I haven't been able to find the words to express how I feel about the horrific shooting at Virginia Tech. And honestly, all the words I know are unfit to describe the profound tragedy of that event. But one thing I will respond to is my personal embarrassment at how some members of the Korean American community are overreacting
to this incident:
(10:59:10) Sarah: yesterday, one of my co-workers in that stat
department sent out a mass email saying sorry on behalf of the korean
community
and
"On Tuesday my mother asked me how my work went. I told her I got fired for being a Korean. She said my sister had her office door closed all day because she was embarrassed."
and
Mom: "Make sure no one thinks you're weird or loner type, be careful."
Last night at our APA staff meeting, CNN came to interview the Koreans regarding their thoughts on the fear of a backlash. The reporter said that in order to be "more efficient" (huh?) the group should sit around and pretend to be discussing their thoughts on the event and the Korean community's response. It's unfortunate to see images on the news of Koreans supposedly congregating and feeling this collective shame.
The reality is that we aren't all part of this all-inclusive mass with the same thoughts and fears, and personally, I don't see any reason to band together in some sort of defensive stance when we should all be coming together, as HUMAN BEINGS and as Americans, to grieve for those lost instead of focusing on the lurid details of the deranged shooter.
Added 12:14PM:
Wow the NYTimes has completely lost its damn mind:
A recent national study financed by the National Institute of Mental Health found that Asian-Americans are less likely to seek care for mental health problems than other groups. The study, which sampled 2,095 Asian-Americans of various backgrounds, concluded that Asians born in the United States and those who immigrated as children had higher rates of mental disorders, especially depression, than Asians who immigrated to the United States as adults.
“Korean culture does not recognize mental illness,” said Professor Park, the anthropologist. “People do not recognize it or get help. There is a huge stigma.”
Thursday, April 19, 2007
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4 comments:
Agreed. The hysteria is ridiculous. When will people realize that there are deranged lunatics in ANY sect of society?
I agree. I don't really know anyone who's blaming Koreans. In my opinion, he's been here since he was 8, he's more American than Korean. Krazies come in all shapes and colors. When crazy stuff happens with white people, the media doesn't get like this and white people don't blame themselves as a group, or wait for a backlash. I think my biggest problem right now is that people in the media are trying to spin their own political agenda on the matter before even half of the facts were known. Take for example Doctor Phil and Jack Thompson were blaming violence in video games, and so far the investigation has shown he didn't even play games. I think they are giving this guy way too much air time. His sole purpose for this (besides being a nut bag) was to get attention. He sent all those videos and manifestos to news stations because he wanted to be heard. Why is everyone listening to him at all?
Also people need to realize, that in a single car bombing, yesterday, over 140 people died in Iraq. This kind of thing is a daily occurrence there.
After talking with a Korean professor, Ben commented on his blog about the collectivist (jindapjeui) mentality of Koreans and how their "apologies" are being misinterpreted.
I think you might find it interesting.
the daily transit
i lol'd at your mom's advice.
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