Belatedly came across an article written by Gerrick D. Kennedy for the Los Angeles Times. The title of the piece is “Two worlds blend uneasily in Koreatown.” Turns out it’s in reference to the contrast between the sleek new buildings and the fact that “More than 30% of Koreatown’s population lives below the federal poverty line, and the cost of living in the area is 140% higher than in other major U.S. cities.”
Ktownlove re-posted the story in its entirety with pictures hotlinking back to the LA Times. I guess the site’s founder Hyun Soo Kim was able to get permission to do that because he was featured prominently in the story.
What struck me is that there was no mention of the Spanish-speaking community in Koreatown. I hate ethnic identification more than anyone else, but I found it odd not to see the word Hispanic at least once in the story. Sure, there was the picture of the dark-skinned Latino on top, but you know that when you say “More than 30% of Koreatown’s population lives below the federal poverty line” it’s because the majority of the actual residents in Koreatown are either Mexicans or Salvadorans, the ones whose families are dependent on manual labor for income.
Didn’t the US Census find Koreatown to be the “Most Racially Diverse Neighborhood in America”? Koreans comprise less than half the population of Koreatown and in fact there are more than twice as many Hispanics than Koreans here. Walk around, and you’ll find the most authentic pupuserias of Los Angeles, if not the country, are located here.
It’s true the majority of the businesses are Korean-owned and patronized by Koreans, but after the black/Korean “altercations” of the early nineties, the affluent Koreans moved to the suburbs and started commuting to Koreatown only to work. And of course it’s now hip for young Korean-Americans and others of diverse backgrounds who enjoy “slumming” to hit the streets of Ktown for food and, ah, beauty services during the day and karaoke at night.
Reading the article made me realize how ghettoized we are in terms of “outsiders” not understanding what life is like in Koreatown. I was just complaining last week to the building manager about notices being posted only in Spanish. I was like, “But we’ve also got a few Korean and Bangladeshis living here… Shouldn’t the signs be in English too…”
Anthropologists can have a field day studying the patois spoken by the baggers at the grocery stores, the shampoo-ers at the hair salons and the workers at the car washes of Koreatown. It’s like a mix of Central American Spanish and Korean with some English words thrown in.
