"My first thought when I heard initial reports was 'Oh my God, I hope it's not a black person." These are the words of a prominent black author and activist, discussing his first reaction to the shootings in Virginia early this week. The article, When ethnicity brings an unwelcome focus, discusses why Koreans and Korean-Americans have come out in vigils and with statements atoning for the actions of Seung-hui Cho.
The article continues on to offer quotes from several other minorities, including a Latino and a Muslim. (They also quote a racist from a local right-wing, AM radio station ... this is the L.A. Times.) Here is another apt quote from a psychologist, "When you've got a white guy going crazy, [his ethnicity] doesn't stand out because most mass killings are done by whites."
Of course, the one word the L.A. Times is unable to say is "racist". Fact is, America is racist – why else would ethnic minorities have these kinds of initial gut reactions? These are the reflexes of people who have grown up in a society that discriminates against them systematically. Instead, the newspaper adopts a line that the "typecasting of minorities" is somehow a part of human nature and unavoidable.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment