Published: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:22:56 +0000

Just as I expected the Korean media has begun to blame the incident on US racism and culture corrupting a poor Korean youth.
From the Chosun Ilbo:
Yu Bum-hee, Dept. of Neuropsychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, said, “Virginia has a reputation for having comparatively strong white supremacy movements. It’s possible that Cho felt diminished by that atmosphere.” These [...]
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That is just a bunch of bull!!! I can't believe they are making this kid into some sort of victim. A lot of people are to blame for this: his parents, all the people who saw that he was troubled and did nothing, all the people that did just the minimum to cover their butts and let him go on his way. But how dare this "Dr" sit there and say that, in general, Virginians are racist. How dare this other man suggest parents think twice about sending their kids over seas for their education. I was watching on CNN that 15% of the forgiegn students are Korean, you don't see them goin around killing people. This kid was obviously disturbed but to basically say that Americans are responsible for him killing them is absurd. I can't even come up with the words to describe how angry this makes me. And to be worried that you'll be attacked just becasue you are Asian is beyond dumb. America isn't the middle east where you are killed for being a different religion, or just a different sect of the same religion. Sure there are crazies in US, I'm not going to deny that, but where aren't there crazy people? On top of all that it's not like he didn't know how the US worked he spent the majority of his life here. I could go on for hours about this but fortunately I have better things to do with my time right now.

I understand your anger but, when people talk like the Dr did it makes me think that he is trying to deflect attention from a perception that many Koreans are very prejudice and that perhaps the influence of living in South Korea in his early years was the main cause.

That is not what I think is the reason the young man did this, but I do think the Dr. is trying to deflect the attention away from society in South Korea which in the experience of some (Amerasians and poor) can be very arrogant.

Most Koreans I know have a lot of pride in their heratige, and some thing that is obviously done that is very wrong by one who is associated brings a very much perceived disgrace upon all and they are imbarassed that it happened and feel guilt.

The great majority of us understand this and know that this is not an example of South Korean Youth but an example of what can happen to any person of any race who has this kind of problem and is not treated.

The bottom line is everyone is lookiing to blame someone else or a different society for something, instead we should be looking to fix this by raising awarness so another person like this does not slip through the cracks.
To me the ones that yell and scream the most and point to others are the ones that are really feeling the most guilt. Comments?

__________________
Just my humble opinion!

You probably right, he might have deflect attention. It just gets under my skin when other people look at something and act like they know everything. How many Virginians has this guy ever met? Obviously his view of Americans, and other people of the world for that matter, is very narrow to think that people are going to think that just because he was Korean, Koreans must be bad.

I hope that the people that let this kid become the tortured soul that he obviously was, the people that stood by and did nothing while knowing he had problems, the system that failed him, in one way or another I hope they pay the price for their mistakes. Whether it be through guilt or revoking a licence to counsel. Because they did nothing a lot of people are dead. It is very apparent to anyone that has watched the news or read any of the articles that a lot of people failed this kid, and ultimately failed the 32 people he kill, the people he injured, their families and all the people that will be forever scared because no action was taken.

I find the lack of support for and in the mental health care system a crying shame. Take a look at the military. You hae had people coming home killing their families, themselves, but more often suffering in silence and not being treated. Why? Because if you go and speak to someone you must be crazy, and you might lose the career that you worked so hard to build, at least thats the sentiment. The system for many other reasons also, doesn't work. This kid went in for treatment and the system failed him. From the description of his writings, the reaction that teachers had of him, he clearly needed help, probably institutionalized til he was no longer a treat to himself or others. Yet 17 months after he got "help" we have nearly 3 dozen murdered people!

And no, I feel no guilt, I did nothing wrong.

See also my posts # 16 and #17 in The Lounge (Virginia Tech Massacre)today.