Letters to the Editor
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What does it mean to be "smart" and "quiet"?
Yang raises some interesting points, but I think that the notion of being "smart" and "quiet" is a lot less opressive as compared to that which is faced by other minority groups, especially African Amercians. I cannot help but wonder that if a black male at VA Tech was stalking white females and making people uncomfortable, if accomodations, like the ones made for Cho, would be made -- the brotha [as they say] would be expelled and in JAIL, not a mental institution. This is not to minimize the fact that it appears that Cho was very mentally ill. I worry about this issue of hatred in the Asian community against people who are different, just look at the rantings of people like Kenneth Eng. What will the (Asian) community do to help people learn to cope more effectively with difficulties so that they deal with/face their anger and not blame others? Why can't people align across difference? Assertiveness is an effective way to deal with people; killing is not. I was bullied relentlessly as a black female who wanted to achieve and have experienced Asian's shaking their heads when they see how much I study. Who is perpetuating the "stereotype" about the smart, quiet Asian community? And to what end? Nobody wants to be linked with the negative stereotypes that even new immigrants associate with black people...Tiger Woods even distanced himself from his "blackness."