White guy. It had to be.

First heard about the Virginia Tech shootings online, then turned on the TV.

Gunman on the loose...campus under siege...22 dead...32 dead.

My mind's eye saw someone striding down a hall with the deliberation of the Terminator.   With a big ass gun, maybe two, one in each hand, and extra ammo.  Methodically mowing down people in classrooms and offices.  A killing machine.

I saw a white guy.  Another angry white guy.

Like him:

A college student version of Timothy McVeigh.

 

 

 

 

 

   

Or,  an older version of these guys:

The Columbine killers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, absolutely. I'm sure of it:  The gunman was a white guy.

That, my friends, is racist thinking.  I am a racist.

And, when I found out the killer was Asian, I uttered,  "Oh no! That can't be true.  How can that be?" 

That's racist, too

Comments

[margalit]

Yeah, welcome to the real world. I learned this lesson early in life, when Son of Sam was caught and he was Jewish. And then it was revealed that he was adopted and I thought "phew, not really Jewish", which made me a racist asshole. But then again, I was in high school. But I get how you feel.

[birchsprite]

Whatever his ethnicity, the fact that he was a student is what saddens me. What has to go wrong in a young persons life for them to do something like that. I guess this whole thing highlights the fact that all people regardless of their skin colour can hurt and hurt others in return. We all have that human characteristic trait of violence lurking within. Maybe when we start to love and respect each other as humans then we will evolve beyond this.

[Jenny]

I'll admit, my first thought was "white guy" too - but I really believe it is due to the heavy media coverage of other school massacres. Most of the previous killers have been "white guys" and so my brain immediately filled in the unknown identity with the faces of the other killers.

[cursingmama]

I held my breath hoping that the gunman wouldn't be middle eastern; hoping he would be white.
I of course also assumed the shooter was male.

There is work to do on me too...

[jen]

I was hoping he was white, too. Im white. What does that say about me?
I also, like cursingmama was hoping to God that he wasnt middle eastern.
When I heard he was Asian, I looked at my husband and said, Thats really too bad.
Im sure the Asain community cannot believe it either.
We are not a perfect people, no matter what color.

[Stan]

On the other hand, they say this is the worst mass-killing in U.S. history. So is this another example of stereotypical Asian over-achievment?

[GraceD]

You guys are so great to comment.

Stan! Yes! Thanks for the levity (maybe it's not meant to be, but I giggled anyway?)

Now that Stan has opened the door, I kept thinking "when English Majors attack".

Okay. My big fat bad. Especially since I'm an Asian who majored in English.

Peace to all...

[Jess]

Honestly the race of the shooter never even crossed my mind. I was too focused on the horrible events than what race the shooter was. I would hate to have this turned into a race issue.

[Don]

Of course you thought it was a white guy! Statistically mass murderers are white men. There's no racism in that.

[GraceD]

Hey Jess,

In some circles it's a race issue, neonazis and the like. It will be a race issue on a subtle almost undetected manner by certain pundits. I'm kind of on watch for that.

If the killer wasn't a legal resident, hooo boy, this would easily slide into the illegal alien issue.

I was just noticing in my mind how it was instanteously it became a race issue. In a snap. I'm certain I'm not the only one.

Issues. We got plenty of 'em.

Peace to you and all.

[GraceD]

Hey Don. Always good to see you.

I base my racist thinking on this definition:

**Racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it either superior or inferior to another race or races. It is also the prejudice directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief.**

My mind went to caricatures which is why I posted the pics of McVeigh and the Columbine kids. Also, my use of "another angry white guy".

As someone in her 50s, I would hope for a more sophisticated, complex take on things.

Peace.

[mothergoosemouse]

I honestly didn't get a picture in my mind when I heard the news. But I'll admit I was surprised when I read that the killer was Asian.

I'm not sure what my surprise says about my subconscious thinking. I hope I'm erring more on the side of "I don't recall a mass murder committed by an Asian before" vs. a judgment on which races/ethnicities are more likely to do so.

Nonetheless, terribly sad for all touched by this tragedy.

[fully operational battle station]

The huz and I were talking about this as well.

With the sniper shootings (Black guys)

The Salt Lake City Mall shooting (Indian I think?)

and now this,

It's throwing off the FBI profilers. Interesting and racist, yes. Us too.

Jamie

[Don]

I still don't think it was racist to jump to thinking "white guy". I think it was your mind doing a quick comparison to the facts you had and your knowledge of history. The facts you had: Mass murderer on a school campus. History: A LARGE percentage of school mass murderers are white guys.

If in your mind you saw the person as superior or inferior just because it was a "white male" then I suspect you would think white males are one or the other any time you think of them. I don't see the caricature relevance.

Maybe I'm not so quick to think someone is a racist just because they react in a certain way. I don't think Imus is a racist although I think he made a huge mistake and spoke without thinking. I wouldn't have fired him but would have certainly given him a little time off just to appease the hounds calling for his head.

[Margaret]

I don't remember thinking about race when it happened, so I can't contribute to this discussion. It was just too shocking.

[Mom101]

I had the same thoughts. Not because I am racist, but because the majority of these killers are white. It's profiling based on statistics. Is that racist? I don't think so. Or I hope not.

[mox]

I didn't think race when I first heard about it, just a bone chill. When I heard the shooter was Asian, it didn't get me like it did when a co-worker snuck up to me and whispered that it was a Korean kid. I thought f***ing hell. She, like me is Korean-American, and we both knew that there's going to be crap to deal with for a long time regarding our fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. I'm hoping like hell that the mental illness is seen for what it is, and not linked to phantom cultural assumptions.

[GraceD]

Don - the caricature reference is not so different from racial profiling. If I were a cop in Blacksburg, VA, I would have been looking out for the nearest redneck-y, Timothy McVeigh looking white dude, based on what was going through my mind that morning. Surprise! It was someone totally different from what the stats tell us. An Asian guy. Who knew?

I think racial profiling is wrong and racist, not to mention slopppy detective work. We may differ on that, Don. But, that's where I think the racist lives - in such conclusions, based on caricature. (Like Willie Horton)

Liz/Mom101 - Greetings, dear Liz. I'm thinking that I should have painted a more grim picture of my angry white guy caricature. It reduces a subset of the population - a certain type of white guy - into the most crass of terms. Heck, that certain type of white guy have the potential to kill.

But, it's not about being white. It's about the real telling signs - the loner, the kid who tortured animals, the crackpot writings and videos. All the signs of a sociopath. And sociopaths come in all colors and both genders.

[wookie]

Is there any data on the race/religion of serial killers and/or spree shooters over the last couple of centuries? Is it really statistically THAT much white or is it that we (in North America) just don't hear about mass murders in other areas of the world?

I guess we'd have to limit our data to killings perpetrated by a single person (or maybe a pair), not motivated or subsidized by a government or religious agency.

[TwennyTwo]

peace,

I think I was praying with everyone else that it wasn't a Muslim kid. Just like when I heard about the SLCity mall shootings, and the name came out, my heart sank because it was a Muslim name.

And Mox, yes, I hear you on "all the crap" to deal with for your husbands, fathers, sons, brothers for months to come.

And thanks to Grace for even putting this out there. You're brave to even accuse yourself of racism in a day where no one wants to assume the responsibility of examining their own opinions and thoughts. FWIW I wouldn't call you racist, but you bring the point that racism and stereotyping are twin brothers... different and yet they come from the same place. We have to watch that reaction.

peace
TwennyTwo

[Tricia]

I thought it was a white guy- but is that because I'm white or because my racist assumptions about typical students at VT?

Isn't that why Bush was there so fast-
flags half mast, yet it took him a week to get to Katrina and we are still waiting for restructuring/rehab/help...

MochaMomma has some good things to say re: Imus

[impossiblejane]

When I first heard about this shooting I was in D.C. with 170 exchange students...over half of them Asian. I had no idea of the ethnicity of the shooter when I heard the story. Later when I heard the shooting was in an engineering building I made the assumption that he must have been an Asian student (that my friends is racist and sexist) because my ex-boyfriend was the only Caucasian student in his engineering program when he was a graduate student. So I made the assumption that he was a stressed out engineer so he had to be Asian. He was an English major.

I am embarrassed for my assumption...

...and fearful that this might create a backlash against Asians.

Jane

[Dawn]

You know - Terrance and I both said "Thank God it wasn't a black guy". And I then also had the same thoughts about an English Major? Because it all happened in an engineering building, so clearly the crazy engineers were behind it. We English majors of the world - we are the lovers, not the fighters....

Sadly, mental illness knows no racial or cultural boundaries - and yes, while I am saddened by the enormity of the killings, the victims who were in the wrong place at the wrong time - I am also saddened for the young man who was so sick - so ill - and the depths of his insanity were vast...He was living in great fear and darkness, Grace - and people around him saw that but did nothing, or could do nothing.

This then led to a heated discussion about evil bred (sociopaths) and evil as a result of mental illness.

I'm still sorting through it all.

[badgerbag]

I had that "hope it's a white guy" feeling because if it were a white guy, there would be no backlash against white guys. If it were a person of color or a woman then it is assumed to represent for all people of that category. Just as when men murder their families all the time, every day in the paper, it does not represent all men or is not talked about as if it does, but when a woman commits a violent crime it is major news and women's fitness to do all sorts of things is questioned. Or for example when a male CEO has a problem, it does not throw the competence of all men into question, but when Carly Fiorina takes some flak then there will be headlines all over like "Are women ready to be CEOs?"

So yeah the assumption that the shooter is a particular race has got some racism going on. However I also think what I just described is also what's going on in our minds. We know that if it is NOT a white guy it opens up a huge extra world of hurt.