YuBin Sol
FD4
December 14, 2009

Stereotyping Is No Different From Racism

In the state of Hawai’i, there is an approximation of fifty-eight percent of Asians. Of that amount, a large number of the residents here are Korean. They are either directly from Korea or second, third, and even fourth generation Koreans. Hawai’i is the world’s most diverse cultural melting pot, and to reside in the islands is the ideal paradise. [THESIS] Hawai’i is a rare place where the minority becomes the majority, but regardless, there are still racial stereotypes that everyone faces. [THESIS]

Immigration to the U.S. used to be fairly easy, where one would need a sponsor to get a green card. After so many years of residency, one could easily apply for citizenship, pass a simple general knowledge test, and officially become an American citizen. Over the years, Hawai’i has accumulated a vast amount of Koreans who immigrated to become Americans in the hopes of providing a better future for their children. Hawai’i has a fair share of Korean immigrants, most of who set up their own business, usually a take-out restaurant, or convenience store, or a bar. And like everywhere else, there are a number of bars, namely hostess bars.

Right in the middle of Honolulu, in the Ke’eaumoku area, there are dozens of individually owned Korean restaurants and eateries, therefore, being dubbed “Koreamoku.” In Koreamoku, there are not only places to grind, but places to drink. These hostess bars are known for being pricey, but also having girls give a customer their company in exchange for money. The type of entertainment they provide can range, anywhere from a simple conversation, to more physical contact, and even the promise and follow-through of sexual intercourse, all for a price. Also popular with many men, are the massage parlors. These places provided “happy ending” massages for a pretty expensive fee, and are themed by the blacked out windows or red lights shining from the inside.

It is not an uncommon sight to see around town when a young, busty Korean girl walks around with a Louis Vuitton or Gucci bag in one hand, holding the hand of a much older man. These sugar daddies support the bargirls’ high maintenance habits, and even sponsor a green card for them via marriage. This is not to say that only Korean girls are the ones to be hustling men for money or other worldly goods. Many of these women know their business is based on their looks. They hustle large amounts of money to pay for their appearance to stay youthful.

Stereotyping is not an uncommon habit many people have, and it is generally negative ideals of certain types of people. The way society in America is formed leads people to tend to assume things about a certain genre in a way that can create conflicts and is a lesser form of racism. Anyone can be stereotyped against, whether about skin color, class, ethnicity, where one is from, the way one dresses, where one works, and even what car one drives.

A young girl, Dayna Kim, immigrated to America on a tourist visa with her mother at the tender age of nine, but they became illegal immigrants, overstaying their limited three-month visa. Having failed a business in Korea, her mother wanted a guaranteed, fast way to make a lot of money. She wanted the money to provide a good life for her daughter, send her to a good college so Dayna could have a successful future. It was not a far-fetched goal to have. So she opened up a hostess bar down on Kapiolani Boulevard. Dayna was embarrassed of the fact that her mother ran a bar, so she tried to hide that fact from her classmates. Somehow, people found out about her mother’s hostess bar and Dayna immediately became branded as a “Korean bargirl” type. There were many people, her peers, who assumed Dayna was either working illegally underage, or she would eventually succumb to working there when she turns eighteen. Her whole life in America, she heard all kinds of demeaning comments made about the type of person she is, living off of “buy-me-drinky money,” “raping” older men of their money by getting them drunk. Throughout her years, especially the high school years, Dayna’s self-esteem was at an all time low, constantly being commented on the business her mother had, and how she made her money. Just one simple fact of her mother owning a hostess bar, Dayna became labeled as the “buy-me-drinky girl.” Not to say that everyone treated her in a cruel or mean way, but it was a fact that no one forgot, a stigma she was stuck with.

However, despite all the stereotyping and comments she got because of her mother’s business, she defied everyone who doubted her—those who thought she would give in to the power of the easy money that the hostesses earned. Dayna was an unusually bright girl, and she always had a good attitude. She made friends with those who didn’t judge her based on her mother’s occupation as a “mama-san” and liked her for her personality. She wanted to have nothing to do with the money her mother earned from the bar anymore. So Dayna went on to finish college, paying her own way by working part-time jobs at an optometrist office and a local take-out restaurant and tutoring on the side on top of that. Throughout her whole years in America, she never had it easy, and she wanted to show everyone and change their conception of her. Having been stereotyped against for the majority of her life, with people thinking that just because she’s Korean, she eats kimchee every day, has a hot temper, and plays piano, and eventually, one can only take so much—Dayna grew sick and tired of what everyone claimed she was.

Dayna spent her whole childhood years in America listening to the endless things kids would think of to put down her ethnicity. To make matters worse, it didn’t help that Dayna was a new immigrant, unable to speak proper English. Dayna’s mother, although she had her own business, couldn’t speak English too well either, and whenever she came around to pick Dayna up and make small talk with her friends, the kids would snicker, and laugh at her broken English. Her classmates would make jokes about her mother when she wasn’t around, and worse, they would make jokes about her. Dayna was well-aware of being the butt of the other kids’ jokes, but that only made her more determined to become better than them. She thought if she excelled beyond any of them, they wouldn’t have anything more to tease her about. Dayna Kim is only one case of turning stereotyping into something positive for herself. She endured being blatantly ridiculed merely because of her race and her mother’s occupation—two things she had no control over.

There are many people who are just like Dayna Kim, who break the mold of what people assume. And when they do, people are genuinely shocked. Why? Because the general population has preconceived notions of certain genres of certain types of people. Whenever someone does something that another person doesn’t approve of, the offender is immediately stereotyped, mostly because of their skin color. These accusations whether we acknowledge it or not are racist.

There are others who can relate to Dayna’s predicament, and have faced a racial slur one time or another. However, not everyone is like Dayna and can turn something negative into a positive outcome. There are many who take racist accusations personally and can engage in violent acts as a result of that. One racial stereotype can become an outburst of violence, especially true in gang members. Mentally unbalanced people can let out their rage with other types of violence, taking it out on innocent bystanders, making them victims of hate crimes.

I, as a child, can remember from the first day of kindergarten, the jokes that other five year-olds would tell me about Koreans because I was Korean. Racist jokes, rude comments on each of the different races in Hawai’i. Jokes about middle-aged Korean women who come to Hawai’i to make easy money. Bar jokes about the different races, and which race was the most stupid out of all of them. What other races were superior to the others.

Caucasians are thought to be rude, trailer trash rednecks. African-Americans are thought to be packing guns and pimping out girls. Chinese people are tightwads. Rich people are stuck up. Mexicans drink tequila and eat refried beans all day. Koreans are always angry and have hot tempers. French people are really rude and smell. Filipinos are all farmers. Middle Easterners are going to terrorize America again. Micronesians have a lot of kids and are on welfare.

These jokes can be said without any harmful intentions, but can really target an ethnicity to racial discriminations. Different ehtnicities are hardly ever though exotic anymore, there are just constant ignorant comments made about each one. On public transportation systems, one person would not move his bag for an older African-American man. Another wouldn’t give up his seat for an older Chinese woman. Society claims that because we are born with a certain color skin, or under certain family names, we are destined to be marked as the stereotype and that’s how others will view us as well. In a world that is so technologically advanced, we as humans can’t view each other simply as another human being. When will this vicious cycle of stereotyping end?

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