistakes.