Are you serious, Debbie Schlussel?   The Virginia Tech tragedy has been splashed across websites and newspapers across the world. It is now confirmed that the gunman was a Korean born male student. The information that he is a foreigner! An international student! An immigrant! is headline news. Are we forgetting to focus on the issue at hand, that 31 people are confirmed dead? Innocent lives taken at the hand of a very unstable young man? Reports all over the field are referring to this man as a South Korean naturalized citizen. His race and ethnicity is being thrown around, used as ammunition* as to the reasoning and justification behind his actions. Being Korean did not cause this man to commit this egregious crime. Obviously he suffered from other mental and emotional issues stemming from who knows what – family, relationships, school.  Race does not dictate whether or not someone is prone to violence. Are all black people good at basketball? No.  Are all Asians math geniuses? The answer to that is a big no. Pass the calculator, please. 

 Ms Schlussel’s comments are preposterous verbal diarrhea. Did she so boldly and foolishly state that this is “yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students?” Oh. no. she. didn’t. She assumes by keeping the “foreign students” out of this country, the crime rate will drop and people will live happily ever after? Don’t get me wrong. It is ok to be angry, even hate the man, for what he did, who he is/was. But don’t hate the Korean race because of who he, one man, was and what he did. Get real, lady. This isn’t about race. Stop using the internet and this situation as an excuse and platform to spew your hate and racism.  

So Ms Schussel? You wanna bring it, do ya? BRING. IT

*sorry. No pun intended at all. 

 

Maybe I’m overthinking this

Last weekend I went to a baby shower. You can read about it here. The title of A’s post couldn’t be more accurate. I honestly can’t say that it was the most fun I’ve ever had at a shower but I adore my friend J, so it was worth going just to see her. I took my kids to the shower, too since J has never met them. I was worried that there wouldn’t be other kids but J assured me it was ok to bring them. Turns out there were a handful of other kids there, too. When we got to the shower, the kids were already downstairs in the basement watching tv and coloring. I left the baby with my friends and headed downstairs with E, hoping she’d relax when she saw the other kids playing. I approached the table where some of the kids were drawing. Each kid had a few pieces of paper and a crayon. None of the children even bothered looking up at me, and when I reached for paper and a crayon, one of the younger boys leaned over to his older sister and said something along the lines of “We better put our crayons away or else everyone’s gonna use them”.  I thought it was odd that he said that, considering that he seemed fine with the other kids using their crayons. I tried to shrug off his comment and proceeded to try and start a conversation with him on what he was drawing. I was met with a blank stare. Apparently he wasn’t interested in sharing any information with a friendly stranger. I looked around the table and the other kids just sat there gawking at me as well. I looked at my daughter, who looked as off put as I felt. I picked up my daughter and I headed back upstairs. For the rest of the shower, I stood (for over an hour, holding a baby!)  in the back of the hallway with my two kids while J opened 8 million gifts.  After she was done, we said our goodbyes and headed home. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

 All the way home, I couldn’t help but feel like my daughter had been singled out because she was the only non-white child in the room. Hell, I was the only non-white person in the entire house. Sometimes I wonder if my paranoia about my race is just a manifestation of my insecurity. I just want my kids to be accepted.  I know that sometimes “Kids will be kids” and that they are not always nice to new people or to an outsider, but it was another stark reminder that even though my daughter is growing up in a seemingly modern era, I need to prepare her for this kind of hurtful ugliness. I went through it growing up but I just figured by the time I had kids, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about it.  And now I know I will have to. It makes me so sad that my daughter will have to feel the way I felt years ago. It hurt me doubly because E is at an age where she is fully aware of her surroundings. I know she felt left out and I could see her bruised pride through her wide quiet eyes. As much as we like to brag that we are living in a progressive society, it makes me realize that maybe America is not ready for something so big as a black president or a woman president. Not if I still feel uncomfortable, like a sore yellow thumb sticking out amongst a sea of white faces.  Maybe I’m being too sensitive. Maybe I’m just paranoid. But I can’t help feel the way I feel.  In my efforts to try and treat everyone as an equal, it is discouraging to feel such division. I wonder sometimes if I should try and all.