The Virginia Tech shootings on April 16 have sparked a divide in the Korean-American community. Many older Koreans tend to feel a moral obligation to apologize when someone from their country or of their heritage does something awful as Seung-Hui Cho did in Blacksburg. But, the younger generation takes exception to this as they feel no one represents their race or culture. I truly sympathize with them as many of us who are Turkish or Turkihs-American are in this same trap routinely, whether it be the fact that Mehmet Ali Acga, the man who tried to assasinate the last pope in 1981, was Turkish or whether we are dealing with ultra-nationalists who were responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink, a journalist of Armenian heritage, in Istanbul earlier this year.
I saw an interesting letter in the April 25 letter to the editor of "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" which addressed this very issue for Korean-Americans. An article about their awkward bind in the wake of the Tech tragedy was also published in a recent edition of "The Washington Post."
Here is the letter to the "AJC" by Chung Hun Lee of Duluth, Ga.:
"Koreans have expressed their sincere apology for the actions of Seung Hui-Cho. Some Koreans have taken his actions personally by apologizing and expressing a sense of guilt. Why should we apologize for the actions of a single maniac?
Instead, Korean-Americans need to express their sincere condolences and pray for the the victims' families. We should not be ashamed nor express apology for our Korean heritage."
Links:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Washington Post
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