The news coverage about the massacre at Virginia Tech has kept me on edge over the past 24 hours. And now, as more details about the gunman emerge, I am upset on many different levels.
Yes, I'm in pain thinking about the families and friends, Seung-Hui's family, and the members of the Virginia Tech community.
But with each subsequent news report that I read, the knot in my stomach is growing. Multiple sources have confirmed that Cho Seung-Hui immigrated to the US in 1992, and was from Centreville, VA. He is constantly referred to as "The South Korean" gunman and a "resident alien or green-card holder." In my opinion, he is being painted as an international student, but he lived in the US for 15 years!! In my opinion, he's American. Maybe he's not a citizen, but it sure sounds like he grew up in the US, went to school in the US, is just as much a product of our American culture as any thing else.
It is interesting that his name is being printed in a more traditional Korean way - family name first. I wonder what is behind all of this, how ideas about who is American will enter in to this.
What have other people read or heard about this? What are your reactions to what you've seen or heard?
~ eliaday
UPDATE: Here are some other relevant links. Please feel free to share your own below.
