The Cho Massacre and its Implications For Immigrants in the USA

The last week killing at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg , Virginia is a historical event that is the mother of many human thoughts about us as a race, about our understanding, of our relationships, and about the power of difference in human relations. All these have moral, social, cultural, psychological and political implications. Eager to unravel what is buried in the mind of Cho Seung-hui and the thoughts of the victims it is significant to wonder why such a serious perpetration of violence could take place despite the fact that the mental imbalance of the killer was known and the university authorities did have some idea about his mental furniture. Although the geography of his being tells us that a definite cartographic map was inaccessible for the students of psychology to nip him in the bud or to steer him on the path of self-discovery and self-healing of the frayed nerves and mental nooks and corners of his possessed mind. In this brief essay we hope to derive some meaning in terms of the impact of the tragedy for immigrants.

Much has been said about the reactions of the Korean community to the tragedy. A Gambian resident living in Gaithersburg , Maryland , reported that he came across a sign saying, “Koreans Love America !” This assertion was a Korean attempt to reassure whites and other Americans that the action of Cho should not be used to indict all Korean people. Certainly, this should be the case, for most Korean Americans may have little or no cue as to who he was and where he stood on a vast range of issues in the society. But if this is case, then one can say that this terrible shock to the Koreans and other Americans drove the whole ethnic community into a twilight zone of rage, anger and fear.

The rage was the helpless situation Cho, in Shakespearean style, cabined, cribbed and boxed them in during his paroxysm. The anger was both external and internal. It was external in the sense that many Koreans consciously or unconsciously felt that their life-long efforts at Americanization and Christianization were being raffled cheaply by the anger of their country boy and by the unexpected tribalism of angry white Americans. To these Koreans, Cho is bad news and his tragic act was simply the wind instrument of the devil whose deathly songs spelled gloom and doom to all the good works of Koreans in America . Real or imagined, this anger of the Korean deserves some attention and exploration. Linked to the anger and the rage is the question of fear. Reviewing cautiously the history of Korean-American relations and mindful of the subconscious rages of anti-Orientalism in American society and culture, many Koreans expressed the fear my spouse saw at our favorite laundry shop run by a Korean family in the Hillandale, Maryland. He told me a that Korean woman told him that she felt like closing because according to this woman all her clients no longer patronize her. Taken back by this do-not-ask question, the Korean woman conceded to the slow traffic at the shop and then felt defensive once the question of Cho was raised.” According her, “the impact of the massacre has left a deep psychological hole within the Korean community”

Sensing some reticence about Cho’s violent act and its implications for the society as well as the Korean people in U.S. this lady was reassured not to allow herself to be stereotyped by what Cho did. Rather, she should retain her self-confidence and let the people deal with her on the basis of who she has been up to this moment of Cho madness.

My expression of support for the Korean woman lid her eyes and she began to recover her shrunken personality. Once again, reassured by the lack of tribal hostility from a black woman who should be driven by the so-called “Soul brother spirit” of the African-Americans to target her and others like her as gene pool member of a bloodline of mass murderer, the Korean woman had her road to Damascus experience. Like Saul who became Paul on account of his travel revelation experience, she too began to make sense of the black experience. Drawing from the biblical metaphor of Paul and his road to Damascus experience, one can also convey the meaning that just as Paul branched away from those who stoned St. Stephen to join and helped change the fortunes of the persecuted Christians, reflective Korean Americans too could similarly gain from this tragic blunder. Their encounter with the agony of the weak and potentially persecuted minority within the black society was a distant and read about experience. Though a fate too familiar to blacks and not-so-distant- a- tale to Jews from the Holocaust experience, the Korean, especially South Koreans who benefited from the Cold War and from all the goodies of American campaign to make South Korea a better place on that Asian peninsula.

Ironically, the act of madness of a Korean loner created the historical thread that binds the separate sense of isolation and marginality of the African –American and the new experience of the Koreans battling against the woe of Cho. A woe of Cho, what is it? It is a new phenomenon that exposes the weaknesses of a small ethnic minority whose past life was secure in the success of the group and in the deep wonderment about the group from the majority society.

