Comments on: Virginia Tech aftermath: Asian-American backlash

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:53:00 +0000

Let's not forget that one of the victims was a Korean-American girl, and another was an Asian male.

The fact that this mentally unstable person happened to be of Korean descent shouldn't be anything more than a mere footnote in this tragic story.

I think the unwarranted fear of a backlash is *itself* more likely to cause a backlash than anything else.

Advice to Asians who maintain an unjustified focus on some (thus far) non-existent backlash: don't make it a self-fulfilling prophecy and stop focussing on it!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:46:00 +0000

There has been racial and class resentment against Korean owned businesses in some minority neigborhoods for decades which has sometimes been expressed destructively–why should everything now be attributed to Cho?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:07:00 +0000

His “children”? Okay, was he even married? Anyway, I’m sure that orientals won’t get killed within the next few weeks. But I did recently hear that some Korean-owned businesses were vandalized in a couple of big cities. Hopeffully that’s the last backlash that’ll ever happen because of VT.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:54:00 +0000

"The VT killer acted only in his own name, not on behalf of Koreans everywhere."

Not true. He alludes to doing this act for others, his "children" for example; not necessary Koreans.

By: geena

geena — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:42:00 +0000

I posted a comment on May's blog, too (about a nurse)... I was really surprised when she said that she was afraid the killer would be Filipino, but now I'm reading a lot of this.

The 9/11 terrorists acted in the name of a religion, wrongly inviting backlash to that religion.

The VT killer acted only in his own name, not on behalf of Koreans everywhere.

I think it's a huge difference.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:07:00 +0000

Except for one or two wackos as disturbed as this wacko, there will be no backlash against asians in America. Anyone who thinks there will be, does not understand America and American exceptionalism. The shooing had nothing to do with his ethnicity. Look at the acceptance of Mulsims, who are distinguished by a belief system marked with a propenstiy to murder non-Muslims, it isn’t even an ethinicity, and yet life goes on for American Mulsims who continue to gain jobs of high trust despite repeated killings, like the one in Utah recently.

What there may be (I doubt it however) is a some rational circumspection about extending so many rights of American citizenship, such as gun ownership, to non-citizen immigrants. The track record on that hasn’t been so good.

By: dbp

dbp — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:19:00 +0000

I am an asian-am and while I am not Korean… my heart was broken when I heard that the guy was Korean. I fear that there may be some idiots out there that will lash out against Koreans. I’ve got some close American-Korean friends and for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, I’m not bringing this topic up around them if I don’t have to.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:03:00 +0000

I have to admit that I am amazed the killer was NOT a whacked-out caucasian male. Ir is my understanding that violent crime/murder is almost unheard of in Asian countries relative to the U.S.. I have to admit I am a little more concerned about the North Korean situation after this episode. Can you imagine if the dictator of a country with nuclear weapons wigged-out like this?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:51:00 +0000

There won’t be a backlash. The kid was mentally unstable. Him being Asian has nothing to do with it. Too bad VA Tech banned guns on campus. If not, one of the students may have been packing and could have taken the kid out earlier.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:33:00 +0000

While there will always be someone who wishes to make noise as part of their public persona (like Al Sharpton or Don Imus) the asians are not likely to suffer any backlash from the general public. It is generally recognized that this group has low crime rates, high literacy, high achievement and strong civic participation. This is achieved by maintaining some cultural differences from the mainstream. These differences, however, are used only for their beneficial effects, not to socially isolate themselves or label mainstream society as bad (like the muslim community in America does).