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Koreans in Gwinnett are major segment
of new Asian community
By
Moses Choi
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's Note: Recognizing the influx of Koreans
into Gwinnett, before the Virginia Tech massacre we asked a Korean
to give us an idea of why so many Koreans were attracted to Atlanta.
Here is the result. The writer is the owner of a real estate closing
firm in Duluth, and naturalized U.S. citizen since 2001. He has
lived in Gwinnett for eight months and received his education
at New York University. -eeb)
DULUTH, Ga., May 1, 2007 -- The first Koreans to settle in the
United States, 121 of them, came to the pineapple farms of Hawaii
more than 100 years ago. They were cheap labor; rather than being
called by name, they were assigned and addressed by numbers.
Choi |
The next group came in the mid 1960s after Congress eased immigration
policy to gain persons with skill from overseas: doctors, nurses,
engineers and skilled craftsmen. In the 1970s, most South Koreans
settled in primarily New York or Los Angeles. By 2007, approximately
2,170,000 Koreans live in the United States.
Comparing Koreans to Europeans, one hears: "Koreans are emotional
as Italians, but drink like the Irish." Koreans are passionate
and proud of their national identity and share a belief that they
are the same descendants of "Dan Goon", the first ancestor
of Korea.
Koreans share emotions from pride to shame. The shock hit especially
hard in the Korean American communities when the psychotic Virginia
gunman turned out to be a South Korean. Immediately on hearing this,
Koreans began calling on one another globally in disbelief that
a fellow human would act in such a way against another human, and
disbelief that he was a Korean.
Characteristics of Koreans:
Value Education: This traces back to their roots and from Confucianism.
Historically, scholars were respected above any merchants, doctors
or artists. Similar respect for intellectuals prevails amongst the
Korean culture today, although it is focused more towards income
earning benchmarks. Koreans spend significantly for education for
tutoring, standard test preparation and schooling.
Hard workers: Koreans parents work harder and longer to accommodate
and to provide for their children's better education. Most parents
believe in sacrificing themselves to improve their children's future.
Many new immigrant families enter by an E-2 visas to educate their
children.. Currently, the Koreans make up the largest foreigner
student pool in the US.
Deep family kinship: Children are taught to respect the elderly
and care for their siblings. Family participation and self sacrifice
has been passed down from their culture.
Support one another: Koreans actively participate in their community,
usually through their local Christian churches. (Buddhism and Christianity
are the major religion in South Korea.) Many will support each other
outside of their direct community. Korean's entrepreneur success
can be attributed to their ability of pooling of money amongst family
or friends, called "Gae." Several Korean acquaintances
will pool money monthly. Each member will, in turn, receive a lump
sum. Usually, these funds will be applied towards start-up capital
for a business. Often there is no written contract, as credibility
and word of mouth plays vital factor within the Korean community.
Koreans especially want Korean food. Hence, a prerequisite to developing
a sustainable Korean community is the development of Korean groceries,
supermarkets, and restaurants.
The first significant Korean settlement in Georgia resulted in
Koreans becoming involved in the beauty supply industry. Koreans
have the leading market share in the wholesale trade of black and
Hispanic beauty products. Many businesses settled in Doraville,
near Buford Highway.
As local retail outlets such as Super H Mart anchored shopping
centers developed, more Koreans moved closer to Duluth area. Word
spread of Atlanta's appeal all the way to South Korea. Many Koreans
moved here from other parts of the United States.
Many Koreans had lived in New York or Los Angeles and had purchased
their first homes in the 1980-1990 period. Many had their own retail
business, with a large number in dry cleaning. With large equity
in their homes, they typically sold their real estate together with
their business to move into Georgia in search of a better quality
of life. Many strip-center shopping centers were bought out by the
Koreans, especially in the metro Atlanta area.. Currently, The Atlanta
Times estimates that a maximum of 150,000 Koreans live in Georgia.
The 2005 census estimated that there were then 19,000 Koreans living
in Gwinnett, indicating with recent immigration, approximately 20,000+
living here in 2007.
Gwinnett needs strong local radio of its own
to help county
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
MAY 1, 2007 -- When Gwinnett began its early growth, one of the
phases you often heard: "We don't want to do what DeKalb did,"
whatever the subject that day was. That assumed, of course, that
DeKalb did everything wrong, which it did not.
Brack |
These days, you hear from Jackson or Hall Counties, as they find
more and more growth: "We don't want to do it the way Gwinnett
did."
Yet everything Gwinnett did was not wrong. Much of the infrastructure,
the water and sewer lines, the recreational facilities, the amenities
such as libraries, and certainly, the outcome of the students graduating
from Gwinnett schools, attest that some things were certainly done
right.
