In the aftermath of last week’s horror at Virginia Tech, the entire school, ACC and nation displayed the admirable solidarity that is so unique to Americans in times of crisis and mourning. From government officials in Washington to students creating memorial Facebook groups at schools across the country, the national response to the events has been one of pensive fortitude and reflective resilience. This school year will no doubt be remembered at Virginia Tech as a turbulent one, with a shooting incident occurring on both the first day of classes and near the end of the second semester. And, as we have already seen, the process of recovery is beginning, but it may take time for the mourning relatives and friends of the shooting victims to come to grips with the unfair hand that their lives have been dealt.
However, it is important that we as a people refuse to take the actions of one individual and mistakenly attribute prejudiced or presumptuous labels to an entire group of people. Everyone who has seen the tapes NBC released of the shooter has realized the complete disillusionment with life and fading grip on reality that must have taken control of the shooter’s mind. In a terrible act of pathetic selfishness, so alarmingly saturated with hubris that he compared his impending act to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he took the lives of more than thirty of his fellow students. I refuse to give such an individual the posthumous pleasure of media acclaim by mentioning him by name. But any attempt to cast broad generalizations upon those who share a nationality or ethnic origin with the Korean-born shooter represents an unwarranted allocation of blame onto the shoulders of innocent people. Such acts are antithetical in nature to the spirit of solidarity and strength that has swept across the nation in the past few days and are, in fact, a desecration of the lives and memories of those victims whose lives were cut short. Apologies from the shooter’s family both in South Korea and the United States perfectly capture the remorse felt and responsibility taken by those whose close relationships to the shooter have left them pondering whether or not they could have done more to stop the terror from occurring.
Last week, a story circulated the university regarding a male student who verbally abused and then physically threatened an Asian-American student in an apparent occurrence of the negative backlash to the Virginia Tech shooting that none of us wish to see and all of us hope does not happen. Such actions are as irrational in their reasoning as they are irresponsible in their nature. The student, who was not Korean American, played no part in the situation at Virginia Tech and was probably, as a fellow American, just as shocked, saddened and disheartened by the sickeningly premeditated shootings as the rest of the nation was. Even if the student had been Korean American, there is still no logical link between the coincidental similarities in the ethnicity of the shooter and that of the university student. It is important that, as time progresses, and Virginia Tech, the State of Virginia and the nation all begin the painful search for closure, we as a people maintain our newfound camaraderie and present a united moral and emotional front.
It is safe to say that most, if not all, of the people who lived through last week’s crisis have not recovered. The pain expressed by those with mere peripheral connections to the situation cannot possibly match or exceed the anguish that the families of the victims must feel. The death of innocents is impossible to comprehend. But we must take extreme caution to ensure we respect the mourning of each affected family by leaving the memories of their loved ones unsullied by irrationality, hatred and ignorance.
Ademola Sadik is a sophomore finance major. He can be reached at asadik@umd.edu.
