Today, I found out that some of my family friends were involved in a car accident that resulted in four deaths. My parents sent me some links to various articles regarding the accident. As I was reading the articles, I noticed several comments on the articles that were filled with racial stereotypes and prejudices. As I continued reading, I became filled with anger at their incorrect stereotypes and prejudices. The accident was caused by a man who entered the turnpike in the wrong direction. He collided head-on with a traveling family. The articles contained the names of the victims; it listed the Korean names of the family. Some of the comments in the article stated that it was their own fault--if they could not read English and follow the signs, then they should not be driving. The comments assumed that because some of the involved parties were not American, it was automatically their fault--because they "obviously" did not speak and/or read English. It was infuriating to me that they would make such a presumption. First of all, the man who was traveling in the wrong direction and ultimately caused the accident was an English-speaking American. Additionally, the family who was hit immigrated to the US several years ago and have embraced the culture and passionately learned the language.
Why is it that people automatically assume that their Korean ethnicity and culture were the root cause of the accident?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am really sorry that this happened! This makes me sick because people simply judge people based on absolutely nothing. The fact that they were blaming a Korean family for their own death points to a larger issue- Americans angry about immigration. Without immigration, what would this country be?? Everyones ancestors were immigrants at some point or another but people seem to forget this when it comes to others. I think everyone knows someone who holds the "they should speak english in America" argument, which I think makes people discriminate and not give others the respect they deserve. These statements lead to closemindedness. How can people possibly judge the lives of others based on their language and race? It is sad that people who are supposed to report the truth are also blinded by race and feel justified to state their personal opinions to the public.
ReplyDeleteWow...that's ridiculous. First I'm sorry for the family, I hope you all are doing alright.
ReplyDeleteYou asked what was the reason for assuming that their race or ethnicity was the cause. Unfortunately, people like to place the blame on someone or something in an event like this. Race, and the stereotypes that surround it, seem to often come to light when these things happen. People often fall to reductionist explanations that feed their anger; in this case, they just provides an excuse. As idiotic an excuse as it is, it is one that happens a lot, and they unfortunately are caused by, and feed to, the stereotypes about certain people that already exist. Maybe not just racial stereotypes, but stereotypes of any immigrant.
I don't know how to make people more aware of how closed-minded and insufferably ignorant and simplistic they are sometime. Even myself, in some situations (perhaps now with the name-calling)! I think that by extending understanding and refraining from anger to others with the above views, their reductionist views might be challenged in some way. It's hard to say and do, and often talked about but never performed. Pity and anger, as natural of reactions as they seem, won't change anything, which I still need to realize sometimes!
Christine,
ReplyDeleteI'm terribly sorry to hear about this tragic accident. Your frustration and anger are well-founded.
To all of you: it may seem futile, but letters to the editor pointing out this sort of thing can have an impact on getting others sensitized to the casual racism that seeps into so much of our lives.