Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots

Author Carol Park grew up in Los Angeles County during the 1980s and 1990s, a time of ethnic strife. Now she seeks to give voice to the Korean American community both then and now. Memoir of a Cashier is more than just a description of a young girl’s life growing up while working in a bulletproof cashier’s booth in Compton, California. Park tells the story of the Korean American experience leading up to and after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Intricately weaving the story of her mother into the text, she provides a bird’s-eye view into the Korean American narrative from her own unique perspective. With candor and direct language, she recounts the racism and traumatic incidents she lived through. Park bore witness to shootings, robberies, and violence, all of which twisted her worldview and ultimately shaped her life. In this memoir, a Korean American woman recalls her experiences of Los Angeles during the 1992 riots and shares her journey of finding her identity.