The Dance of Identities: Korean Adoptees and Their Journey toward Empowerment

Notes

175 Notes Preface 1. The phrase “to be like White” refers to the desire to fully assimilate into the White middle class. I altered the phrase “to be like Mike” from Michael Jordan’s Gatorade commercials. 2. My family includes nine children, two by natural birth and seven transracial adoptees: two Korean, two Vietnamese, and three biracial Korean-White children. My oldest brother Michael Christopher passed away in 2006. I would like to point out that I always hated the way in which I described my siblings as either adopted or biological; however, for the sake of clarification, I use these terms here. 3. Danico (2004, 1) defines the 1.5 generation as “a concept that originated in the Korean community to describe immigrant children who are not quite first- or second-generation Korean.” 4. Bulgogi is a thinly sliced, marinated, barbecued beef dish that is very popular in Korea. Kimchee is a cabbage side dish most commonly fermented in red pepper, red pepper paste, and garlic and typically served at every Korean meal. Buchaechum, the traditional Korean fan dance, involves female dancers who elegantly use fans throughout the performance; it originated during the Chosun dynasty (1392–1910). 5. The culture camp still exists today. 6. Kimbap is a popular dish in Korea where rice, thinly sliced vegetables, and sometimes meat are rolled into a sheet of laver (similar to a sushi roll). Street-food vending carts selling kimbap are quite popular in Korea. 7. The official name of the 1999 Gathering is the “Gathering of the First Generation of Korean Adoptees: 다함께.” Chapter 1. Dance of Identities 1. Parents were specifically prohibited from attending any of the sessions at the Gatherings. Although the first Gathering was partially sponsored by Holt International Adoption Agency, the subsequent 2001 Gathering featured no adoption agency involvement in the planning or structuring of the conference. 2. This particular dilemma of elitism is raised by several adoptees; they acknowledge that there are some within the Korean adoptee groups who attempt to portray an identity that is more advanced and better than those who have yet to explore. However, this is a small minority within their formed adoptee groups. 176 ◆ notes to pages x–11 3. This is similar to Valverde’s exploration of mixed-race class typology within the Vietnamese American community, in which she states, “I, and others like myself, have learned to negotiate our identities within the complex class typology that exists for multiracial Vietnamese within the Vietnamese American community. I liken this dynamic labeling process to a dance” (2001, 131). 4. Some Korean adoptees, as well as Asian Americans, have also used the terms “twinkie” or “golden pear” to describe their identity as racially Asian (yellow on the outside) and culturally White (White on the inside) (Trinh 1995). 5. For statistics on immigrant orphans admitted to the United States, see Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice, Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, tables 14 and 15; U.S. Department of State, Immediate Relative Visas Issues, FY 1958–2001, FY 1971–2001, and FY 1991–2001. 6. Even before Bishoff and Rankin (1997), Janine Bishop’s account as a Korean adoptee was published in East to America: Korean American Life Stories (1996). 7. One leader denied my request; I was told that too many researchers had been soliciting interviews from this particular group with no real results, and therefore felt that I would waste the members’ time. Chapter 2. Wanting to Be Like White: Dancing with a White Cultural Identity 1. I chose four as the cutoff age between the child and infant adoptees because I believe by that age a child has acquired language skills, obtained some aspects of Korean culture, and maintained some memories. 2. Other participants also talked about mothers with emotional and psychological problems and how they adopted out of the belief that the love of a child, especially one who would be grateful for the opportunity to leave the orphanage for the comforts of a loving home, would fix their problems. 3. Prior to, during, and after this study I had several conversations with Korean adoptees who came to the United States when they were children (older than four years old). Most were amazed at how quickly they were able to assimilate into their White families and communities. A close friend described her assimilation as going to sleep one night speaking only Korean and waking up in the morning speaking only English. These adoptees...