Our View
University shootings turn race issue
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Monday's events at Virginia Tech have brought great sorrow to the nation. People everywhere are trying to understand how such a tragedy could fall on a group of young, enthusiastic, intelligent people. However, there is an underlying aspect not being talked about.
When the story first broke, the media did not have many details. By late Monday evening, information was released concerning the shooter's student status. Before the shooter's name was ever released, it was made known to the public that the shooter was of South Korean descent.
Reports released Wednesday were more focused on his mental state and the two young females he stalked in 2005. In fact, the Associated Press mugshot caption read "Cho Seung-Hui, a senior from Centreville, has been identified as the shooter in the Virginia Tech killings."
Although the race factor has shifted in importance, the question still remains: Why was it an issue to begin with? The "War on Terror" has created a high degree of racial profiling among Americans. The media makes it seem as though being South Korean is supposed to have some sort of social significance, but it has none at all. If the shooter had been an American, no one would have pointed that out.
The point is that disturbed people are capable of endangering those around them. The story of Cho Seung-Hui is really no different than that of the Columbine shooters. All these young men had issues with their fellow students and felt that murdering innocent people was the best way to grind their axes.
In this situation, we should be focusing less on race and more on grieving and ways we can all learn from this senseless crime.
When the story first broke, the media did not have many details. By late Monday evening, information was released concerning the shooter's student status. Before the shooter's name was ever released, it was made known to the public that the shooter was of South Korean descent.
Reports released Wednesday were more focused on his mental state and the two young females he stalked in 2005. In fact, the Associated Press mugshot caption read "Cho Seung-Hui, a senior from Centreville, has been identified as the shooter in the Virginia Tech killings."
Although the race factor has shifted in importance, the question still remains: Why was it an issue to begin with? The "War on Terror" has created a high degree of racial profiling among Americans. The media makes it seem as though being South Korean is supposed to have some sort of social significance, but it has none at all. If the shooter had been an American, no one would have pointed that out.
The point is that disturbed people are capable of endangering those around them. The story of Cho Seung-Hui is really no different than that of the Columbine shooters. All these young men had issues with their fellow students and felt that murdering innocent people was the best way to grind their axes.
In this situation, we should be focusing less on race and more on grieving and ways we can all learn from this senseless crime.
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