Invisible Asian By Kim Park Nelson Summary

Many researchers in the past have studied the experiences of Korean-American adoptees, but they heavily focused on the ideas from the adoptive parents. They fixated on child welfare and developmental ideas, so they turned to the parents. Kim Park Nelson’s book “Invisible Asian”, takes a look at the perspectives from the Korean adoptees themselves. Park Nelson interviewed over 60 adult adoptees, and focuses in on the distinctive issues that they had faced themselves. Her findings suggested that the view from the adoptee was quite different from what adoptive parents reported.

Every adult adoptee that was interviewed, mentioned their experience of race. The feeling of isolation was extremely present in their lives growing up. It was obvious to

them, even as a child, that they were the only Asian in their school, home, or even community. It was a very powerful experience for most of these people. Even though interviewed parents were aware of the differences between Koreans and Americans, they tended to underestimate them. They did this because they strived for that sense of unity within their family, and wanted to diminish any boundaries that may hindering that goal. Many outsiders assume that a kinship cannot be present between people who do not share common physical characteristics.
There is also not a lot of cultural and social connection between Korean adoptees as a group and other Asian Americans.

This desire to be part of a group whom they resemble is extremely important to Korean adoptees. The term “racially invisible” is the outcome when Korean adoptees are constantly discouraged from identifying racially, and rewarded for assimilation into communities. Another common stereo type suggests the idea that Asians don’t experience racism. Model minority puts out the idea that all Asians are successful, naturally smart, and all play the violin. Since people assume that Asians are treated very well, they believe that there is no way that they could experience racism. These stereotypes hinder Asians and make them feel extremely invisible in our

society.
“Asian Americans” is an umbrella category for a group of people who may not have a single relationship with each other. They may not have the same immigration experience, language, cultural experience. Citizens make many generalizations of racism. They believe that if people have similar physical characteristics, they should be treated the same. Most Korean adoptees have powerful similarities, yet big differences between other Asians.
At the beginning of Korean adoption, these children were known as victims of a war at this time.

The United States was also involved in the Korean war. There was an increased population of biracial children who were a product of that war. The United States then put money into adoption of these biracial children. It is a win-win situation because they were saving children from war, and giving couples who had a desire to become parents a child.

The topic of birth search, the process of an adoptee trying to find their birth parents, was also brought up several times. Some individuals felt very strongly about finding their birth parents, but others did not want to be engaged in it. Other adoptees felt as if birth search would really hurt their American families, and that was the last thing they wanted to do. It was very common for adoptees to consider this factor before participating in a birth search.

The Korean adoptee community is very diverse. There are certain life stages when adoptees begin to question whether they are American or Korean. They tend to gain curiosity right around the time they leave home. When many of these people went to college, they took history or ethnic study classes. They then realized that they were part of a group that had a history, and started to investigate. They also became interested in their identity when they met other adoptees or returned to

Korea.
Park Nelson also advocated for changing the international adoption practices. She sees two big problems: transnational adoption industry and that the sending countries treat women as second class citizens. International adoption is so expensive, which is not a way to motivate this system. Also, single motherhood is not supported. They are usually pressured into giving their children up. The rich, receiving countries need to deal with these problems. Even if the adoption process was perfect, it would not be able to solve the issue of cultural norms within the sending countries.
Park Nelson suggests that the United States needs to become more literate and develop language to confront race. Also, the United States needs to work harder to desegregate the nation. This is what causes racial segregation for adoptees in white communities.
To make an adopted child’s experience more positive, Park Nelson believes that the children need to give feedback to the parents. She encourages parents to talk to other parents, or parents who were adoptees themselves, about how they can reach the goal they have set for their children. They should become more informed about the adoption system and creating a more positive environment for the adoptee.
She believes people should imagine an adoption system that is fully equitable because we are very far away from that reality. One little policy change can not change the issue as a whole. The first step would involve reducing the cost of adoption, and making it more affordable for everyone. It is also hard when the wealthy countries are the designated receiving countries, while the poorer countries are the sending countries. As long as the adoption system is based on this inequity, it will be very hard to improve the system and make it fair for everyone.
Chapter 16 of “White Teachers Diverse Classrooms”, outlines the history of Korean immigration and examines stereotypes such as the model minority. Korean Americans are one of the fastest growing Asian American ethnic groups in the United States. They experience many stereotypes such as the model minority. “The model minority stereotype not only complicates Asian Americans’ race relations with other minorities, but it also perpetuates the illusion of a color-blind society and meritocracy” (White Teachers, 234). The model minority is used to prove that members of any race can achieve success with hard work. There are also many other difficulties Korean Americans have to face: s“Many Korean American students, are still going through the acculturation process, negotiating cultural values of their origin with cultural values in the United States” (White Teachers, 236). It references their traditional Confucian values of group harmony, cooperation, and respectfulness. These cultural values are quite different from the dominant cultural values in the United States: independence, self expression, and individualism. This extensive cultural adjustment causes Korean Americans to encounter stressful experiences such as feelings of helplessness, loss of self-confidence, and having verbal and non-verbal communication barriers. Korean Americans are very conflicted when they have to choose between holding onto their Korean values, or absorbing the American culture instead.
Dr. Kim Park Nelson’s interview interview was very intriguing. I have always thought about adoptions, but never exclusively Korean adoptions. It was extremely shocking to me that there are more Korean adoptees in Minnesota per capita than any other state. I never recognized how close I am to this current issue, and how much it has impacted my life. I never understood that it all started during the Korean war when more than 160,000 Korean children were adopted by families in Western countries. It’s astonishing to me that Americans were so inclined to save Korean children during the 1950s. I had always just assumed that research had asked adoptees themselves, and not just the parents of the Korean adoptees. Often times they are overlooked, and the differences in opinions can be quite profound. Kim Park Nelson stated: "What happens to adoptees in our lives is we are constantly discouraged from identifying racially, and rewarded for assimilation into our families and our white communities,". It’s crazy that we live in a world where we want to assimilate non-Americans, so that they will not face racial discrimination. I do agree that we idealize an integrated society, but it certainly is not achieved yet. In reality, there is not escaping discrimination in today’s predominantly white world where everyone is criticized for there appearance.
I was expecting more about the lives and experiences that Korean adoptees face. I also hoped that Kim Park Nelson would give more background on her story, and mention what she experienced growing up. There was some really good information brought to my attention. I would love to read this book, and dive more into the story of the “Invisible Asian”.
In my future as an educator, I will embed multicultural education into every single aspect of schooling. This will not only enhance Korean American student’s educational experience, but also students of the dominant culture. I want to give every Korean American student the same opportunity for success. As the teacher, I will make sure that every student, especially these adoptees, feel welcome and valued into my classroom. I will show interest in each and every one of my student’s culture, so that they feel comfortable and more motivated to learn. I will be open to different perspective, accept differences in values, and care about every student. Hopefully, in return, other students will begin to appreciate diversity. I will also keep in mind that every Korean American student is unique in their own way.