Ethnic Studies

Why it's not a valid academic discipline (registration possibly required).

Cross ethnic lines to stop violence A sense of responsibility follows news that a Korean American was the Virginia Tech gunman.

By Edward Taehan Chang, EDWARD TAEHAN CHANG, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Riverside, writes frequently about Los Angeles' Korean American community.

First problem: "Ethnic Studies". Second problem: WTF does the "Korean American" crap have to do with it? He was a nutjob. Nutjobs cross ethnic lines.

LIKE SO MANY Americans, I was glued to the television Monday, watching horrifying images of wounded students at Virginia Tech as the day unfolded. But I grew even more troubled when I heard the first reports that the shooter might be Asian.

Why?

Here we go again, I thought.

Yep, another Asian goes off and kills a bunch of people. Seems like just yesterday that... no, wait. When was the last time one of these mass murders in this country was Asian?

My wife and I watched nervously, desperately hoping that he would not turn out to be Korean or Korean American. When the media speculated that he was from China, I must admit to some relief. To my dismay, police on Tuesday confirmed that he was Korean American. His name was Seung-hui Cho.

Yes, it would have been so much better if he were Chinese. Or better still, not Asian! Even better, Caucasian! From some southern redneck backwater! That way we could still feel superior to them crackers!

My initial reaction to the shootings was, like anyone else, shock, disgust, sadness and disbelief. Then I began to worry about the possible backlash. Would the mainstream media portray this troubled man not as an individual on a rampage but as a racialized and stereotyped Asian?

You mean "inscrutable"?

Would they fall back on the usual characterizations: quiet, hardworking but seething under tremendous pressure to excel in school?

You mean like my non-Asian kids? Except they don't "seeth". So far as I know.

Cho's ethnic background will undoubtedly trigger questions about what set off this Asian American male. But how much, if anything, does his ethnicity really have to do with what happened?

Not a damned thing, but let's watch an "ethnic studies" professor do it anyway, because that's what "ethnic studies" professors are good at. Apparently the only thing they're good at.

Cho had a history of anger and emotional problems, according to media accounts. He reportedly was taking medication for depression. Many people, and certainly a lot of overworked, stressed young students, suffer from similar conditions.

And they don't go off.

Something snapped in this young man, and something went terribly wrong.

What's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah. "Duh".

I'm sure that, in the weeks ahead, many Korean Americans will feel somehow responsible for this one Korean American student's action...

If this is true, then Korean-Americans must be one dense bunch.

... even though it appears that this was the action of one apparently disturbed young man.

Um, "duh"?

This could have been done by anybody who suffers from severe depression or a mental disorder and is not properly treated.

"Mental Illness", yes. "Depression", no. Depression is associated with excessive passivity and possible suicide, not murder.

And yet, I too somehow feel responsible. Why?

Because you're a dumbass and an "ethnic studies" professor.

But I repeat myself.

As someone of Korean ancestry, I feel a cultural connection and almost a moral responsibility for his actions.

So I assume that if some family members decide to sue somebody, you'll volunteer as a defendant?

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the civil unrest in Los Angeles, the Korean American community here still vividly remembers how the mainstream media portrayed Korean immigrant merchants as gun-toting vigilantes, defending their stores as Los Angeles burned in 1992 — and we are still trying to overcome that stereotype.

Now, that's one stereotype I can get behind. Gun-toting Koreans defending their property against criminals!

Seriously, anybody out there, is this true? I don't recall them being portrayed as "vigilantes", but I didn't see a whole lot of the coverage. Were they portrayed as "vigilantes", or as people just trying to protect themselves and their property?

There are more than 500,000 Koreans in Los Angeles, the largest enclave outside of Asia, and this is the image many Americans have of them.

Well, I'm sure a lot of those Americans would approve of that image.

The Asian American community has long complained about the absence of Asian American faces in popular media.

There's an old Asian proverb, "be careful what you wish for".

Even the initial media report of the shooter as Chinese reminds me of how Asian Americans all "look alike" to those outside the community. It would be grossly unfair to blame an entire community for the act of one member, but all Asian American communities — not just Korean ones — may be tainted by this tragedy.

Well, you're an "ethnic studies" professor, so we'll forgive you your stupidity. For now...

The reality, however, is that Cho came to the U.S. when he was 8 years old and, at the time of his death, was 23 and an English major at Virginia Tech. In other words, he probably spoke fluent English and was culturally Americanized. He probably didn't know much about Korea and Korean culture. And yet the headlines will read: "Seung-hui Cho from South Korea."

Funny, I don't recall any headlines dwelling on that fact.

I don't mean to suggest that there's no truth at all to some of the stereotypes about Asian Americans.

But ten to one you pick and choose which sterotypes you suggest that about.

It is often true that Asian Americans are hardworking or academically successful. Cho's parents probably did struggle to send him to college. Many Korean American students do grow up under heavy pressure to excel in school.

As do my kids. And the rewards of doing this are understood by them. At least, the ones who aren't psychotic, violent nutjobs.

Growing up as typical "model minority" students, many Asian American students find themselves having to cope with repressed anger, anxiety and rage.

"Model minority"? Jeez.

Maybe Cho was under tremendous pressure to succeed. Or maybe his rampage had nothing to do with academic pressure but was caused by a failed romance or a deep depression. We may never know what triggered these senseless shootings.

Uh, at the risk of pointing out the obvious, isn't that what "senseless" means?

I will not be able to completely shake my sense of responsibility as a Korean American for this tragedy.

Okay, I will give the eminent "ethnic studies" prof this much: At least he's turning the PC/PoMo silliness on himself rather than, say, blaming all the EVIL WHITE EUROCENTRIC RACIST PIGS™ for what happened.

But I'm going to try.

Please do. And also try not to tar other ethnic groups with the sins of their individual nutjobs.

And when young people are stressed or depressed, let us reach out across all ethnic and racial boundaries and try to help them see that, in every culture, violence is not the solution.

Well, not all cultures seem to feel that way.

But let's also remember that "violence" is neutral. A little well-placed violence (and absence of "gun-free zone" laws) might have helped neutralize this individual earlier on.

Posted by Ken S at April 18, 2007 07:48 PM | TrackBack (0) |