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In the wake of a fellow Hokie's heinous murder there has been an outpouring of condolences, sympathies, and immense feelings of loss. But, sadly, there has also been a torrent of senseless bigotry from other Virginia Tech students.
On the CT Web site, where there are hundreds of comments listed under the news release of Xin Yang's stabbing death, some of my peers have gone so far as to suggest that because Yang's killer was Asian, Virginia Tech should prohibit Asians from enrolling in the university. Similarly, students have declared the two most recent acts of violence on campus as a cultural phenomenon and state that Asians should be avoided. One "concerned parent" wrote that she has advised her two daughters, who attend Virginia Tech, to avoid Asian friends at all costs. Another commenter posted that "if another Asian commits a homicide, I suggest a ban." Others have expressed far more graphic and derogatory terms that not only make themselves look extraordinarily uneducated and without compassion for humanity, but they reflect poorly on this incredible institution that we are so privileged to attend. More importantly, I'm also surprised that people in an academic environment are ignorant in areas of diversity and the crucial necessity for ethnic appreciation.
These statements of hate represent the antithesis of what so many people of our generation have worked toward, of creating a world where race will no longer determine a person's merit or worth. We at Virginia Tech are pursuing a higher education to invent the future and better our world -- how then can you possibly attribute senseless bigotry to that cause?
To my fellow Hokies who expressed such hateful responses -- your words of malice and bitter revulsion make you no better than a person who physically perpetuates hate. One student posted that, "'Multiculturalism' and 'diversity' are ruining this country, just as Western Europe is being ruined by the Jew-hating mass-murdering Mohammedans." Another anonymous poster urged for the more "red-blooded Americans" to take action. As a matter of fact, according the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Asians are 10 times less likely to commit a homicide than whites. As a white female, I find it unbelievable that people are wasting their time in making such vile, ignorant comments in the midst of such a horrific and undeserved tragedy that could have been committed by any person, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. We should be more focused on how we can give to the community, not what we can take from it. Though I realize that the sentiments expressed online represent only a small fragment of the student population, it causes me to fear that these students would prefer a regression in our society towards intolerance.
I have experienced Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg community as wonderfully accepting of many races, ethnicities, and cultures as evidenced by the magnificent array of organizations that this institution offers to students from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, our international student base is testament to how fortunate we are to be learning and living in such an open-minded environment. Hopefully our community's sense of strength can overlook such hateful bigotry to deal with this tragic event and educate our fellow Hokies on the value of diversity.
Caty Gordon
Sophomore, English
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Attention to real news sources will show that China is, indeed, a communist country and would love to overrun the US. Similarly, we are at war with Muslim extremists. "Accepting" everyone is not a safe thing to do - if someone is acting dangerously or suspiciously, I don't care if they are the pope - they should be watched. If you value your country's safety, you'll recognize that some people really are a danger. But of course, there are thousands of harmless people here who don't deserve to be discriminated against.. we're just talking about awareness of reality here.
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About 80% of Americans are no longer buying: fearmongering = more state power = fewer liberties. I always found it ironic that we strove for a system perfected to a fine art by...uh...North Korea, Iran, China. Just because you reject outright racism and are accepting of other cultures doesn't mean you don't give a damn about security. Knowing more about others (good & bad) only makes you stronger....golden rule....Sun Tzu. Side-note, China already owns quite a bit of debt, comrade!
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Bravo, Caty. You're absolutey right in your comment. We do not know much at this stage about what happened. But lightning literally struck twice here. What we do know from the reactions of the university and community is that they did their best in responding to this tragedy. What we also know is that Va Tech and Blacksburg is full of caring people who are open-minded and welcome students of all race and background. It is those who are less committed to this open-mindedness, who succumb to easy generalizations. This may seem alright in the face of what has happened. However, those who think and feel deeply understand that these are unfortunate coincidences. We will know more later about what really happened. But let's not lose faith in this community. Blacksburg is an exceptional place and the goodwill of everyone who work and study here shines through.
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"About 80% of Americans are no longer buying: fearmongering = more state power = fewer liberties" You're kidding, right? You must be living under a rock if you really believe this. I mean, there isn't a history book written that doesn't say this! Not to mention the fabricated statistic - 80% what? You should work for a major magazine company - the would love your creativity... but as for academia, we rely on fact.
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Great Wall, you abuse the Republic that I helped construct and speak blasphemic lies about power. I believe there are two views you can find: truth in that power does corrupt and must be limited, or you can try the view in Cuba, China, or a number of similar alternatives. Either way. Sun Tzu says to stop abusing his words, too.
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"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither" - Ben Franklin, "I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others." - Thomas Jefferson. Yeah, he distruted big government....the first one to tell you to be watchful and not give them carte blanche. Then there are some who don't question following the village idiot which brings me to @Fear monger-er: Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml
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is your crime statistic about asians and whites the total stat, or is it per capita?
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You're exactly right, Caty.
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Hey Caty, these are comments! They aren't "published" they are simply a means of students, alum, community members etc. to post their sometimes exageratted views. I would suggest stopping at the bottom of the article or reading the print edition. Don't let the views of the few who decide to post make a reflection from the masses. You have a number of people who comment on any and everything.
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From the DOJ and US Census: % of All Homicides by Race 1976-2005: Whites - 45.8% Blacks - 52.2% Other (includes Asians, Pacific Islander, Native Am.) - 2.0% Homicide Offenders by Race 2005: Whites - 8,350 Blacks - 10,285 Other (includes Asians, Pacific Islander, Native Am.) - 492 Unites States Population 2006: Total - approx. 299 Million White- 221.3 Million (74%) w/Hispanic- 244.5 Million (82%) Black- 40.9 Million (13.4%) w/Hispanic- 41.52 Million(13.9%) Asian- 13.1 Million (4.4%) w/Hispanic- 13.25 Million (4.43%)
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Thanks Caty, bigotry has no place in the Hokie heart.
