As an Asian, I wish I could say race doesn't matter, but experience says likewise. When a White person commits a tragedy, the media looks inward for the "root of the problem", but if it's a minority that commits an unprecedented act, there will always be talking heads that will pin the problem to stereotypical traits as if they've found another piece of a racial puzzle. I'm not claiming that there's a racist conspiracy floating around, but it's symptomatic of some people trying to make sense of a tragedy by relying on assumptions they've never questioned. They can create portraits and landscapes in a matter of seconds in order to ground themselves.
One unnamed comment on a blog, one comment on facebook and a couple of unconfirmed rumors do not constitute backlash.
I would just like to say that the chinese I have met have been the most sensitive to racist comments I have ever encountered. This is america and we have mixed races. Its a hard situation to do with and thicker skin is required.
That could be true, but there's a difference between being sensitive and telling someone what isn't cool with the person. If you don't know a lot of a certain minority group, then wouldn't you want someone to tell you that you're acting like an ass?
Are we all forgetting all the hate crimes that happened after 9/11 to people that had nothing to do with it? No one is being paranoid or oversensitive. Minority communities are seeing what happens to other minority communities and expect a backlash. If we were truly a colorblind society this wouldn't be an issue. Any racist jerk who misplaces his anger on innocent people should be condemned by not just minority communities, but the majority as well. Unfortunately we were all just content with bombing Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. Tangent....
Okay. when a white dude does something, say I don't know, bomb a federal building, about 12 years ago to this date, did white people, white americans get any backlash? Did everybody assume the DC Sniper was white also?
remember vincent chin? http://www.asianweek.com/061397/feature.html it doesnt matter if you are korean or not, racists will view you as one and the same. time for the asian communities to stop bickering over issues as you are all in america now and stand together.
One of our friends was very very similar to this CHO dude. He was really quiet, he was an introvert and had some anger issues. Dude would get mad for no reason. He was Korean and his mom was really strict. I was talking to some of my old college pals about this, saying damn it could have been this dude! But his story turned different. He ended up finding JC and found a girl at church and now he's a normal person. I guess if you don't 'break out of your shell' of introversion, stuff like this can happen.
What I am concerned about isn't just racist comments made towards Asians but also that many Asians are seeming to internalize racial comments. It bothers me that Koreans and other Asians are coming out and apologizing for this act. This guy was sick and happened to be Asian. He doesn't represent us but apologizing for him creates that impression. You didn't see caucasians feeling the need to apologize for Columnbine.
No but they would pick the best examples. If those are the best examples, then I don't see much backlash happening. If the worst backlash that happens is internet nerds spewing garbage, then there really is no "backlash."
As reported in the media. I can only recalled a Hmong shot some hunters as being the last one oh so long ago. Asians are not criminals. The White Americans (anti-illegals) sees this as a non-issue and thinks it's counter productive to use it in bashing immigrants. In fact, they are very forgiving urge others to lay off. BTW, wondering if the backlash comes from other minorities as well?
Threats from the very, very far right does not constitute a backlash. A backlash is when his ethnicity is made a big deal in the mainstream - for example on O'Reilly, Hannity, etc. And so far, that has not been the case. BTW, if you go out and try to read stuff about this guy on other forums, most people aren't so much focused on his ethnicity but whether he's a liberal (against rich kids) or a conservative (likes guns), so they can blame the other side.
Coming from an Asian perspective mind, This guy is not asian, whether its Chinese,Korean,Vietnamese,Japanese,etc... This guy is a freaking killer who is lost and mentally ill; a disgrace to the human race. There shouldn't be any racial profile on this guy except that he is a murderer at best.
