From: rchoi@thylacine.cs.wisc.edu (Ron Choi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.korean
Subject: Re: A korean living in the U.S.
Date: 9 Oct 92 20:08:00 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.

In article <1992Oct8.225935.9829@news.acns.nwu.edu> phantom@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (James Choi) writes:
>I do not know what it is, but I was never called in any racial terms.
>There was time I was often bullies and teased in my past.  It was when I
>was in Korea.

that's quite extraordinary.  but there will come a time when you are verbally
or physically abused, and you'll come to understand how i and others feel.

>>  asian americans will *never* be
>>accepted as main stream, just as african-americans and latinos will never be
>>accepted.  
>
>Good attitude.

i'm just being realistic.

>>remember english and korean are linguistically quite different.  just as 
>>americans have extraordinarily difficult time learning an asian language,
>>it is the same way for asians.  my dad never master the language, and it
>>wasn't for lack of trying.
>
>I think there is age factor and some aptitude factor involved.  Would you
>hire someone who never mastered algebra for an engineering position?
>
>>i don't know how fluent you are, but that doesn't give you the right to
>>criticize others who aren't.  some people are just not gifted in learning 
>>foreign languages.
>
>I can barely communicate in English.  Yet, I feel irritated when I cannot
>tell when my co-worker "did the job" or "will do the job" because of
>his/her verb conjugation is rather random.
>
>Have you ever criticized any politicians?  Any government?  Who gave you
>the right?  Some people are not gifted in managing, engineering, you name
>it.  So, they do not move up.  Judging people by his/her own ability is
>very fair.

you seemed to think that language is the *only* barrier that's keeping the
asian-americans from reaching the highest goals.  are you implying that second
and third generation asian-americans are not subjected to any racism at all?
i've listened to stories after stories about how asian-americans are 
discriminated upon.  have you ever heard of vincent chin?  are we living in the
same country?  do you know any other asian-americans, besides yourself?
talk to them, please, and get it straightened out.

>>>I do not see it as a racism.  I see it as an
>>>incompetence problem.  Language inability is a kind of incompetence.
>>
>>i guess white females lack the communication skills to be managers
>>since we see so little of them in companies.  
>
>So, it shows there are more than racism involved.  Other factor is
>physique.  I have read a report of correlation on height vs position.
>There is a direct correlation.  Even full professors are taller than
>associate professors according to that statistics.  Apparently all fall
>victim of this type of appearance discrimination.  Only non-white will
>scream racism.

who said racism is the only problem?  

>>to sum up, i think you're telling us that we asians do not need to try harder
>>than whites in order to succeed.  i can't help feeling a sense of disbelief;
>>forgive me.
>
>As you mentioned Korean language is very different from English.  So, you
>need to try harder to bring your language level to that of the natives.
>Besides, this is a foreign land.  Of course, you have to try harder.  But
>do not hide behind "racism!" cry for anything you fail.  There are times
>when it is well deserved.

i think you misunderstood.  i don't fault racism for my failures.  i haven't
failed in many things in my life to begin with.  i'm not even saying that
we have to rid ourselves of racism; it's not possible.  human beings will
continue to reject/despise things that are different from what he/she's
used to or expects.  i'm just disagreeing with what you said (or what you
seemed to have said) about asians being at fault for inviting discrimination
upon themselves by not learning english more diligently.  that is a 
proposterous notion.

>James Choi

ron choi
-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ron choi 				\\  #include <disclaimer.h>
university of wisconsin, madison	\\
	"when i was your age, i walked ten miles to school, unarmed."