Today let's take another view. Let's look at something about to
take place in Jackson County, and see if this could not be useful
in Gwinnett.
Last week the city of Jefferson announced that it is to launch
a new AM radio station, at 1620 on the dial. It's going to broadcast
local news, and be on the air for 24 hours a day. Some 14 antennas
throughout the city will give the station the ability to cover its
entire 65 square mile area.
This will be a commercial station, which should generate between
$250-600,000 a year. The profits will help offset some of the cost
of construction of public recreation areas in Jefferson.
It's anticipated that it will cover city council meetings, local
athletic events at the high school, and provide a public service.
There is no radio station in Jefferson: the closest are in Commerce
and Athens.
The station will operate similar to Radio Sandy Springs, which
is a community commercial broadcast station, also broadcasts at
1620 AM.
For years, Gwinnett had two AM radio stations, one in Lawrenceville
(WPLO) and another in Buford, which also had an FM signal. In the
growth of the recent years, these stations were sold, and still
operate under new names, both now Hispanic stations.
Gwinnett, as a local radio market, is vastly underserved. Under
the influence of the radio signals from Atlanta, local radio has
plunged to have very little effect on mainstream Gwinnett.
It would be great if Gwinnett had a strong radio signal, a common
place to go for local news and information. What would really be
great would be for the Gwinnett community to have its own public
radio station! Certainly with 750,000 people now in Gwinnett, such
a signal would be a vital part of the day for many, especially if
it had a local newscast to concentrate its coverage on this multi-faceted
county.
These days, when anyone plans an event in Gwinnett, they automatically
discount any possibility of decent radio coverage or publicity.
The Metro radio stations are seldom interested in smaller, distinct
segments of a market, when they can beam to the entire Metro audience.
Hence Gwinnett, with no significant English language commercial
radio, gets little attention from radio.
Far better served, as a comparison, by radio is Gainesville. Strong
radio signals come out of that market, which contribute to the overall
media coverage for Gainesville.
Our entire life has been spent in newspapers, but we understand
the void that could be filled with the immediacy of a radio station
in the county. We salute Jefferson for coming up with this idea.
No doubt the station can be of immense value to that community.
We appreciate new ideas, and hope Gwinnett can approach this opportunity
as an enhancement in our community.
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is Brand Banking
Company , headquartered in Lawrenceville, where it has three
offices, with additional branches in Snellville, Grayson and Flowery
Branch. It is the largest privately held bank in Georgia, with assets
of $865 million. The bank will open branches in Duluth and Buford
this year. Member, FDIC and Federal Reserve System. More: www.thebrandbank.com
Evermore
CID funds 2,500 hours of police patrolling
Editor, the Forum:
I've seen Pat. Malone's name many times in various letters to the
editor. Generally, he's done a bit more research than today's comment.
However, comments of his last week concerning the Highway 78 (Evermore)
CID was in error, when he said concerning police patrols:
"Let's hope it doesn't take the Gwinnett Place Mall and
Highway 78 CID's as long to come to the same conclusions"
The Evermore (Highway 78) CID began hiring off-duty police officers
within months of initial formation in May 2003. The CID has employed
additional off-duty officers every year since at approximately 2,500
additional hours of police patrol per year.
-- Brett Harrell, Snellville, executive director, Evermore
Community Improvement District
Dear Brett: Yes, GwinnettForum should have mentioned
that the Evermore CID is, indeed, paying for additional police
in its area of service. And while this is not a service of the
Gwinnett CID, individual firms within that district also augment
police protection by paying for extra police. -eeb
Grant for Gwinnett
charter schools was $20,000, not $200,000
Editor, the Forum:
I caught a mistake in our numbers "after" we sent them
to you. We granted the Gwinnett County Public School Foundation
$20,000, not $200,000, as our table reported. This is for the new
charter school. Sorry for the extra zero!
Thanks for your coverage,
-- Judy Waters, executive director, Community Foundation for
Northeast Georgia
Feels legislature
turned backs on people with firearms
Editor, the Forum:
We have once again seen our lawmakers turn their backs on the honest,
law-abiding citizens in Georgia. By not allowing private citizens
to carry legal firearms in their cars onto the property of an employer
will now make several of them outlaws out of who's safety comes
first. I believe the law of self protection is stronger than "Not
on my property!"
As with any tragedy anywhere, if a few armed citizens had been
able to carry their lawful firearms, extra deaths may have been
avoided. Just think what will happen when the real terrorists finally
raise their ugly heads and drive a car bomb into a large crowd in
the USA! What law will stop that? What gun ban will stop it? Maybe
an armed citizen!
