https://www.immigrant-voices.aiisf.org/stories-by-author/699-two-korean-woman-and-a-child-at-angel-island/

story of Korean immigrant in angel island

Good God, what a story, Dr. Ohn, you dug up so nicely!!!! So, there was a separate story for Korean immigrants through Angel Island as well!

This story reminds me also of OUR own experience as the immigrant, back in a half century ago we all had to struggle(?) to settle here in this new world, though not through Angel Island. Anyway, not like the majority of recent immigrants from Korea as blue-collar workers, we were rather easy to settle in white-collar status with a minimum(?) difficulty to get assimilated to Anglo-Saxon led American culture/system. So we were damn lucky foreigners/immigrants!

But, didn’t we all pay the price, working double hard with substantial sacrifice as foreigners, with no qualms but rather willing to accept as a fair(?) dividend in a certain way? Well, I did it by all means with gratitude! Indeed, I was so grateful for the offer for the position at Georgetown University to organize a combined program of transplant surgery and vascular surgery as the second man, when Charlie Currier - a typical WASP from leading Bostonian family, who willingly came down to Richmond from Boston/Harvard to repeat his fellowship only to get the fame of David Hume’s disciple, called me down to Columbia, SC where I stayed as a new medical school team till I make the decision on my return to Seoul National University.  

Honestly, I learned exactly where I am standing and belong to this new society as a ‘second(?)’ class citizen with foreign background so quickly that I worked really hard to compensate this liability.

Indeed, while in Richmond, I was keenly aware I am NOT an Ivy league graduate so that I couldn’t dare to dream to get into MCV residency which is one of top 5 if not top 10 surgery residency programs - there was ‘unwritten’ rules to limit the access ONLY to the AMG and not to FMG!!!-. So it was a total surprise when they/MCV gave me an equal(?) chance to get in to compete through the pyramidal system.

Indeed, when Dr. Hume waved the rule to accept ‘one damned foreigner’- it was my nickname throughout my residency- like me, quite a few faculty/staff members got upset and even triggered Dr. James Wolf of McGuire VA Hospital, major contender to Dr. HM Lee then among the MCV Surgery team to leave Richmond to move to Chicago - he resigned to protest to David Hume to stain such impeccable reputation known as the second best? in the country after Bill Scott’s Vanderbilt program, by allowing the FMG to compete! -.

So I understood my liability with foreign background from the outset, belonging to a ‘second’ class so clearly, which was true, that I remained ‘thankful’ and contented to remain as ‘the second man’ most of time, passing up quite a few opportunities I deserved to other American-born & raised competitors with Ivy-league hallmarks despite I was more qualified through these many years.

Well, the time has been changed!!!  The people did not forget what was going on among the foreigners like me through the last half century, and wanted to hear for the future generation. Indeed, Enrico Ascher of NYU called me to lead one topic- see the attachment: BB Lee- Upcoming FJVIS Webinar.docx - ‘Lessons Learned on the Road to Becoming President of a Vascular Surgery Society’ for the Frank J. Veith International Society organizing a webinar designed to incentivize (promote) Asian-American vascular surgeons in their pursuit to successful careers.

So the life goes on and we, Asian immigrants, would have more voice to claim what we deserved in this society as a new(?) – or late - comer/immigrant.

BB