Inside the kitchen of a Korean restaurant in Duluth where Amilcar López has worked for the last six years, the young cook can be heard speaking two languages different from his native tongue.
Originally from Guatemala, López started out washing dishes and is now the head cook of 22 Korean dishes at the restaurant inside Gwinnett County’s Super H Mart. Approximately 30 percent of the state’s Korean population resides in this county.
For the most part, López is able to communicate with his coworkers in English.
“They’re very different than Latin Americans, because even though there is trust and friendliness there, they are very serious and don’t like a lot of noise, but they treat others well and pay well, and they like to work,” said López.
On the other hand, the sounds of Mexican and salsa music happily fill the air in the fish section of Chinese supermarket Great Wall, where all the vendors are Hispanic.
The Asian and Hispanic communities coexist in Georgia, but they are separated by language and culture, among other characteristics. They are united by a common use of English, work and the ongoing battle to obtain a legal status in the country.
Asian communities are beginning to reach out to the Hispanic population for a variety of reasons: Latinos outnumber Asians (9.3 perceent and 3.8 percent, respectively) and the Hispanic workforce incorporates well into Asian supermarkets and restaurants.
At the same time, these two immigrant communities share the same needs and aspirations, said Eunice Lee, coordinator of the Korean Cultural Center.
Even when language and culture separate the two communities, Hispanics and Asians come together to overcome the hardships of obtaining legal immigrant status and to take advantage of programs and services the government offers but which can be difficult to access due to the language barrier.
Ricardo Broce, programs manager at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services in Chamblee explained that CPACS is extending programs and services to the Hispanic community. “We are planning a name change and [the center] will no longer be called Pan Asian, just the abbreviation CPACS will remain because it’s our distinguishing mark,” said Broce who is a native of Panama and has Chinese roots as well.
For Hye Young Kim and Keun Kim, directors of marketing and development for CPACS, Hispanics need access to the same programs and services as the Asian community, such as Medicare, SNAP (food stamps) and even legal counsel.
“We are responsible for guiding them in how to correctly apply for these programs,” said Keun, who added that at least 16 languages are spoken at the center, in order to accommodate the increasingly diverse populations utilizing its services.
Monthly CPACS provides assistance to over 2,500 individuals. About 25 percent of those are Latinos.
In order to better serve Hispanics, CPACS offers brochures in Spanish.
And that keeps in line with the center’s mission: to help and provide guidance to people in need.
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