2011/10/25 by Rose M. Kim · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Asian American and Pacific Histories #Race, History, and American Society #Migration, Refugees, and Integration
paper · doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.602090
openalex publication_date 2011/10/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper proposes a new understanding of race as an artifact constructed from racist violence and the trauma it engenders. The paper applies Jeffrey Alexander's concept of ‘cultural trauma’, i.e. when ‘members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks on their group consciousness’, to the case of Korean immigrant merchants who were victims of violence during the 1992 L.A. riots/insurrection/saigu in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of four white police officers charged with violently assaulting a black motorist. Though the violence was contained to distinct neighbourhoods, the larger society experienced the terror because of the mass media. Over time this media-event led to the construction of a new identity rooted in violence and trauma. Through an examination of various texts, this paper argues that the Korean-American collective consciousness shifted discursively from an identity rooted in nationality to one incorporating race.