MORE THAN any other image from last week's Virginia Tech tragedy, I, like countless others, will remember the picture that appeared on the front of nearly every major newspaper in the country: Cho Seung-Hui, murderer of 32 innocent people, before a blue background.Unfortunately, many people do not see Cho Seung-Hui before a blue blackground; they see a Korean, or even worse, just an Asian, before a blue background. Cho's ethnicity has been at the forefront of media coverage throughout the past week. While actual physical violence may not occur, especially within the University community, the emphasis on Cho's race will cause many to generalize about Asians, advancing stereotypes as a result.
Photos, video, and lengthy profiles that arose this past week have overemphasized Cho's identity as an Asian. While these outlets strive for complete coverage, there has been a disproportionate amount of attention given to details about Cho's immigration. For example, in a comprehensive profile of Cho's life, the Washington Post spends more than half of the piece detailing the immigration of Cho's family and the impact within the Korean community. Other news outlets have similarly focused profiles. I question whether such extensive knowledge about Cho's immigration is necessary, when it occurred in 1992 when Cho was just 8. Any connections between Cho's isolation and his ethnicity are, at this point, pure conjecture. Obviously, millions of immigrants have arrived in this country and have had little trouble acclimating.
Rather than emphasizing immigration, the media should focus on mental illness. Though a sociologist in the Washington Post profile suggested that Cho's parents were hesitant to seek help due to Korean culture, this assertion seems too narrow. Parents of all races and ethnicities may be hesitant to take their son or daughter for psychiatric treatment. There has been little focus on the lack of diagnosis and treatment of those with mental illness, both at universities and in the public at large. Ultimately, improvement in these areas is the best way for our nation to prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future.
Luckily, few major incidents of physical backlash have been reported by the major news outlets across the nation. Yet, South Korean officials have expressed concern. A foreign ministry official stated, "We are working closely with our diplomatic missions and local Korean residents' associations in anticipation of any situation that may arise." Groups on Facebook have names such as "Cho Seung-Hui does NOT represent Asians" and "I'm Korean and felt Backlash!" One need not look very far on other groups to find bigots scapegoating Asians without explanation.
Asians clearly feel the need to separate themselves from Cho. Stories of Asians and Asian-Americans apologizing for Cho's behavior abound. These individuals have done absolutely nothing wrong, and there is no need for anyone to feel like they need to separate themselves from Cho, other Asians, or their country in general. It seems likely that some of this behavior can be attributed to the media subtly assigning guilt.
Tamara K. Nopper, a Ph.D. candidate in the sociology program at Temple University, has predicted several possible repercussions on Asians in America as a result of the Virginia Tech tragedy. She mentions how the media's contrast of Cho to other Asian immigrants could paint a sharp picture of the Asian stereotype. "[The media] will promote Cho as 'the model minority' who suddenly, for no reason, went crazy ... Indeed, [Asians] are not even seen as having legitimate reasons to have anger, let alone rage, hence the need to figure out what made this 'quiet' student 'snap.'"
In this context, we can see the damage of analyzing Cho as an Asian. It creates a stereotype of what an Asian is and should be. It creates the perception that an angry Asian person is somehow "abnormal." Maybe the person just had a bad day, but for many people, their first instinct will be fear. This is not right.
The threat of physical backlash should not be ignored and safety precautions never hurt, but the real damage of the media's emphasis on Cho's ethnicity can be felt in public perception. These changes cannot be quantified, but subtly affect Asians everywhere. Unfortunately, there is little anyone, Asian or not, can do, except continue to treat the shooter's ethnicity as a detail as trivial as it really is.
Rajesh Jain's column usually appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at rjain@cavalierdaily.com.
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