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thanks Caty you have really spoken up for asians. i at first had a really long comment but it was too ling so it couldn't post for me. i just want to tell all those ignorant people out there to look at the nwes and what are the most news you guys see about it. tell me what race. are they asian? are they white? are they black? tell me and name it all and see if you people can really point the fingers at us and say we are bad people just because a couple of us did wrong. you people never hear anything like "bann whites" and i honestly think the white community should really have some lessons on life.
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you people are just using this as an excuse to try and dominate another race as back then with blacks. and to the balcks that are blaming it on us too. as if some of you don't remember how life use to be for u guys or your ancestors and you guys have the nerve to say all this about us? the ONLY reason its so big in the news is because you RARELY see asians causing crimes. its usually caused by the races that won't keep their mouths shut now.you people are too used to hearing about your race doing wrong and killing that it's not even big anymore but oh no once an asian is involved ita automatically time to "ban" us because they are "bad to the community". us to let you people know there are no such thing as "real-blooded" americans. i was born here and im asian. those who don't know the laws you people are violating the part 2 offense called hate crime look it up and keep your ignorant suggestions to yourselves because you people just sound like a bunch of idiots that was never educated to say such insolent things about other HUMAN BEINGS JUST LIKE YOU!
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Thank you for writing such an intelligent and mature essay on what our attitudes towards people of other cultures and ethnicities should be. I really find it quite horrifying that people of our generation are thinking like this even now, and the fact that these are college students, who should have had a decent amount of education and exposure to people of other races, emphasizes even more how far we have to go to ending racism. I think it is unbelievable that some students can look at this terrible tragedy and say such insensitive things as ‘Asians should be banned’, rather than expressing some normal, human sympathy towards the girl who was killed. I understand that certainly not the entire student body has this view, and that is, of course, proven by your article, but if a significant enough amount of students do feel this way, and are even encouraged by their parents to avoid Asians, it certainly shows that people still have not truly changed. I am currently a high school student, and I actually thought that most people would mature as they got older and developed realistic outlooks on interaction with others by the time they got to college, but clearly I was wrong.
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I also wanted to add: These viewpoints remind me a lot of the ideas of the white supremacist philosophy as well. I think that an interesting point to consider is that, honestly, if these were two white killers who committed the same crimes, no one would even consider saying ‘Hey, let’s ban all white people! Avoid white people, because they’re obviously all criminals.’ We are so narrow-minded, stuck on the belief that Americans are at the center of the world, that many of us ignore what people from other countries can offer and how important they are to American culture, and belittle people from other countries. It sounds like some of the people at Virginia Tech are mindlessly saying, without any logic or reason, ‘These two Asian students were murderers, so naturally we should suspect all of Asians of being homicidal maniacs as well.’ It is really unfortunate that these students do not have the maturity to feel some compassion for the dead girl and accept that what happened by coincidence does not reflect anything about an entire race, and that the only course of action we can take for these events is to take the time to understand them and try our best to prevent these things from happening again. Resorting to crude bigotry and racism, will never improve anything when situations such as this one arises.
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Thank you for a well written article. This is a huge tragedy. It is unfortunate these things happen, but the reality is a lot of people are just under a ton of stress due to this economy and other factors. Just today a man killed himself, his wife and 5 kids in LA after both parents lost their jobs. This kind of thing can happen to anyone. To all those racists who want to stereotype Asians because of this incident, I like to see you go "ban all white people" next time a white person does something like this. Just last month a white man in LA killed his ex-wife and her entire family (12 people) during Christmas. Should we ban all white people after that? Stuff like this can happen to anyone of any race. Asian Americans are under a lot of stress in this country. Media in this country constantly stereotype Asians negatively. All these things impact people's state of mind. At some point, someone will snap. Learn to treat people of different colors as fellow human beings vs. some ugly stereotype. It is never funny when you are the one who are stereotyped.
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Thanks you for reaffirming our Hokie faith and repudiating this garbage coming from a few racist clods. We may not be able to speak with your eloquence but its for all of us to condemn these hateful remarks for any hurt that they may have caused our community...Asians, Asian Americans, International students and Virginia Tech at large (Blacksburg, alumni). Hopefully, the family's interpreter will skip the CT website altogether. As Americans, one of our greatest strengths has been our diversity for which we should be proud. But there's also bitterness in our history (Ku Klux Klan for one) that should keep us ever vigilant. For most of us, our friendships are not limited by nationalities, ethnic groups or religions. Wish we could have gotten to known Xin Yang better, RIP
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"and i honestly think the white community should really have some lessons on life." Seems like you've sunk as low as the commenters Caty is denouncing. Discrimination and stereotyping go in all directions, not just from majority to minority. Ironically, you used an article calling for acceptance of all ethnicities and cultures to boost your own bigoted agenda.
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This is really poignant. It's such a shame that handful of students can't see beyond their own ignorance to the true magnitude of this terrible crime. My heart goes out to Yang's family and to the rest of my fellow Hokies who live as xenophobics. Excellent commentary, Caty. This is really well put.
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all this racism and prejudice and xenophobia in america is created by the culture of intolerance and hate that american media systematically imbeds into the public's mind. america is by nature a nation of mixed people. but big sociological problem is that american media just wants all the americans to just consume and consume and consume and fighting, separate, and kill each other instead of understanding, respecting, and uniting with each other. that's one reason why cho seung hee went crazy
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