Second-Generation Korean Americans : The Struggle for Full Inclusion

Kim argues that educational and occupational success for groups in the racial middle such as Korean and Asian Americans does not necessarily translate into further integration in other sectors of American society. Educational and professional accomplishments, while accelerating integration and acceptance, can be accompanied by exclusion in other sectors of society. Thus, Korean and Asian Americans may experience rapid intergenerational upward mobility and integration, but still be subject racialization and exclusion. This challenges the assimilation paradigm that immigrants and their children will assimilate and continue to achieve full integration and acceptance in the mainstream society.