Consider first Cho Seung Hui, an anti-social South Korean man enrolled at Virginia Tech. Noteably, labelling Seung Hui as anti-social and South Korean hints directly at supposed causal relationships between these two unrelated qualities, which is markedly evident in articles concerning the tragedy. Wayne Chiang is another South Korean at Virginia Tech, a man who simply happens to have a passion for firearms. Once the news of the V. Tech shootings appeared on the internet, Chiang received violent, angry and racist messages from users who believed that he was responsible. The burning of religious temples and defacing property owned by ethnic minorities as a result of the 9/11 terror attacks similarly frames this case, as the resulting hate tactics had nothing to do with the incidents described, other than people drastically misinterpreted dark skin as an indication of terrorist intent. In the case of the Virginia Tech shootings, 'outraged' citizens and netizens decided to express their outrage through channelling it towards descriptive labels rather than assessing facts.
Dr. Nikki Giovanni, one of Seung Hui's professors, explained that "there was something mean about this boy. It was the meanness – I've taught troubled youngsters and crazy people – it was the meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak" (Toronto Star, April 18th). Evidently, Virginia Tech's screening process for professors who speak using expressive, coherent dialogue is limited. Giovanni's statement means practically nothing, closely approximating the relevance of Senator John McCain's condolences, who expressed that the 2nd amendment concerning the right to bear arms should continue to exist, but only for responsible, law-abiding citizens. Meanness is hardly a precursor to gun-toting rampages, and even if it was, why would Giovanni explain her thoughts on Seung Hui after the incident? McCain's aggressively vacuous statement undercuts the seriousness of the V. Tech shootings in exchange for some bizarre personal agenda of the political right, centering on the positive attributes of universal gun possession. The quoting of vague, non-specific references does little to enhance any kind of understanding into what exactly transpired or what the original motivation for it may have been.
In the wake of tragic events, those targeted by the media to offer insights or sympathies to victims involved are numerous. The problem though, is that none of these people offer any hint of what can be done to prevent it in future. Most stumble through some unnecessarily gruesome personal details (while salient, incessant reporting of the horrors associated with an incident of massacre helps nothing), or rehearsed commentary, expressing sorrow, disbelief and shame that something like the V. Tech shootings could possibly occur. Keep in mind the American practise of gun control, whereby a minor can order guns on the internet, firearms can be purchased at Walmart, and owning a gun for 'protection' is a constitutional right. Given that school shootings are not something new in America, how could anyone harbour feelings of disbelief? Nothing has changed since the Columbine shootings that might deter this kind of event from happening in the future, save for an increasing level of paranoia propogated by the media. Rarely is it mentioned that in Virginia, anyone over the age of 12 can own a shotgun or a rifle (Globe and Mail, April 18th). Under Senator McCain's penchant for upholding the 2nd amendment, American policy, for the safety of its citizens, should express that instead of buying a gun, buy 2 or maybe 3 guns. That way, you'll be 2-3 times as safe. In retrospect, the 2nd amendment was established in the 18th century in order to legalize the insititution of an American military. This has been drastically taken out of context in recent years, and is completely inapplicable in relation to the Western 21st century world.
If gun control laws remain unrevised and national policy fails to address or in some cases even locate the actual problems concerning why and how school shootings and other similar tragic events occur, it is safe to assert that other similarly horrific scenarios will unfold. And everyone will be just as shocked and appalled and passive as they are concerning the recent incident at Virginia Tech.
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