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Good Samaritan in Asian-American Cultures
Chan-Hie Kim

A modern parable of the Good Samaritan is taken from the Korean-American community. It is the true story of an abandoned Korean boy and the elderly Black man who rescued him from the brink of death and adopted him. In 1994, it created a media sensation not only in Southern California but also in Korea.

The story shocked the Korean community just as the hearers of the old parable were shocked. Aid for a helpless Korean child came where they had least expected. Korean shop owners had been robbed and killed by members of Black gangs in that area. This true neighbor surprised the community.

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An opinion survey taken in Korea in 1994 suggests that the highest virtue one can have is helping other persons. It is no wonder that a story about an abandoned Korean boy and an elderly Black man who rescued him from the brink of death created a media sensation not only in Southern California but also in Korea.

For nearly thirteen years, Leon T. Graves, sixty-eight, has reared Roy Chung, whom he found crying and near death as an infant, abandoned by his mother.

Roy is God s gift to me, said Graves, who despite his age and ailments prepares Roy’s meals and drives him to and from his school, music and martial arts classes, and Korean church functions.

Had the old man and the boy been of the same race, strangers would have assumed them to be grandfather and grandson, but the stark contrast in their physical appearances is not easily overlooked - even in multiethnic Los Angeles.

Graves was an apartment building manager responding to a neighbor’s complaint of a crying baby. When he opened the door, he saw an infant on the floor, wailing. His eyes were in the back of his head. He was very sick, Graves recalled. I saw that the baby needed immediate attention. Graves took the baby to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Doctors said he would not have survived another three hours. Two weeks later, Graves, who was fifty-five and single, picked up the baby from the hospital.

Over the years, the story of Graves’ sacrifice for his adopted son became known to the people of the Korean community where they lived. When Graves and 12-year-old Roy were dining in a popular Koreatown restaurant, people came to the table to thank Graves.

Please tell him I respect him, a Korean waiter told Graves’ dinner companion in Korean. Then the waiter made a deep bow to the old man and walked away.

This story is a modern parable of the Good Samaritan. The story shocked the Korean community just like the hearers of the old parable were shocked, because aid for a helpless Korean infant came from a Black man they least expected. The local Korean newspapers are full of stories about how Korean shop owners are robbed and murdered by members of Black gangs. Yet here is a Black man, a true neighbor, who not only rescued a helpless Korean infant but even sacrificed his life for a better future for the abandoned child.

As the waiter in the restaurant showed, love for others is regarded as the highest virtue in the Asian and Asian-American culture, and people pay great respect to those who love their neighbors.

Level I Level II Level III

An opinion survey taken in Korea in 1994 indicates that helping other persons is the highest virtue one should have. People over sixty-five years old were asked, "What is the last advice you want to leave behind with your grandchildren before you die? Mention only one thing." More than 60 percent of those responding to the survey answered "to love others," that is, "Love your neighbor." The next most frequent advice was "to be honest." These elderly persons with a long experience of life want to say that extending a helping hand to people in need is the best thing one can do to maintain peaceful human relationships in this world.

It is no wonder that a story about an abandoned Korean boy and an elderly Black man who rescued him from the brink of death created a media sensation not only in Southern California but also in Korea. The story as reported in the Los Angeles Times by Connie Kang on 19 June 1994 and in other Korean news media is summarized below.

In many corners of Los Angeles’ Korean community, the sight of an old Black man and a young Korean boy has caused heads to turn. To be sure, they are an odd couple, but that’s not the only reason they draw looks.

For nearly thirteen years, Leon T. Graves, sixty-eight, has reared Roy Chung, whom he found crying and near death as an infant, abandoned by his mother.

"Roy is God’s gift to me," said Graves, who despite his age and ailments prepares Roy’s meals and drives him to and from his school, music and martial arts classes, and Korean church functions.

The destiny that brought the pair together began in 1981 in an apartment building at the edge of Koreatown. Graves was working at a wholesale fish market and lived in a four-story building occupied mostly by Blacks and Koreans.

One afternoon, a Korean neighbor told him that she and her husband had not been able to sleep for two or three nights because of a crying baby next door. Graves helped to manage the building and so he had a key to the apartment. When he opened the door, he saw an infant on the floor, wailing. "His eyes were in the back of his head—he was very sick," Graves recalled. "I saw that the baby needed immediate attention." Beside him on the floor was the baby’s birth certificate. Roy Dae Yon Chung, it said. Graves took the baby to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Doctors said he would not have survived another three hours. Two weeks later, Graves, who was fifty-five and single, picked up the baby from the hospital. Roy was almost seven months old.

"When I brought him home from the hospital, I didn’t know what I was going to do with him," he said. So he prayed. "I said, ‘Lord, what am I going to do with this?’ He didn’t answer for a long time, which meant that I had to continue doing what I was doing. Then, when he did answer, he caught me at the right moment. He told me, ‘This burden, you take care of.’ I’ve done the best I could." Graves hired a Korean woman who lived in the building to look after the baby while he was at work. Working at a fish market meant leaving home at 2 A.M. He would rush home after work to relieve the baby-sitter.

After three months of this routine, Graves wondered how long he could continue. But when he thought about turning Roy over to foster care, horror stories about children in public charge gnawed at him. "That’s a jail house. Nobody loves him; nobody wants him. So I said, ‘I can’t do that, Lord.’ So I keep on keeping on. I tell you, it was kind of tiresome at the beginning, but as he began to get a little older, every time I hit the door, he’d be right there, following me. People saw me all over the city with him. He’d be riding on my back."

But nobody knew the real story of the Black man and the Korean boy.

Graves stayed close to Koreatown because he wanted Roy to retain his Korean identity. He also learned to prepare Korean food, which he had first tasted as a soldier during the Korean War, and he began to attend a Korean church.

Mr. Graves even moved out from their large apartment near the "Blood Alley" to a one-bedroom apartment in another location in order to protect Roy from gang violence in the neighborhood. Graves is still looking after Roy. He is a considerate person even to think about Roy’s future.

The reporter continues to say that:

In the clutter, two things stand out: One is a large crucifix and another is a prayer for a "special boy," which asks God to keep the child from all harm as he grows to be a man.

Young Joon Shon, a neighbor and close friend of Graves, says that although Graves may lack material possessions, he considers him a winner. "I’ve met a lot of people during my twenty-seven years in America, including many pastors and priests. Leon is the first man I met who lives Christ-like."

When Graves and Roy were dining in a popular Koreatown restaurant the other evening, people came to the table to thank Graves.

"Please tell him I respect him," a Korean waiter told Graves’ dinner companion in Korean. Then the waiter made a deep bow to the old man and walked away.

As the waiter in the restaurant indicated, "Love for others" is regarded as the highest virtue in the Asian and Asian-American culture, and people pay great respect to those who love their neighbors.