April 18, 2007

• 32 People Is Never Justified
  Warning: sensitive content (if you intend on reading please read it carefully or else you could misunderstand me)

  “I saw bullets hit people’s body,” Sheehan was quoted as saying. “There was blood everywhere. People in the class were passed out, I don’t know maybe from shock from the pain. But I was one of only four that made it out of that classroom. The rest were dead or injured.”

  Since when was killing 32 people justified?  Or how about even 1?  Even the mere thought of killing someone shouldn’t be a justified act.  For the past 2 days America has suffered the loss of terrific, talented, gifted people all at the hand of a mad mans rage against social standards, economics differences and what…a whole list of other factors investigators and people will conclude to.  It has not only directly affected the families and friends of Virginia Tech but the rest of American suffers the pain and sorrow.  I share this pain with all of you at VT! My heart hurts for the victims, victims families and so on.  I am all the way on the west coast and yet this incident hits me so hard I almost sit here teary eyed processing what it was like being in the dorms at 7am hearing gun fire or the students who’s lives were taken in a place where violence should never happen or the students who barricaded the door so the killer could not enter or how about the students pouring out of the window of the second floor for their lives.  O my heart cries at such a catastrophe.  

  What is more upsetting too is that I HATE the fact that the guy was Asian.  Particularly South Korean.  But an American still!  A guy like this makes for a bad name for the Asian community not only in Virginia but it affects the Asian community as a whole around the nation.  Some of you might not agree and thats fine but I think it does.  When any other ethnicity other than Asian views us most of the time I would say we are generally viewed as Asian and not by our specific Asian heritage.  So to the public we are not always viewed as Chinese, Korean or Japanese, Vietnamese etc; we are view as Asian just like how people don’t categorize white people into German, Irish, etc.  Yes we do of course but to the general eye of what people SEE you don’t normally say hey a Irish person.  Instead you say a white person.  Same thing goes for Asians, to people who aren’t Asian they might not view us by our specific race!  So in a general sense, this horrific incident at VT directly affects and is associated with all of us because we (or I) am Asian.  What sort of ramifications could there be?  I can’t say exactly but I could think of a few.  Perhaps any racial backfire?  Sure, its could happen!  Is it right?  NO because we live in America where we aren’t judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character!  But for many of us as humans, we know that doesn’t always hold true initially, especially if you loved one is gone!  Seriously, put yourself in a parents shoe from VT, if you ain’t Asian Id be hard pressed to say you wouldn’t initially be upset with Asians.  It’s not right but lets face some facts, history speaks numbers of what people have done to the Japanese Americans.  I’m not saying that will happen and perhaps we have learned from our mistakes but there could be some racial backfire.  I’m not saying it will happen but I present the idea!  We all know this topic has been all over the media, news radio, talk shows, news prints etc and it has spread like a wild fire across the country and other parts of the world I’m sure! Whats the truth of the matter I am not sure since we know who controls the media and who controls talk radio!  My heart is heavy with such news and as we follow the media and news to learn more of the reason why such a terrible thing has happened there almost seems like no feasible answer as to why, why why?  It’s almost senseless if you ask me! 

  Quotes from Youtube…(not used to support my thoughts but to show what people comment publicly)

  “azns… dont mess wit dem” – anonymous

  the response…
  “seriously, everyone needs to stop with putting each other down this is
  about you so maybe your racist maybe your not, but honestly no one
  cares, this video isn’t about racism its about a tradegy, so for once
  think about something more important because everyone fighting over
  their opinions doesn’t solve much does it?” – anonymous

  7am 2 people are dead!  2 hours later the body count is 33 including the psycho killer along with dozens upon dozens injured!  I mean seriously throw aside what you have heard these past couple of days as ask yourself what the hell is up here?  ItS evil at its best work!  What bedazzles me even more is that there have been previous bomb warnings on campus prior to the shootings and whats up NOT evacuating, canceling or warning students about what had happened at 7am.  I mean 2 people were shot and presumed dead at that time and yet 2 hours later people are dying due to lost of communication or lack or awareness!  At 9am there were still students in class rooms, wtf?  They should not have been in class period!  What went wrong?  Why wasn’t the campus alerted right away?  I know you’ve heard these questions over and over and you’ve probably thought about them yourselves.  There could of been so much that could of been done to prevent or limit such a catastrophe.  Thats another thought…Americans are always so REACTIVE!  We are almost NEVER PROACTIVE!  We only respond to what has already happened and we hardly do things to prevent things from happening!  Yeah you might say well how would you know something like this would happen?  Well, I’ll tell you…remember what 7 or 8 years ago…Columbine?  That enough evidence of a previous massacre to be more proactive!  Now we’ve got the largest Massacre in the history of America.  I hate to be so negative here and it’s truly not a reflection of myself at all but I guess I am frustrated and heart broken like many other Americans! 

  From what I’ve read and listened to VT and Blacksburg is a relatively family oriented and learning more on the conservative side yet in the letters and threats from the killer stating things that “you brought this on yourself” is a truly a sign of mental disorder.  I mean the guy was diagnosed with depression and had been on medication.  He wrote a play that was so disturbing that he was reported to the schools advisory and I believe he had even seeked counseling for issues!  The kid was clearly a loaner, didn’t have many friends and was said to be the type who would wear glasses indoor or even dark days which doesn’t necessarily justify a killer but a lot of these things are not unfamiliar to us! These characteristics are obviously abnormal.  The killer according to sources hated rich kids, people who were more well off, maybe had a better life than he did from a economic stand point or whatever the reason was but it just doesn’t add up to why still?  Looking at the demographics of VT and what the general region emphasizes its not like he’s around an environment from Beverly Hills 90210 where people live a more flashy life and where peoples life styles are distinctly notable! 

  America cries today but the spirit prevails through such a tragedy.  My prayers and condolences to the victims and the victims families and friends of VTU.  As a nation we unite through our sufferings and go on never forgetting the ones we lost along the way.  We stand strong together and my prayer is that we don’t push away from each other but to embrace the value of life!  To Virginia Tech…may peace and a place of learning once again coincide with one another. 
  
  Profiles of victims in Virginia Tech massacre
  It’s a long profile list! =(

  Comments & Thoughts Welcomed! 

  I apologize in advance if this has offended you in anyway, BUT it is a free country! =)
  In no way do I promote racial profiling in the voice of this post!  I love all my brothers and sisters of all race, backgrounds, social and economic backgrounds etc.  In no way do I attempt to demean or demoralize any such race or ethnicity!

  It’s not about me? or if you’re Asian living in America!  And it shouldn’t be is what I am saying ultimately!  It’s not about race or ethnicity I know.  It’s about a horrible tragedy and remembering the loved ones we lost! I hope among a dark hour that LIGHT will shine again and something good will come from all this destruction!

  Thanks for reading,
  Steve

  • 5:28 am
  • 23 Comments