Words start violence by creating stereotypes

Words start violence by creating stereotypes

By Helena Kim

I respect Malcolm X too much to just sit here quietly. I love my
people too much to just listen to them get put down. The truth? I
think Malcolm would be offended if he saw his name mentioned in
Aaron Howard’s April 26 Viewpoint column ("A cry for help amidst
the inescapable heat").

Malcolm knew equality and justice, and most importantly, he was
smart enough to discern what and who he was fighting against. In my
opinion, judging from the column, this is an ability Howard does
not possess. I guess those honors and AP classes don’t talk about
identifying the problem correctly. I guess those teachers don’t
mention that scapegoating is wrong.

In this time of Asian hatred and immigrant-bashing, the last
thing I need is to open up the Daily Bruin and find a column that
rips on my people and, frankly, on my heart. Let me try to share
this pain, the pain of oppressed people who are often blamed and
often misunderstood.

I feel for the death of Latasha Harlins as much as anyone else.
And the justice in Doo Soon Ja’s probation is questionable. But
don’t dirty the entire group of "Korean store owners" on the act of
one. When Howard did not mention Doo as the murderer in this case,
but rather mentioned simply a "Korean store owner," he created a
stereotype of Koreans.

Maybe people don’t realize this yet, but Koreans are not
handgun-shooting freaks. It’s wrong to present a hateful stereotype
of Korean small business owners by referring to Doo, an individual,
to the whole. But Howard went on to put down my people indirectly
by referring to their business as "stupid liquor stores" in the
same paragraph.

Yeah, I know he was talking to us, talking to me. And I will not
take that "fonky attitude" from him! He makes it sound as if the
Korean liquor store owners want to be on 52nd and Crenshaw selling
alcohol. Does he really think that Koreans like to risk getting
robbed and shot every day and night? No, most Koreans do not choose
to be there ­ they work in the liquor stores because they
can’t find any other means of employment.

It’s the kind of comments Howard makes that create the evil
stereotypes of Asian Americans, especially Korean Americans. And
those stereotypes contributed to the killing of Vincent Chen in
Michigan just for being a member of his race. The murderer
identified Asians as the source of his unemployment because he was
fed the stereotypes from the media. And at my sister’s high school,
the hatred also allowed four boys to bang my sister’s head against
her locker. When they surrounded my sister and began picking on
her, saying "Your parents kill children for stealing cookies," my
little sister spoke back. When she fought against their racist
remarks, they grabbed her and banged her head up against her locker
until her nose began to bleed.

Yes, I’m talking to you, Aaron Howard. Words start the violence
and hatred. Words hurt in ways you may never be able to understand.
I just have one thing to say to you. Before you start fightin’ and
losin,’ first find out who and what you are up against.

It doesn’t help if you start beating up everyone in your sight,
everyone in our neighborhood. That’s when you lose. That’s when we
all lose.

Kim is a fourth-year economics/international area studies
student.