Alex Ko, with his parents and brother, at their former video store in Koreatown.
In 1992, most of the children of Korean riot victims were too young to speak out and explain their family’s situations, though they possessed a skill that eluded their immigrant parents: speaking fluent English. Twenty years later, this generation has grown up. They can speak now, and though 4.29 remains a painful subject, these children of Saigu carry its legacy into the future.
by ALEX KO
I assumed that the wounds left by the riots would fester for a lifetime. I thought of myself and my family as permanently disfigured. Too many of the days following 4.29 were dark ones.
But here we are, 20 years later, and we are still alive. My parents, while not rich, through toil and a little luck, own a successful small business. Too many families lost everything and never got a second chance.
As the pages of the calendar fell away, we had graduations, marriages, children were born, and family members have passed away. I can still point to the pain left by the riots. For years, it lived squarely in my chest as a terrible ache. Now, I don’t feel it most days. But really, I have trained myself to stop feeling it.
Yungsuhn Park, with her family, during a vacation one year before her father died.
In 1992, most of the children of Korean riot victims were too young to speak out and explain their family’s situations, though they possessed a skill that eluded their immigrant parents: speaking fluent English. Twenty years later, this generation has grown up. They can speak now, and though 4.29 remains a painful subject, these children of Saigu carry its legacy into the future.
by YUNGSUHN PARK
I was in middle school in 1992 when I experienced the destruction of Saigu firsthand.
On April 30, the violence had reached Koreatown, and I remember my mom calling a body shop owner who worked down the street from our boyak (Korean herbal medicine) shop. He reported that it looked like our block was on fire. I watched my mom as she fell to the floor, her hopes and dreams shattered. The shop was the sum of my parents’ hard work for the last 13 years, and the idea of starting over was devastating.
In that moment, I realized how much the shop was part of her. Like many other immigrants, running a small business was not just a way to make a living, but it was the only way to survive and thrive in this country. It was also a family affair. I grew up helping my parents with just about everything. I played “secretary,” often writing business letters for my dad and even accompanied him on the road on weekends to check out auctions and other business opportunities out of town. Continue Reading »
After the Trauma
KoreAm mental health columnist Dr. Esther Oh distills the symptoms, consequences and treatments of PTSD, an anxiety disorder that affected many Korean American riot victims.
In April 1992, one of the worst riots in our country’s history broke out in Los Angeles. The L.A. riots left many dead, injured and financially ruined. Among those affected were a large group of Korean Americans who owned and worked in businesses in the area. Though I was young, I vividly remember watching the horrible images on my grandfather’s television screen of buildings on fire, injured people fleeing the streets and widespread looting.
The riots were unexpected and monumental, leaving the Korean American community demoralized and enraged. It took decades for the Korean Americans to build and establish businesses in the city, but only three days to destroy them. In the post-riot recovery period, the community focused on the financial losses and rebuilding efforts. Victims were understandably in survival mode. Unfortunately, the emotional trauma experienced by many got lost in the shuffle. One study later showed that 75 percent of Korean riot victims surveyed had developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with 55 percent of them diagnosed with a severe form. Only 7 percent of the surveyed victims, however, sought professional psychiatric help. Continue Reading »
Map by Suejean Ahn
This map details the destruction wrought on Korean-owned businesses — shops, liquor stores, dry cleaners, etc. — during the 1992 L.A. Riots. Many of the businesses affected are highlighted in our extensive oral history of the 4.29 events. Continue Reading »
Posted: April 23rd, 2012
Filed Under: April 2012 , Back Issues , BLOG , FEATURED ARTICLE
Family and Friends of Eddie Lee, the lone Korean American fatality of Saigu, marched at the Korean American peace rally the Saturday after the riots carrying Eddie’s portrait. Photo credit: Hyungwon Kang
‘IF YOU DON’T SPEAK UP, WHO ELSE WILL?’
Respected veteran journalist K.W. Lee, long dubbed Korean America’s community conscience, tasks the grandchildren of 4.29 with their generational mission.
by K.W. LEE
Twenty springs ago this month, for three days and nights South Central L.A. and the neighboring Koreatown burned, choked and wailed.
Come April 29, it’s that awful déjà vu time again, when I, as one-time editor of the lone English voice of Koreatown, the Korea Times Weekly, return to the fiery mob siege of the L.A. riots.
I was literally born again in the ashes of this nation’s first media-fanned bogus race war pitting minorities against each other in the seething inner cities of Los Angeles. At a time of escalating drive-by gang wars, I received a donor’s liver, a “perfect young liver” belonging to a local homicide victim. As I gained a new lease on life, I felt a new calling, inspired by 18-year-old Eddie Lee, who died answering the call of Korean merchants under siege and ignored by police on the second night of the riots. I hear Eddie, a child of Koreatown under siege, beckon, “If you don’t speak up, who else will?”
Hear me out, you twentysomething generation, grandchildren of post-Saigu. Continue Reading »
FOR ONLY $28!
Featured Event
One of the the biggest Asian cinema events to hit Southern California opens on May 10. The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, features the latest works by established and emerging filmmakers, along with seminars, panel discussions and symposiums on topics relevant to Asian Pacific cinema.
Opening Night features “Shanghai Calling,” directed by Daniel Hsia and starring Korean American Daniel Henney, who plays a Chinese American expat lawyer navigating his way through the mean streets of Shanghai (the picture above also indicates he is a raisin smuggler). But does he take off his shirt? Go watch the movie to find out! read more
LINKS
Featuring Recent Posts Wordpress Widget development by YD
