Racial Identity In Kim Park Nelson's Invisible Asians

The idea of being a humanitarian savior is a concept that has been used to justify the continuation of transnational adoption, however it is also a device used to oppress. This is the central theme to Kim Park Nelson’s academic work “Invisible Asians” where she explores the effects of race and racial identities on Korean adoptees in America. The way explores this argument is by exploring the stories of her fellow adoptee community in Minnesota. She first formulates her argument by first detailing the experiences of the first-generation Korean adoptee. Which was also the generation that were most connected with their birth country, however, the reason this formulates Nelson’s main argument of racial identity can be shown with assimilation. …show more content…
An example of this is when Nelson brings up the problem of cornerstone research in the research conducted in the 70’s and 80’s. An example of this is the problem of cultural assimilation and adoptees as the only that gets considered here is whatever an adoptee can fit into White American society. Nowhere does it consider the adoptee own racial background and history, neither is it considered in countermeasures to racism such as colorblindness. The reason this connects with the main argument is race and racial identity are often things that are overlooked in adoptee studies to make transracial adoption as the humanitarian thing. Although it might seem like a humanitarian thing to help a foreign orphan, it helps enforce racism at the same time. Nelson explores this topic when she explores the daily lives of Korean adoptees and argues that assimilation affected adoptees in a negative way. An example of this is when she explores Minnesotan adoptees and learns even with a White upbringing, in general, they cannot overcome the fear of speaking out against the racism (Nelson). The reason possibly being since they were raised as White Americans, it is perhaps a part of their everyday lives and is now assumed