Although many people emigrated from England to the American colonies of their own volition, many people did so because they were victims of circumstance. Whether it was because of religious persecution, a search for a better life or the pursuit of freedom, a lot of immigrants felt they had no choice but to move to the American colonies in order accomplish their goal. Some immigrants literally had no choice, either because they were slaves or prisoners who were at the mercy of the British government. Similarly, many modern day immigrants are victims of circumstance as well. One such example is Kil Lee, a 50 year old father of two who immigrated to America from Korea in 1988. Although he wasn't forced by any sort legislation to come America, his conditions made it so that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
Kil Lee
In the next couple of videos, Kil Lee will expand on the details of his immigration to the United States and the factors regarding why he "chose" to do so.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Why did you come to America?
3. Do you feel you had a choice in the matter?
4. What did you expect to see in America?
5. Did you or your family find the wealth and opportunity that you came here for?
6. Now that you've established a life in America, would you ever go back to living in Korea?
7. Do you feel that coming to America was the right choice?
8. If you never moved to America, how would your life be different today?
9. Do you identify as a Korean or an American?
1. Introduction
2. Why did you come to America?
3. Do you feel you had a choice in the matter?
4. What did you expect to see in America?
5. Did you or your family find the wealth and opportunity that you came here for?
6. Now that you've established a life in America, would you ever go back to living in Korea?
7. Do you feel that coming to America was the right choice?
8. If you never moved to America, how would your life be different today?
9. Do you identify as a Korean or an American?
Here, Kil Lee expands on the logistical and practical reasons as to why he and his family came to America. It is pretty straightforward: his uncle came to America first and saw that life in America was, in his uncle's opinion, marginally better than life in Korea. His uncle then sponsored Lee and the rest of his family so that they could obtain their green-cards and immigrate to America. Although the process and the means by which Lee and his family came to America differ from that of the English immigrants of the 18th and 19th centuries, I can already see the parallels in the reasons behind moving to America. For one, both Lee and the English immigrants of the past saw America as being "better" than their place of origin. Whether this be because he could start life anew or because of the propaganda being advertised about America to the immigrants, as was the case with the English immigrants of the past, is unclear as of yet.
3. Do you feel you had a choice in the matter?
Kil Lee clearly expresses that although he technically did have a choice in that he could have stayed by himself in Korea, the fact that his entire family had decided to move to the U.S. made him feel as if he was obligated to make the move as well. Lee's situation is similar to the many English immigrants who felt that they had no choice, but to emigrate to the American colonies for a multitude of reasons. These reasons include, but are not limited to, wanting more religious freedom, escaping religious persecution, being exported from the England to America as prisoners or indentured servants, and searching for the riches promised by various forms of propaganda. Sure, these people, barring the prisoners and indentured servants, were not coerced in any way to come to America just as Lee wasn't. However, circumstances made it so that they felt that they had no choice, but to move to America to accomplish or exercise whatever goal or right they either felt they could not live without or were entitled to.
Kil Lee expected to see grand things in America. He envisioned a country that was filled with nice cars, big mansions, and luxury goods. While this held true for the most part, just as he pointed out in the video he vastly overestimated the number of people who are able to achieve or enjoy such luxuries. Whether it be Korea or America, the rich live very well and the poor are subject to mediocre lives. This also held true for the English immigrants of the past in that they too vastly overestimated how great America would be. Many immigrants held ideas in their head that they would "get rich quick" and many of them soon found out that they would be anything but rich in the new world, whether that be because of the warring natives who were in near-constant conflict with the settlers or because so many others had come to the colonies to achieve the very same goals.
5. Did you or your family find the wealth and opportunity that you came here for?
Kil responds to my question stating that he thinks he didn't find what he was originally looking for, whether that be wealth or opportunity. He states at the end, however, in a somewhat contradictory comment, that he thinks he achieved "60%" of what he was trying to accomplish in America.
6. Now that you've established a life in America, would you ever go back to living in Korea?
Mr. Lee gives a very interesting answer by responding that, although he would like to visit Korea and he enjoys many aspects of the country, now that he's established a life in America he feels he could never leave. He doesn't want to leave as he's grown far too accustomed to the United States. I think this offers very interesting insight into the perspective of someone has settled in a different country, that country being America. While many English settlers of the past would share Kil's sentiment, I'm certain that many would not as well and wished to return to England.
7. Do you feel that coming to America was the right choice?
Despite not having much of a say in the matter, in hindsight he sees the decision to come to America was the correct one. I believe this is so because he was able to grow and evolve in ways he was incapable of doing had he stayed in Korea. While America and Korea share many similarities, they also have many differences and those differences are what allowed Kil to become who he is today.
8. If you never moved to America, how would your life be different today?
Kil had a very difficult time answering this question. This is most likely because there are far too many variables that one can possibly factor for for any reasonably accurate guess to be made. That being said, I believe that reasonable approximations of the futures of the immigrants of the past had they not emigrated from their home countries can be made. For the English immigrants of the past, I'm sure that they would be feel far less entitled to independence and liberty had they not settled in America. I'm sure that the countless African who were enslaved and shipped to America would think that they would have lived much more comfortable lives had they had the chance to stay in their home country.
9. Do you identify as a Korean or an American?
Finally, I asked Kil whether he now identified as a Korean or an American. He responded that although he was born a Korean, by living in America he has become an American.
Bibiography
"History of immigration, 1620-1783." Immigration in America, November 1, 2012. Web. (accessed May 24, 2015).
"Convict Servants in the American Colonies." NPR: National Public Radio, July 24, 2004. Web. (accessed May 27, 2015).
Bellesiles, Michael. "Justice Transported." H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences, August, 2011. Web. (accessed May 27, 2015).
No comments:
Post a Comment