This article and the video attached to the article highlighted yet another one of Trump's controversial comments associated with people of different racial backgrounds. Joseph Choe, a Harvard student, had asked Trump to clarify a statement he had previously made over the summer that implied that "South Korea takes advantage of the United States in terms of the defense spending on the Korean peninsula."
Trump asked him, "Are you from South Korea?" Choe answered, "I'm not. I was born in Texas, raised in Colorado." Before he could go on and ask him an actual question, Trump went on to speak passionately about how he believes it is wrong that America is defending countries like Japan, Germany, and South Korea for nothing in return. Choe tried to interject that the South Korean government is paying America for their defense, but Trump did not let him finish, saying that the sum is "peanuts compared to what we're doing for them." He cited the TVs produced by South Korean companies as evidence of the country's economic prosperity and went on to say that if countries wanted defense from America, they should have to pay for it.
While I agree with Trump to a certain extent that we should reconsider the funds that are going into defense for foreign nations, I don't think every country should be expected to pay an equal amount of money to the American government. Each country's economic status is different, so it would be unreasonable to expect each government to pay the same amount. Furthermore, the issue of defense for South Korea is not something that concerns only the South Korean government. North Korea is a global threat, so every country that is giving aid to the South Korean government is also giving aid to a collaborative effort to end the use of nuclear weapons and the danger that North Korea poses on the rest of the world. I don't think it's entirely fair for Trump to expect South Korea to pay the American government a large sum of money for their support on such a global issue.
I'd also like to address Trump's question to Choe, asking him "Are you from South Korea?" immediately after Choe asked him to clarify his statement. This question may seem harmless to some people, but Choe's answer highlights the underlying nuance of racism that it has for many Asian Americans. The article cites sociology professor Jennifer Lee, who says "It's this persistent perception that Asian-Americans are not American, that they are perpetual foreigners." I think she put it perfectly. I find it extremely annoying when people ask an Asian, "Where are you from?" and then act surprised when they give an answer that is not an Asian country. They then proceed to ask, "Where are you really from?" as if to say our first answer should never be anything but the Asian country where our parents or grandparents were born. Asian-Americans are Americans too. It's not like we are any less American because of our cultural heritage.
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/15/448718726/south-korea-trumps-where-are-you-from-moment?sc=tw
Your responses to Trump's inconsiderate question, "where are you from" is well articulated. This question, brought up all the time to asian americans is annoyingly common. I like that you brought up that our position in South Korea is beneficial to both sides
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ReplyDeleteThough it is annoyingly common for Asian Americans to be seen as foreigners, it is reasonable for people to have this misperception. If an Asian were to ask a blonde, white male, "where are you from", and he responded with "I was born in China", we would have the same alarming expression and doubt.
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