Comments on: Virginia Tech gunman allegedly Asian man

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:26:57 +0000

I think it is very disappointing that people will target those of Asian descent because of what one young man did, horrible as that is. It serves no other purpose whatsoever to attack a person because he or she is Asian, than to prove that those doing the attacking must love their ignorance because they cannot help showing it off.

America is supposed to be a civilized, developed country, but if people are attacked because they are Asian then it proves those doing the attacking are not progressing in their intelligence, but are regressing back to an ignorance of profound proportions.

Debbie

By: rom

rom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:21:09 +0000

For those who doubt that the Virginia Tech massacre will result in multiple new forms of harassment of Asian people, it certainly has and will.

Has there been any news reports to confirm this?

By: Women's Space/The Margins

Women's Space/The Margins — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:23:22 +0000

Police Arrest Asian Reporter at Virginia Tech…

For those who doubt that the Virginia Tech massacre will result in multiple new forms of harassment of Asian people, it certainly has and will. The above photo is from the 8Asians blog which reported the massacre yesterday. 8Asians blogger j…

By: T.T

T.T — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:53:42 +0000

When I was walking out of my dorm tonight, I heard a playful, Caucasian hall mate said “…start shooting up schools.” A while later, in the midst of a stressful three minutes before a physics exam, a young, AA male whispers playfully, “I hope there will be another VT massacre.” After hearing his statement, I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. Within nanoseconds, I regained my conscientiousness and thought to myself, “Maybe he meant: I hope there will be a power failure so we don’t have to take this exam.” Regardless, what both of them said was an epitome of stupidity. People, republicans, democrats, men, women, FPS gamers, America, what happened yesterday was a tragedy. To those that find humor in this, picture that your brother, sister, husband, wife, grandpa, grandma, twin etc., was in that classroom. Also, take one second and fit into the shoes of many family members of the victims. How would you feel if the one you love died such horrible death? Lets all be more mature and sensitive to the emotions of others. I find that this side (the east) of America needs to work on that the most. Lets have freedom but with consideration of the people that surround you. Like Van Gogh once said, “We are not here for ourselves alone.”

By: rom

rom — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:40:15 +0000

Racial sterotypes go all ways to all communities. How many peoples first reaction was that it was a white miltia guy? I remember the same instance when two african american guys did the sniper shootings off the highway a while back. Your first reaction for many it is the racist white guy. If anything this shows violent behavior occurs in all “races”. BTW- My brother could never officially date a South Korean Woman because her parents would disown her. Racism is a human problem…

By: Lubos Motl

Lubos Motl — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:06:06 +0000

Could you please unscratch everything in my quote except for “Radford University”? All the other data are correct. What you did makes it look like my guess wasn’t right.

It is also correct that her most well-known boyfriend was from Radford, it just wasn’t the killer.

By: Women's Space/The Margins

Women's Space/The Margins — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:36:31 +0000

Cho Sueng-Hui and the Virginia Tech Massacre: These are the Sons America Has Raised…

This is the young man who shot 32 people dead, then shot himself, and injured many more. His name was Cho Seung-Hui. He was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with his mom, dad and sister in 1992, when he was eight years old…

By: Andymatic » Blog Archive » Asian Photographer Arrested in Vermont - Then Released

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:30:33 +0000

[...] Nice. The Asian man seen being cuffed in this photo is Shaozhou Cui, a photographer for the VT student newspaper. HE IS NOT “THE SHOOTER!” The only thing Shao can be accused of shooting is photographs. Without having heard from him yet, I assume that maybe he got too close to the action before the police took him down. [...]

By: james

james — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:52:44 +0000

When I say racial backlash, I do not mean that people across the country are going to commit crimes against Koreans (and further, I do not think the general public will distinguish this crime as a Korean-specific crime but rather an Asian crime). I mean, in the back of Joe Shmoe’s mind now when he sees a ’strange’ or antisocial Asian or maybe an Asian person who just broke up with his girlfriend (whatever the motivation of this massacre ends up being), this event may pop into his mind. This is similar to how people may perceive Middle Easterners at an airport or an antisocial high schooler that dresses in dark clothing. It may be subtle, it may not even manifest itself as actions, but just the preconcieved perception itself is something I do not look forward to as an Asian American.

As for Anon’s post, I disagree completely. The Amish incident took place within an Amish community. This is a mainstream crime on a large public university. Have people forgotten Columbine? Not really. And this massacre was on an even larger scale. True, it will not be on the same proportion as 9/11, but nonetheless, this is one of the most tragic/inexplicable events in modern US history committed by a single person.

By: lex

lex — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:07:46 +0000

QUOTE:
Racial stereotypes stem from media ambiguities. According to CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting/index.html), Seung Hui Cho is simply described as a “loner.” I feel that CNN fail to provide clarity in their depiction of Mr. Cho. First, this description suggests that Mr. Cho’s motivation to carry out such act resulted from disparities in social settings. However, in another article from April 16, 07, CNN reported that it was due to an ending romance. Second, this reinforces the stereotype that most AA males are loners, a misconception coined by the entertainment industry. Lastly, CNN is aiding a stereotype that all AA males seen by themselves are subject to attention for suspicious activities. In conclusion, ambiguities in the media lead to further racial stereotypes by establishing a stereotypical image, aiding an existing image, and defining inappropriate scenarios to direct stereotypes.
The media needs to be clear and use only relevant descriptions in crises. People, lets prevent suspicion for AA males studying by themselves in the library.
END QUOTE

Ah yes, the classic outcast stereotype. Right, Asian males are foreign, lonely, angry, and have a tendency to kill upon arousal. The yellow fever Hollywood boys are gonna love this!