Koreans had a very visible, and ultimately quite resented, presence in poor African American communities as the predominant demographic owning and operating small food and liquor retail establishments. White flight and fear of crime had caused incumbent retail ownership to withdraw from those communities, and the first generation of post-war Korean immigration to southern California had found a niche, which they exploited both through a very effective informal small business lending system (called "kye" -- http://www.natlawreview.com/article/legality-kye-loans-korean-immigrant-communities) and through an ability to marshal labor of family and even more recent immigrants. The retailers typically did not hire any local African American workers and were sometimes less politically correct than white retailers would be regarding their racial views.

Hi, you may be interested in this post on the same topic

• Why were Korean-Americans targeted during the 1992 Los Angeles riots

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