Don't you hate it when the media like CNN say Cho from VA TECH is a Korean and not an American?

Question

Cho was AMERICAN. He was here since he was 8 years old. I bet he knows more about US history than the average American.

It's funny because when my vietnamese american friends went to London, Rome, and Paris, they were viewed as Americans. The people there put them in the same category as white americans. And when they came back from the trip...the white americans here categorize them as vietnamese immigrants...not Americans...which sucks a lot.

WE ARE ALL AMERICANS. stop dividing us !

For those people that deny that Cho was American need to realize that following your logic...we are technically not americans either. ONLY the NATIVES are the true Americans!!!! WE are ALLLLLLLLLLL immigrants. Now can I get a AMEN?!!?!?!!!!

Answer 1

Yes I don't like that either. It's like CNN love to blame South Korea for that and try to 'save' American's face and reputation as a great number 1 country in the world, while it is really NOT.

Answer 2

I disagree, my roommate was born in South Korea, I have known him since high school, he doesn't have a green card, he became a legal citizen when he was a kid, actually I think he was living in Germany at the time, as his dad was in the US Army and put in the paperwork to make his son a citizen.

While I agree that wether or not he was American is a non-issue, I don't agree, technically, that he was an American. Cho was a legalized resident alien, he kept applying for his green card etc, at least that was the last I had heard reported.

But, yes, I do tire of CNN and the others focusing on that too, he was as American as my roommate, just not on paper. And he was nuts, he was a crazy person, I don't care what nationality he claimed, but at least he spoke English, which is all I ask of my immigrants.

Put it this way dear, if your Vietnamese American friends traveled abroad and spoke French or Burmese or whatever the hell they speak there now, while in Rome, London, or Paris, what might those citizens assume they were? Precisely, Vietnamese.

Quick story, when I was travelling to Germany with a Norwegian friend of mine, he went down the wrong way down a one-way street. The Germans were not happy and actually hit the rental car with their fists, and he meekly squeaked out, "I'm sorry, I am an American." I laughed for hours after that, it is all in perception mein freund.

Answer 3

Cho was not an American. He was South Korean. He was a US Resident although he had lived here since he was 8 years old. Some people chose to live in the US but NOT become citizens. They remain citizens of their native country. Not all the people living in the US are Americans. Some have been born here and some have become naturalized citizens and some are legal residents some are tourists, students and even illegal immigrants.

Your Vietnamese-American friends are probably NATURALIZED citizens. They ARE Americans. Cho was NOT.

Cho had lived legally in the United States with his parents for 14 years, a U.S. immigration official said on Tuesday. Cho Seung-Hui, 23, moved to the United States in September 1992 and lived in Centreville, Virginia, said Chris Bentley, a spokesman with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070417/twl-uk-usa-crime-shooting-cho-b69588a.html

Cho, according to law enforcement officials, had entered the country through Detroit with his family in 1992, at the age of eight. He last renewed his green card in 2003. As of yesterday, his home address was listed as Centreville, Va., and the university reported he was living in a campus dormitory, Harper Hall.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3048108&page=2

Answer 4

I agree in this case. He was here since he was 8 so I don't understand why he wasn't given citizenship. He was probably a lot more American than he was Korean after all that time.

But again, for the we are all Americans issue, that is not true. Middle America and the government decided there would be groups and strata. Even the business class did.

If we were all just Americans (which would be nice) people would not live in areas segregated by class, race, etc. There would be no census. No need to tally how many different colored people are doing what. No surveys on who is eating what and when. There would be more intermarriage. But people mostly choose friends and family among race, class, education, sexual orientation, political beliefs, etc that matches their own.

If he had been an American in more people's eyes and a human being, he would have been made to seek treatment and those people at VT would not be hurt or dead.

Answer 5

I certainly see racial bia in the news reports. The press keeps calling him South Korean and I have not read any major news outlets refer him as Asian American or Korean American.
If a U.S. permanent legal resident won an Olympic Gold medal for the U.S., would we still call that person an Olympic Champion from Korea? Of course not.
You follow my point, in this case things were bad, so the guy was a South Korea, a foreigner. If an immigrant made it big, then that person is an All-American dream.

Answer 6

The way I understand it, Cho never applied for citizenship. He was never a naturalized citizen, so no matter how long he was here, he wouldn't be considered an American.

Your probably right he might have known more history than naturally born citizens might, I think schools should put more emphasis on our history.

I read in a paper that when Cho whent to purchase his gun, he showed his national card, identifying him as as South Korean, not American.

Got nothing against Koreans, they are awesome people. There just doesn't seem to be a reason to hide who he was, right?

Answer 7

It doesn't matter if he is an American or a Korean. We all know he committed this crime because he was emotionally disturbed...not because of the anger towards Americans...like those terrorists from 9-11. So what difference does it make if he was an American? Who said it's better to be an American citizen than to be a citizen at some other country? Maybe he wanted to be a Korean citizen because he is proud to be Korean.

Answer 8

No. You are incorrect. He was a Korean. He was in the US on a green card, which means he is a permanent resident. Americans are not permanent residents. My parents lived in this country for over 30 years on green cards. They were not Americans until they became citizens.

This not about dividing people. If I move to France and get permission to live there permanently, I don't become French. If I become a French citizen, then I become a French citizen of American descent.

Answer 9

He was on a Green Card, which means he is a legal resident, it means he is not an AMERICAN it means he is KOREAN.

I am on a Green Card have been here 5 years I am not American unless I take out US Citizenship. so I am still BRITISH not AMERICAN.

But wait I am white so I guess people will mistake me for American ?? nope I do not think so

SO get used to it the man was KOREAN end of story. regardless of how old he was when he moved here and how much US history he knows compared to an average American, all irrelevant, he is KOREAN.

Answer 10

He was a legal permanent resident. He was not a US citizen. Even though he'd been in the US for so many years, he still didn't apply for it. Perhaps his family intended to return to Korea after he graduated because his American degree would be in high demand there. Many countries don't allow dual citizenship. Accepting US citizenship MIGHT force him to give up Korean citizenship which his family may not have wanted.

In any case, legally since he was not a US citizen he could only be referred to as a Korean immigrant.

Answer 11

The VT adventure might desire to create hatred in the direction of Koreans for people who already carry anti-Korean or anti-immigrant perspectives. some who earlier held anti-immigrant innovations might exchange into extra passionate, yet non-violent idealists. even nevertheless, i do no longer think of it is going to create a violent reaction because of the fact arising a backlash now quite of the former day may well be illogical -- over 40 murders are committed daily interior the U.S., so this adventure does not have adequate weight in the back of it. Incarceration fee is likewise lots greater for community-born persons, so the answer to homicide will on no account be chanced on by using immigration.