-- Vance Taylor, Buford
Dear Vance: We wondered when the gun lobby would
start screaming at the Legislature. You are the first. -eeb
Library
seeks input from citizens on long-range plans
The Gwinnett County Public Library will host a series of public
meetings intended to solicit input from the public regarding the
library's long range facilities plan. The purpose of the meetings
is to gather information that will assist Gwinnett County in the
development of a strategy that will guide library development for
the next ten years. The objectives are to determine design standards,
sizes, configurations, and locations for existing and additional
library branches that are needed to meet the growing and changing
service demands of Gwinnett County.
Each of the public meetings will be led by members of the facilities
planning team. The facilities planning team consists of senior Library
staff, representatives from Gwinnett County government, and consultants
from the firms of Lindsay, Pope, Brayfield and Associates and Dubberly
Garcia Associates.
The Library will host five meetings to allow members of the public
to discuss their views about the library system's building needs.
All meetings will begin at 6:30 pm, and will take place on the following
dates at the following locations:
- Tuesday, May 1, Suwanee Branch, 361 Main Street, Suwanee.
- Thursday, May 3, Rhodes Jordan Community Center, 100 East Crogan
Street, Lawrenceville.
- Tuesday, May 15, Centerville Community Center, 3025 Bethany
Church Road, Snellville.
- Thursday, May 17, Five Forks Branch, 2780 Five Forks Trickum
Road, Lawrenceville.
For additional information please call the Library Help Line at
770-978-5154, or visit the Gwinnett County Library on-line at www.gwinnettpl.org.
.
Button Gwinnett Society
to hear of oversized shoe-auto
Members of the Button Gwinnett Society will get a glimpse at local
history, and sports, when they hold their quarterly meeting May
9 at 6 p.m. at the 1818 Club.
Speaking with be McHoyt Moore of Buford, who will be telling us
about his book, "The Big Shoe, as I Remember It."
The book is based on Moore's memory around Buford back when the
Bona Allen tannery was the largest industry in Gwinnett. He will
tell of his experiences riding in the Bona Allen automobile fixed
up to resemble the "Largest Shoe in the World on Wheels."
His father, Loyce B. Moore, drove the car-shoe.
The Button Gwinnett speaker was eight years old at the time, and
as the Bona Allen baseball team played in small towns, he traveled
with his father in the car. They often would ride in parades and
special events, with the young McHoyt Moore yelling "Buy Bona
Allen shoes, they do more for you" during the route. They also
tossed out Bona Allen key holders from within the size 300, width
EEEEEEEEEEEE shoe. Mr. Moore is retired after 50 years as a Baptist
minister.
The narrative book is a first hand account of this one-of-a- kind
promotional icon from a child's standpoint. It is supported with
historical photos. The book has just been published. Copies of the
book will be available for purchase. The cost is $12.
Buford's Bona Allen Shoemaker's baseball team, playing semi-pro
ball, was a key team in this part of the state, and the nation in
the 1930s. They won the national semi-pro baseball championship
in 1938. The Rev. Moore is one of the only living connections to
that era, as all those players have since died.
Chamber luncheon to
feature Georgia Gwinnett College chief
Join Georgia Gwinnett College President Dr. Dan Kaufman as he discusses
the importance of higher education for Gwinnett and Georgia's continued
economic growth. He will speak on Wednesday, May 16, at the General
Membership meeting of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. The meeting
will be at 11:30 at the 1818 Club in Duluth.
Why is higher education so important in a "World is Flat"
world? How will Georgia Gwinnett help fulfill the goals and vision
of Partnership Gwinnett? What are Georgia Gwinnett's current and
future plans? What will the college/university look like in 20 years?
What is Dr. Kaufman's vision for the future? How can you help play
a role in their success?
Learn the answers to these questions and more at this educational
luncheon.
The luncheon cost is $35 for Chamber members. For reservations,
contact Laurie McKenzie at lmckenzie@gwinnettchamber.org
, or call 770 232-3000.
Senator
talks of pork projects in budget for Gwinnett area
Balfour |
When the $20.2 billion budget passed the Legislature last week,
State Sen. Don Balfour made sure there was money in the 2008 budget
for Gwinnett County. Included was more than $38.3 million for Georgia
Gwinnett College, plus another $400,000 for infrastructure at several
public high schools and for a reading mentoring program.
Senator Balfour said: "When the budget is being developed,
we work to help local communities back home that need additional
funding." Balfour, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee,
added: "These worthwhile projects are important to the people
we serve, and I am going to work to see that Gwinnett gets her share
of money for those projects - especially when it's related to education.
"We live in one of the largest counties in the state with the
largest school system. It is incumbent upon us to look out for our
children and the buildings that house them while they are working
to get an education."
