Korean and Japanese Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Korean and Japanese Americans - Essay Example History, Generations, Immigration and Length of U.S. Residency Koreans are one of the largest, fastest growing Asian groups in the United States (Jackson, 2006; library.ca.gov, N.D.a). During 1903-1905 came the first wave of Korean immigrants to the United States. Around 7,000 Korean came to Hawaii as farm laborers in sugar plantation. Within a few years 1,000 of them returned to Korea. About 2,000 of the early immigrants left Hawaii and came to the continental United States. In less than one century the number has grown to an estimated one million (Lee, 1995). Many more began to immigrate after the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. As of 2000, ethnic Koreans living in the United States are largely concentrated in California, New York, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. Los Angeles, with its Korea town district, is home to the largest concentration of Koreans outside of Asia (Wikipedia, 2007a). The Census 2000 recorded an additional 151,555 Americans of part-Korean ancestry. There are 56,825 adopted children of Korean nativity and place of birth. (2000 US Census) 99,061 Koreans were adopted into the U.S. during 1953-2001. (Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2002) According to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2,157,498 ethnic Koreans live in the United States in 2003. However a large number of these are students or temporary workers and hence do not have permanent residence status. A number of US states have declared January 13 as Korean-American Day due to their impact and contributions to the American society (Wikipedia, 2007a). ... The population of Korean Americans is high when compared to the Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest (at roughly 1,148,000, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity). Japanese Americans are a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans. The largest Japanese American communities are in California with roughly 395,000, Hawaii with roughly 297,000, Washington with 56,000, and New York with 45,000 according to the 2000 Census. In addition there are large numbers in Texas, Illinois, Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida. Each year, about 7,000 new Japanese immigrants enter United States ports, comprising about 4% of immigration from Asia; however, net immigration is closer to zero as some older Japanese Americans emigrate back to their homeland. Hence, there is a constant outflow and inflow of this population (Wikipedia, 2007b). On of the uniqueness of Japanese Americans community is that they have special names for each of its generations in the United States. The first generation born in Japan or Okinawa, is called Issei. The second generation is Nisei, third is called Sansei, fourth is Yonsei and fifth is Gosei. The term Nikkei was coined by Japanese American sociologists and encompasses the entire population across generations. Issei and many Nisei speak Japanese or Okinawan in addition to English as a second language (Wikipedia, 2007b). This shows the community is open towards learning and adapting to their new environment. Religion and Spiritually For Koreans, religion traditionally has been important. In fact their religiosity has become all the more evident

Modern World History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Modern World History - Essay Example Death-feud and antagonism between the states is one of the most dangerous evils which pressures mankind through all historical periods of time. In contrast to this confrontations, the primary goal of nation-states' policies is to ensure their survival. That is, states seek to preserve their independence or sovereignty in a hostile environment. During the XX centuries, two world wars showed that the world's fate hinged on the outcome of this massive effort to meet the Axis threat of world conquest and restore the balance of power. In this hostile environment, the United Nations became a strong force which balanced confrontations and peace. The significance of the UN can be explained by the fact that previous attempts to achieve the world order had failed, but the end of the WWII demanded a strong international organization to ensure global peace. In 1945, despite the emergent differences between the United States and the Soviet Union, World War II, like all previous great-power wars, paved the way for a new world order. The League of Nation had failed to meet new social and political landscape between the Second World War. In 1943, the Four Power Declaration advanced principles for allied collaboration in the period following the end of military confrontations (Hyde, 1960). The product of the Allies' determination to create a new international organization to manage the postwar international order was conceived in this and other wartime agreements. Consistent with the expectation that the great powers would cooperate to manage world affairs, China was promised a seat on the United Nations Security Council along with F rance and the Big Three. The purpose was to guarantee that all of the dominant states would share responsibility for keeping the peace (Mcwhinney, 1984). In 1945, the UN represented a supranational level - a political body that exerted influence upon several national governments. On the other hand, the UN was used as 'a silent tool' of competition between the USA and USSR. Both countries used the United Nations not to keep the peace, but to pursue their competition with one another. As the most recent great-power war of the twentieth century, it still casts its shadow over the post-Cold War geostrategic landscape. Perhaps the most certain feature of this otherwise uncertain environment was the ascendancy of the United States and the Soviet Union as its dominant powers (Debrix, 1999). Today, the UN has lost its strategic significance in contrast to 1945, and for this very reason many political leaders and scientist suppose that: "'the role of the United Nations as a whole in economic and social affairs, including its relationship to the Bretton Woods institutions needs to be re-thought and reinvigorated" (Murithi, 2003, p.3). The end of the Cold War and the War on Terror demonstrated that the USA can survive indefinitely. Russia has made the transition over the last ten years to an independent democratic nation state. The emergence of new economic centers the Triad and European Union, NAFTA and ASEAN reduce the role and impact of the UN on the global peace and foreign relations. At the beginning of the 21st century, the global regulatory environment consists of a variety of governmental and nongovernmental agencies that enforce laws or set guidelines for conducting business and political affairs (Graham, 2003, p. 5). A change process lies at the