African American Studies Commons^™

Korean And African-American Relations: Integrating The Symbolic With The Structural, Karen Umemoto

Trotter Review

LaTasha Harlins and Soon Ja Du: These two individuals became symbolic figures for the plight of African Americans and Koreans. One a merchant, the other a customer, their fatal confrontation has helped shape the state of relations between the Korean and African-American communities of South Central Los Angeles for some time to come. Their relationship is a metaphor for the unequal class positions of the two communities. But. why is it that these symbols take on meaning for others outside the physical boundaries of the particular geographic region or across the class boundaries within the communities they represent?