Among the projects were:
- Increase funds to support Georgia Gwinnett College, $10 million.
- Design and Construct a library at Georgia Gwinnett College,
$28.3 million.
- Landscape the Beaver Ruin Road median, $25,000.
- Assist with access and transportation improvements, $20,000.
- Assist with employment of the handicap program, $25,000.
- City of Buford: Assist with accessibility improvements, $30,000.
- City of Duluth: Regional Living Memorial honoring all veterans
and public safety personnel, $20,000.
- City of Lawrenceville: Assist with traffic and community development
improvements, $50,000.
- City of Lilburn: Assist police department with new communication
system, $20,000.
- City of Snellville: Assist in funding two mobile speed detection
message signs, $12,500.
- City of Snellville: Assist in funding a Grapple Bucket Tractor
for recycling center, $20,000.
- City of Snellville: Assist in funding a Park Bunker Rake, $5,000.
- City of Snellville: Assist in funding police car laptops, $12,500.
- Reading mentoring program (Everybody Wins! Atlanta), $30,000.
- Fund the Arts Now program to assist students in meeting or exceeding
Georgia Performance Standards, $30,000.
- Community service and education enhancements at the Gwinnett
Village CID, $20,000.
- Assist with infrastructure improvements at Norcross High School,
Peachtree Ridge High School and Collins Hill High School, $75,000.
- Assist with community services and educational enhancements
at Grayson High School, 30,000.
Even with long trip,
Latissa Jones named GOAL winner
Rigsby, Jones and Crean |
Latissa Jones, 40, center, a culinary arts student at Gwinnett
Tech, has been named the 2007 Gwinnett Tech winner of the Georgia
Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL). She's shown with Gwinnett
Tech President Sharon Rigsby (left) and Gwinnett Tech Culinary Arts
Program Director Kerri Crean (right). Jones was honored for her
dedication to her studies, combined with her work ethic, classroom
presence and well-rounded persona. It's a 90 mile round trip to
Gwinnett Tech from her home in Jonesboro. In true Jones fashion,
though, she says the three system, extended bus commute gives her
"lots of study time."
- An invitation: What
Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your
best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have
read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus
what book you plan to read next. --eeb
Altamaha
River outflow third largest on East Coast
The third largest contributor of freshwater to the Atlantic Ocean
on North America's eastern shore, the Altamaha
River basin lies entirely within the state of Georgia.
Altamaha River |
The Altamaha River, formed by the confluence of the Ocmulgee and
Oconee rivers near Lumber City and joined farther downstream by
the Ohoopee River, flows more than 130 straight-line miles from
its northernmost points to its entry into the Atlantic Ocean north
of Brunswick. The Altamaha River basin drains nearly one quarter
of the state of Georgia, with its 14,000-square-mile watershed reaching
from the upper Piedmont to the Lower Coastal Plain and encompassing
the cities of Athens, Macon, Milledgeville, and parts of Atlanta.
The Altamaha flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Darien, about midway
down Georgia's coastline, carrying millions of gallons of freshwater,
nutrients, and sediments to the estuary and coastal area every day.
This estuary, where the freshwater from the river mixes with saltwater
from the Atlantic, occupies an area of roughly 26 square miles in
Glynn and McIntosh counties in southeastern Georgia and is arguably
the largest intact, relatively undegraded estuary system on the
Atlantic coast.
A mix of geological events, environmental variables, and human
impact has shaped the character of the Altamaha. Sixty-five million
years ago, during the late Cretaceous geological period, what are
now the lower reaches of the Altamaha River were beneath the sea.
Sandbars along the river and forests beyond the banks were still
prevalent in the upper sections of the river, as is true today,
but the estuary itself was far into the landscape of present-day
Georgia. The marine waters gradually receded during the Eocene epoch
(55-38 million years ago), so that millions of years later the freshwater
followed natural courses from the Georgia uplands to the Atlantic
Ocean, ultimately forming the river systems we know today.
The Altamaha has a distinctive and fascinating natural history
long appreciated by naturalists. The environmental perspective captured
by William Bartram applies to many sections of the river system
even today. Travelers along the Altamaha River can still see a variety
of trees and bushes: wax myrtle, sweet bay magnolia, spicebush,
red bay, alder buckthorn, chicasaw plum, and cherry laurel.
McCarthy says being
in politics is like being a football coach
"Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have
to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think
it's important."
-- Former Senator and Presidential Candidate Eugene McCarthy,
via Roy McCreary, Dacula.
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
or comments on any issue to Gwinnett
Forum for future publication.
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MORE: Contact Gwinnett Forum at: elliott@gwinnettforum.com
© 2007, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum
is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett
County, Ga. USA.
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