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 willÂ result inÂ multiple newÂ forms of harassment ofÂ Asian people, it certainly has and will.Â The above photo is from the 8Asians blog which reported the massacre yesterday.Â Â 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.Â His name was Cho Seung-Hui.Â Â 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 â€œTHE SHOOTER!â€ 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 â€œloner.â€ I feel that CNN fail to provide clarity in their depiction of Mr. Cho. First, this description suggests that Mr. Choâ€™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!

By: lex

lex — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:06:08 +0000

QUOTE:
listener wrote:

I have a problem with Chicago Sun Times. I feel like everytime there is some sort of crisis this particular newspaper blames the Chinese right away. It seems that it is always the first newspaper to come out with negative press for Chinese and Chinese Americans.
END QUOTE

They probably have an agenda up their sleeve.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:09:23 +0000

Cho’s girlfriend?
http://www.roanoke.com/vtvictims/wb/113483

[Edit by Joz: Link to Timâ€™s site removed]

By: tim

tim — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:46:46 +0000

I did issue a formal apology on my blog right after I removed Kim related posts. I guess you didn’t see it.

However, the formal apology is now taken down along with some other vt-shooting related stories at about 4:30PM EST.

I corresponded with James Jay Kim over email and extended my personal apology. Needless to day he was very upset. I’m an ignorant attention-whore.

[Edit by Joz: Link to Tim's site removed]

By: Max

Max — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:30:11 +0000

No mention here about “wanusmaximus”.

The broadcast/armchair interweb diggers were in full force trying to connect him to the shootings.

http://wanusmaximus.livejournal.com/

Let’s hope there aren’t any Vincent Chin incidents.

By: jozjozjoz

jozjozjoz — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:10:24 +0000

Tim,

I took it upon myself to remove your links from 8Asians. Your promise to “apologize and retract” did not happen. Instead, you deleted your post as if you never made a big mistake.

Please do not use 8Asians to “attention whore.”

Perhaps if you do actually “apologize and issue a retraction, I might feel differently about your comments, your posts, and your blog.

By: Matt Clark

Matt Clark — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:17:43 +0000

James,

I am white and predict no anti-Korean backlash. The Muslim 9/11 thing is different in important aspects — there is no Korean jihad against the West, etc.

White Americans see Americans of Korean descent as hardworking, assimilationist (is that a dirty word here?), decent, entrepreneurial, and low crime. Plus there isn’t a pattern of violent crimes committed by K-A’s (or A-A’s). So this will be seen as a one-off by white America.

Now, if it had been a Muslim doing this for jihadist purposes, the reaction would be different. Very different.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:51:52 +0000

Flavor of the Month, give it a year, a memorial service or two, and the next big new story will happen. Anyone remember who shot the Amish schoolhouse last year? Or the shooting on the Native American reservation.

Granted, they were not record setting like this one, and not by minorities, nonetheless I give this one year, a few covers on Time and Newsweek and then we go into the Presidential campaign in november.

Then the race argument will shift back to black/white with Barack. Granted this taint will stay but if anything it’ll encourage AA to change the public perception.

By: T.T

T.T — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:09:31 +0000

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.

By: james

james — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:17:08 +0000

Unfortunately, whether you want to address it or not, there are racial issues that matter regarding the VT massacre. As an Asian-American, we have to be aware that there may be some sort of racial backlash after this event. Just as Muslim Americans to this day, must deal with stereotypes rooted from not only 9/11 but the media as well (shows such as 24), we may also deal with something similar albeit to a lesser degree.

By: sad

sad — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:00:30 +0000

it doesnt matter what nationality he was. he was a killer!!! he killed so many people. i dont understand why the attention is turning towards “what nationality the killer is?” all that should matter is that he was a killer. it saddens me!

By: Oliver Williamson Jr

Oliver Williamson Jr — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:14:41 +0000

There shouldn’t be any racial backlash. Not in the U.S., anyway. Of course, if a similar crime had been committed in South Korea by a “white guy”, then there would be massive rallies in front of the U.S. Embassy and Seoul City Hall and A LOT of nastiness all over the country. And there would probably be annual marches on this date for the next several years. What will almost certainly happen is a massive effort by the Koreans to shift all the blame onto America, as they do with nearly everything else, including their own extreme materialism. Some may even go so far as to declare that Cho Seung-Hui was framed by the Americans.

I’m glad I’m not in South Korea anymore.

By: listener

listener — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:36:26 +0000

By: tim

tim — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:32:46 +0000

Virginia Tech Shooter Is Korean American – Seung Hui Cho

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3048110&page=1

[EDIT by Joz: Link to Tim's website removed. He has admitted to "attention whoring" by falsely naming someone as the murderer in this shooting and will not get linkage here. The supposed "formal apology" and "retraction" was never done. Instead, Tim just deleted his post. What an inappropriate way to respond to making such a false and horrible accusation of someone.]

By: VT Student

VT Student — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:31:54 +0000

I am a student at VT and friends with Shao , the one pictured above. I just want to update that he was released and is doing well, aside from his picture being plastered across the news and people suspecting he was involved.

By: dwir917

dwir917 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:21:01 +0000

Some have compared this to the massacre in Iowa, but if it stemmed from a girl who broke up with him, it is actually more like the church shooting that happened in Emporia, KS, in about 1988 or 1989. In that case, an Emporia State University college student from China was angry that the girl (another student) who invited him to her Baptist church’s Bible study didn’t want to be his girlfriend and he took revenge by opening fire in the church. I don’t think he killed himself, though. I think he is in prison.