Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Don't call the shooter Asian

Mike is gonna try serious today...

Brought to my attention here.


AAJS Media Advisory: Coverage on Virginia Tech Shooting Incident.

There is no evidence at this early point that the race or ethnicity of the suspected gunman has anything to do with the incident, and to include such mention serves only to unfairly portray an entire people.


Quite frankly I don't see what the sex of the gunman, I mean gunperson had to do with it either. (Eyes rolling)


The fact that the gunman was Asian, from South Korea, and male had nothing to do with this atrocious event. But it does. Why? Because he was an Asian male originally from South Korea. They have released his name and photo. Should we not see those either? I'm sure that people will guess as much...

The effect of mentioning race can be powerfully harmful. It can subject people to unfair treatment based simply on skin color and heritage.


Only an idiot would look at this event and conclude that Asians are 'bad'. This was the work of a pathetic individual. He could have as easily been white, black or anything. His name could have been John. If it was, tell me. Not mentioning race to keep knuckle-dragging Neanderthals (no offense to Neanderthals meant...) from getting that information isn't doing anything to solve the problem, I believe it makes it worse.


Some classmates talk...

"When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of," former classmate Ian McFarlane, now an AOL employee, wrote in a blog posted on an AOL Web site. He said he and other students "were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter."

"We always joked we were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did," said another classmate, Stephanie Derry. "But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling."


Do you think that there could have been people who were genuinely concerned about this guy, but were afraid to bring it up to any authorities for fear of being considered 'racist'? Could this have turned out different if more had expressed their concerns? Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know.


The other thing that angers me is all the anti-gun people that latch on to these horrible events. Do you really think that making guns illegal would have stopped this? I mean, drugs like heroine, crack, and pot are illegal, yet we see it everywhere. Imagine the common burglar that got a hold of a gun when possession is illegal. Isn't the possibility there that he just might be that much more brazen knowing that the most he needs to worry about is someone with a aluminum bat or a bedside table?


Read this part again...
The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of.


If guns didn't exist, he would have come up with something...

2 comments:

Anonymous,  4/18/2007 9:18 AM  

I get your point - BUT - why do we feel the need to identify people by their race, religion and even sexuality when it is different than our own. I work in an office environment that is primarily white middle class males and I have noticed that for most of the guys anytime they are talking about someone who doesn't fall under the category of a white heterosexual male they use that as a description. I know it may sound minor to someone who doesn't hear it everyday, but why when you talk about someone why would you throw in a precursor that they are gay, or that they are black, or that they are mormon - yes, they might be all these things, but when you begin to hear, "did the black UPS guy come in today?", or "give Suzy, the lesbian account rep a call". Its like a subconscious sign that they can't get over the differences.

Mike D. 4/18/2007 9:51 AM  

I spend plenty of time on construction sites, I hear it.

So covering it up will change them?

Saying the guy was Asian is no different from showing a picture. People will figure it out. Your coworkers will still pick up on it.

Its like a subconscious sign that they can't get over the differences.

We shouldn't cater to the idiots of the world. I doesn't fix anything.

Do we really want everyone to be faceless clones? I personally like diversity.

The problem isn't stating that he was Asian. The problem is thinking that this guy's actions speak for anyone else but himself.

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