Korean Job Discussion Forums

[huck]

You know...if this happened at my school, I wouldn't think "Let's go find some Asians.." I don't think most people would have that reaction...So do you think it's a normal reaction for Koreans to fear for their safety, or do you think it's based on how their own society would respond to something like this?


http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/17/skorea.vtech.ap/index.html

[Mashimaro]

I think it's a relatively normal though selfish human response to worry how an even will effect us personally. No one has a crystal ball, but it's not hard to see korean's image being pretty badly tarnished in the short term.

[n3ptne]

I don't see their image being tarnished... S. Korea is one of America's closest and longest standing allies... one crazy guy goes nuts and kills a few people... a guy who immigrated to the US?

Nothing is going to happen. Might be natural to fear reprisials, and perhaps there will be some by narrow minded bigots, but their image isn't gong to be tarnished by mainstream America. No chance.

[Matt_22]

i doubt those kids have too much to worry about. i'm sure they'll get the odd redneck yelling drunken racist stuff for a time being, but on the whole there won't be any sort of big "retaliation." there are hundreds of thousands of asian students studying in the US, not to mention the millions of other asian-americans that live there. and most americans can't tell the difference between asian people of different nationality, so it's not like students can be easily singled out as being korean.

[gsxr750r]

If it turns into a racial thing, then yes, they'll have to worry more about blacks attacking them than whites, IMHO, since it seems to have involved black/asian issues.

It's not 1950s and 60s Alabama anymore, with whites hanging people. Generally, there tends to be a lot more hatred between blacks and asians in some areas of the USA. Nearly all white students will just think about this student as a troubled person who happened to be Korean (if they could even care that he's Korean). They wouldn't take it out on Koreans unless they were very, very stupid trailer-trash types with no brain.

The black population is currently more militant about issues dealing with race, There is often tension between blacks and other races in the minority. Some think it's because a few blacks don't like sharing their minority status/benefits of that with anyone. I think many black people today view the world through race-colored glasses, and see racism in everything -- much like many of us see discrimination in everything that Koreans do to us -- whether true or not.

Whites will just want to get on with their lives, for the most part, and just be sad about it.

Flame away if you want.

[Junior]

[gsxr750r]

[flint]

Except for the article you mention above there was little mention of South Korea in the articles on CNN. Most of them center around how deranged the killer was, how he had been a time bomb, and why something wasn't done to stop him when all the warning signs were there.

Yes, there will be some wingnuts who will go on about his ethnicity instead of his mental state. That happens. However, it is minority of what is said.

I have to agree with those who say the response of the Korean students is based on how things would have gone down in Korea if it had been a foreigner who went on a rampage killing Koreans. There would be hell to pay for foreigners in Korea. There would be candle light vigils. There would be protests in front of embassies.

Regardless of how safe a person might feel in Korea is under normal circumstances these wouldn't be normal. Past experiences have shown how visceral the response of Korean's has been when foreigner's do things in Korea. Luckily for those Koreans studying and living in America that won't be the response there.

Now, is saying this in some way blaming Korea and Koreans for what the killer did? Hell no. Well, I suppose if you were on some really strong meds, had an axe to grind, or were just looking to troll you could say that. The reality is that is what has happened many times in Korea when foreigners have done something. It isn't a standard response in the America. Surer you might get a few people who bitch and moan to the media. You don't see them attacking embassies, or going around in gangs looking for foreigners to attack.

The American media (like CNN) is blaming the person who did the killings. Not whatever country he was born in. They are looking at what might have caused him to do it and blaming the system for failing to stop him before it happened.

Sadly, I can understand why Korean students might worry about retaliation, it is what they would expect to happen in Korea if the situation was reversed.

[endo]

[gsxr750r]

I don't blame Koreans for it.

I do like to point out the difference between how Koreans react to such a thing, and how Americans react.

As you said, Koreans are worried because they know how they'd be treating a foreigner in Korea.

[endo]

[mercury]

[oneofthesarahs]

[endo]

[wonkavision]

I have to go teach a class or I would post a more well thought out response but after 2 days of reading about this and feeling shocked but not really emotional, the dam finally broke and I found myself crying this morning. Maybe it was reading all the personal comments about the victims on the NYTimes blog. but i just wanted to say that I think the idea that Koreans would go around beating up foreigners is a bit extreme, I mean nothing really happened after the whole ES affair, even though there was a lot of talk? my main thought is this: maybe Koreans would respond differently, but you have to look at the population, America is far more diverse than Korea. I'm from Texas where whites are basically a minority, so I'm used to it, but the demographics are totally different here. as somebody pointed out we have hundreds of thousands of asian students at our schools, how many white students study at south korean schools?

unfortunately it is a human trait, seen countless times in our history, to lash out at all the individuals in a group that is different for the actions of one individual. just because you or I or even MOST people won't act out, doesn't mean NOBODY will.

ultimately though I agree that there won't be much of a response from anyone other than ignorant people who already hate. but you can't criticize Koreans or even Asian Americans for feeling a little nervous. someone said there isn't a lot of focus on the fact that he was South Korean, but it is mentioned in every article I read now and besides that, its in his name.

i just talked to one of my Korean co-workers, she said something about the parents of the shooter trying to commit suicide? i hadn't heard this, anybody know anything about it?