WORLD / Asia-Pacific
Asians fear backlash after Virginia Tech shooting
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-04-18 11:16
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech student Jiyoun Yoo was terrified when she
heard a gunman had rampaged through her campus, killing 32 people. When
news broke on Tuesday that the gunman was a South Korean student, her
fear took a new direction.
A banner marking the day of a campus massacre hangs over the Squire
Student Center as a couple holding hands enter the building at Virginia
Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, April 17, 2007. [Reuters]
"I'm from South Korea, so I am a little bit scared," said Yoo, 24, as she
walked on campus. Only one person was responsible for the massacre, she
said, "but maybe it will affect all South Korean students."
The gunman who carried out the worst shooting rampage in modern US
history was identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, an English literature
student. He had lived legally in the United States with his parents for
14 years, a US immigration official said.
Yoo, a graduate student, said she didn't know the gunman and none of her
Korean friends had heard of him either. She said her family in Seoul was
concerned Yoo might be a target if there was a backlash against Asian
students at Virginia Tech.
"It is big news in South Korea. Yesterday they were worried if I'm safe,
now they are worried there might be a risk that I'm South Korean," said
Yoo.
The South Korean government also expressed fears of a backlash.
"We are working closely with our diplomatic missions and local Korean
residents' associations in anticipation of any situation that may arise,"
a foreign ministry official said.
South Korea has the largest number of foreign students in the United
States -- nearly 15 percent -- according to the US Customs and
Enforcement Web site.
"I think it's going to affect us quite seriously," said Sunwoong Kim,
president of the Korean-American University Professors Association.
"It's certainly going to cause a negative stereotype of Korean Americans
because he happens to be Korean and a loner and, under some emotional
stress, he reacted very violently," said Kim, a professor at the
University of Wisconsin.
Some 1,655 students at Virginia Tech, or 6.2 percent, are Asian, the
university's Web site says.
White students on campus dismissed suggestions there might be a backlash
against foreigners at the university.
"It hadn't even crossed my mind," said Andrew Rush, 20, an accounting
major. "There is a huge Asian community on campus and we're all together
in class all day. It's so integrated I don't think this will change
anything."
Foreign-born residents in Blacksburg said the town, nestled in the
mountains of southwest Virginia, is a welcoming place.
"Everyone has always been open and supportive," said Xiaojin Moore,
co-owner of the Oasis World Market grocery store a mile from campus.
Moore, a native of China, hopes her three small children will not be
targeted because of their Asian appearance.
"We just want to be left alone to figure things out, until things calm
down," Moore said.
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