Here We Go Again....

Let me start this post off by conveying my sympathy and condolences to the family and friends who lost someone they love in the shooting at Virginia Tech last Monday. In a way I suppose we all lost something....

It has been a week of soaking up all the coverage from the shooting at Virginia Tech. As the days unfolded I began to notice a noticeable trend w/ the media coverage on television. It was curiously slanted a bit. I could not put my finger on it exactly. Then it crystallized on Wednesday night when I was speaking to one of my friends before we went to the Ozomatli show, regarding what she thought of the coverage of the VA Tech shootings, since she was East Asian. And like me, she noticed the usual tactics by the news outlets (as she put it perfectly) of "othering" the shooter since he was not a white "American" kid. From an immigration point of view, he was an "American", but not naturalized. She explained how she found it interesting that the media keep reiterating that he was South Korean, even though he has lived in the United States since 1992. Therefore, a majority of his socialization as a person has been as American rather than Korean. She continued on by telling me about a commentary the Robert Siegel did on that day about this very misinformation by the media. Essentially Siegel talks about how the shooter grew up very American and that his writings depicted problems very American, not Korean. I found this extremely interesting b/c I dont EVER remember hearing about school shootings in South Korea. I dont remember hearing about writings by students in Korea talking about pedophilia as it relates to Michael Jackson or Catholic priests. These as Siegel put it, our stories of our news pages. Not to mention the shooters apparent affinity for guns. The shooter was American. Yeah, his ethnicity was South Korean, but to think for a second he is not American would be very naive. He was just American as those kids from Columbine, or the other number of school shootings that have occurred in years passed in the United States. This brings me back to the feeling I have when people ask me what I am and when I respond with American I generally get the response of "no really what are you....like where are you from?" Or when Im in India, Im always looked at as American even though the customs and values I grew up w/ are Indian. Its an interesting juxtaposition people in my position find themselves-not really having a culture that is completely ours or fully accepting of us. I remember reading in a Time article a year or so ago about this issue and having hearing it termed the best way Ive heard. One of the people in the story said we're the hyphen between Asian and American.
As Im sure w/ all Asians, I was guilty of hoping the shooter was not Indian once they had information was Asian. Can you blame me when there are conservative talking heads out there saying things like this before having all the facts.....

Who is the “Asian” Mass Murderer at Virginia Tech?

Here’s what we know about the murderer of at least 32 students and maimer of at least 28 more at Virginia Tech, today:

* The murderer has been identified by law enforcement and media reports as “a young Asian male.”

* The Virginia Tech campus has a very large Muslim community, many of which are from Pakistan (per terrorism investigator Bill Warner).

* Pakis are considered “Asian.”

If I were Asian, I’d be legitimately upset with this broad generalization of the mass murderer’s identity.

Why am I speculating that the “Asian” gunman is a Pakistani Muslim? Because law enforcement and the media strangely won’t tell us more specifically who the gunman is. Why?

and it finishes w/ a BANG.....

Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.

The post has since been removed by the author bc of "the slimy comments from the Nazi-infested Media Matters for America cretins." I began thinking about the backlash that could possible occur from people (and law enforcement like this Indian was subjected to). Some things that went down after September 11th (and continue to go on to this day) are still fresh in my mind. The piece of the reporting that I found as interesting was the reference the media made to the shooter's parents. Whenever they made mention of his parents they always followed it up w/ their profession-owning and operating a dry cleaning business. Now this made me shake my head for two reasons; first the renewing of the East Asian stereotype of owning and operating a dry cleaning business; second, the double standard the media has when referring to minority and white parents which I would muse is spawned from the first reason. Example, the Duke rape case. Whenever, the three lacrosse players' parents were referred to their profession did not follow their relationship to their son. Why is it relevant in this case, but not w/ the Duke situation? Is their a dichotomy between the two different demographics? Albeit it may be a subtle nuance to some, but its these little things that you notice when you've been "othered".

Imus(t) Stop Talking

WOW!!! Its been quite a few days for the provocative topics of race, ethnicity, and gender for our country. Topics that we don't like to have a discourse on. First, Newt Gingrich opens his mouth (which is never a good thing in my estimation) and equates Spanish with the ghetto. And then apologizes in Spanish on YouTube. Really? In Spanish on YouTube? Hmm. Because apologizing via that medium will reach all those he offended. When I read about this, it reminded me of an incident a few years ago when this ass from Maryland felt the need to share his misinformed thoughts about Spanish too. Then on the heels of that, Don Imus refers to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." So if youre keeping tally at home for the year, I believe that's three (somewhat powerful) white men-Michael Richards, Newt Gingrich, and now Don Imus (who I like to refer to as Death Angry) that obviously have some issues with folks that dont look like or speak like them. In addition, I just read that one of the kids from MTV's "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" was arrested and in the process punched an officer in the mouth and called him a "n-----" and a "f-----". Damn!
The thing I find interesting in this whole Imus situation is the reaction of Imus and the media. Ill start with Death Angry. He seems a little too conciliatory for saying something so insensitive as that on the public airwaves. He spit what he said a little to easy for me to believe that he really thinks it was a stupid thing to say. Not to mention the comedic factor being non-existent. So the idea of it being cool for Imus because Chris Rock and/or Dave Chappelle talk about race and ethnicity in what some may define as offensive is like comparing apples and oranges "bitches". Through the recent slips of racist barbs that have been exposed, I feel like white males consult the same handbook for cleaning up what they say. That is to say they are overly apologetic and then they meet with Rev. Al or Jesse. Its almost like they think that apologizing and meeting with black leaders will smooth everything over and things will be status quo. There is no quick fix in this situation for Death Angry. I think he should be relieved of his show. If this was any other workplace situation and some employee was spittin racist, misogynistic verbiage at someone, Im sure that would be done quite swiftly. Its also interesting to see that the individuals coming to say that the suspension and the apology are sufficient are white males, specifically of the Republican Presidential candidate types. Which brings me to my next point...the media.
I am surprised that this story has blown up to be as big as it has. Not to say it is not news worthy, but rather that race and misogyny are not topics this country likes to discuss on a national stage, we much rather tow the line that everyone is equal, when we all know (at some level within ourselves) that is not at all true. Whether it is Death Angry, Newt, Kramer, or my favorite former Virginia Senator. Which is why I think its quite comedic that it takes incidents like this for talking heads on news shows to question whether it is time for a national dialog on race in America. REALLY? Its 2007, we should have had this dialog many many years ago. And we wonder why other countries repel being force fed American democracy? I dont think the white power structure is ready for that conversation b/c it will shake the structure to the core. Racism may not be as blatant as what Death Angry said on a day-to-day basis, but it is institutional on the regular. And that I suspect is what the majority is not ready to recognize. For example, the recent "apologies" by the States of Maryland and Virginia for their endorsement of slavery. Which was not a apology, but an acknowledgment. Apologies include the word sorry and demonstration of remorse for your actions, not saying you have "profound regret". If I told me sister when we were coming up that I had "profound regret" for pulling her hair when my mother forced me to apologize to her, I would have probably still gotten grounded till I offered a proper apology. So to think that States involved in slavery is naive bc it will demonstrate guilt on the part of the the white power structure and that will never come to bear. As someone who is not part of the majority in this country or part of the African-American demographic, I look at this situation as an outsider looking in, so to speak. Being at an HBCU presently, it helps me understand the effect better on the African-American diaspora.