But if the lonely act of Cho helped create the woe of Cho phenomenon, it would be helpful to ponder on the significance of difference. Since life in the U.S. has historically been driven and in many ways guided by the race question, it is important for us to pay close attention to the role and place of race and color in the American imagination. Five things are critical in understanding this problem. First deals with the natural look of the ethnic minority as in the case of the Korean. Secondly, since the language difference, which in many cases could be a big barrier between the Korean and the outsider, one must take it as a basis of self-definition. Although Sulayman S. Nyang of Howard University is widely quoted as saying “ America is the graveyard of foreign languages,” the residual attempts of the Korean community to retain some mastery of their language through mall and church is remarkable. Under normal conditions, this difference would most probably go unchallenged and undetected. The third thing is the prevalence and visibility of the Korean alphabet in the American landscape. When things are fine and the politics or the psychology of fear is less obvious, chances are being Korean does not necessarily spell fear and violence. Perhaps Cho has changed this altogether; but only time will tell whether this is true or not. The fourth is the Christianization of the Korean and the manner in which such an encounter with Christ affect the wealth of the American Korean. Like the African American Protestant majority, the Korean association with Christianity, particularly through the Presbyterian Church, has created a path of assimilation to the American mainstream better than other Asians of Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist derivations. This strategic advantage is the result of history, cultural peculiarities, political benefits of the Cold War, and the historical and political allergies of the South Koreans.

Third World solidarity, this aspect of the Korean situation stands to be revisited by the Woe of Cho. Much has been said and much will remain unsaid. The last point rests on the American Dream and the Korean destiny in America . Some have suggested that Cho’s violent massacre is a dead contrast to fairly well celebrated efforts of Koreans who have fulfilled the American dream.

After examining all the factors associated with this case, let me address the consequences of Cho’s massacre for other immigrant groups. Some have suggested that his act of madness constitutes a bane rather than a bone for foreigners wishing to try their luck in American society. Pulled away from the ancestral gates that open themselves to immigrants from foreign lands and pushed towards isolationism because of 9/11 and its aftermath, Americans may decide to close what many have come to perceive as the floodgates of immigration. If such fears are grounded in reality and the society begins to pull away from immigrants and international students, then chances are Africans, particularly Nigerians, Somalis, Ethiopians and others from the continent could face serious problems knocking at the American gate for admission. If the fear of the disease called AIDS, the deadly exterminator and not the acronym for U.S. agency for international development, is already the basis for heavy duty visa discrimination, then the Woe of Cho could pose another obstacle for visa discrimination. Henceforth, a non-white visa aspirant who wishes to secure a place under the American sun must also pass the mental test of social and cultural compatibility.

Robot  Villager

# 1 After examining all the factors associated with this case, let me address the consequences of Cho...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 21.04.2007 11:36

americanbornNaija  JJC

# 2 My heart goes out to the families of the souls lost at Virginia Tech. Its really a pity that such a wicked act could still be carried out in such modern age. But, I'll like to comment as regards the fear being posed by the legal immigrants in the States. Firstly, Mr. Cho is a Korean citizen, but has an American up-bringing. I have lived in Korea and I do know how respectful Koreans are. I bet you that if Mr. Cho grew-up in Seoul, HE WOULD NEVER COMMIT such a crime. Same goes for Africans, whom have regards for human lives. Come to think of it, nobody carry guns freely in Asian, European or African countries, its only in the USA that they have very "loose" gun laws. Mr. Cho is part of the American system, he grew up in that society, so I see him as an American. Legal Immigrants (including Korean-Americans) in the States, shouldn't have any fear going about their civic duties. As long as they are law-abiding, then you shouldn't be scared of anything. In that regards, the American government should look into their gun law policies. That is to say that, they shouldn't go blaming legal immigrants, but really look at their policies. "A word is Enough for the Wise". Posted by americanbornNaija| 22.04.2007 16:24

Jah Guda  Villager

# 3 Eucharia, You are making a drama out of a crisis! A couple of points, America and Europe need the constant influx of new immigrants to sustain their economic growth, one deranged 23 y/o will not cause America to reconsider it’s immigration policy. Without immigrants, US & EU will have year-on-year negative economic growth. Second, and this is my theory, living in a Western multi-racial/cultural society is akin to living on a Roulette Wheel, and we are Spin-That-Wheel citizens. All immigrants live on the Wheel and the Whites reside around the wheel with their hands constantly on the spinning-handle. In the US the last time the Immigrant Wheel was spun was in September 2001 and on that occasion the Muslims were the ones who were unfortunate enough to stop at the- WhacktheForeigner-With a-BaseballBat point. On the 16th of April 2007, the wheel was spun again and this time the Koreans were the unlucky ones. The wheel stopped with the Koreans at the- WhacktheForeigner-With a-BaseballBat point. Who’s next? Your guess is as good as mine but I will advise you to climb down from your pedestal and wipe that smirk off your face, you could be facing a crowd of baseball bat wielding natives a few years down the line. Posted by Jah Guda| 23.04.2007 10:04