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GUEST: Tamara K. Nopper, an Asian American graduate student in sociology at Temple University, where she teaches classes on ethnicity, race, and Asian American studies. She is also a writer and anti-war activist volunteering with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO)

Today on the 8th anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, we examine another campus massacre that took place less than a week ago. Twenty three year old English student Cho Seung-Hui opened fire on a campus dormitory at Virginia Tech University, killing 32 faculty and students before taking his own life. It was the worst campus shooting in U.S. history. Because of the shooter’s ethnic heritage, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry fears racial backlash against Koreans and the ministry has expressed its concern and condolences in the aftermath of the tragedy. Some cultural critics are particularly concerned about how media analysis of the event might affect this potential prejudice. Will the media highlight or downplay Cho’s ethnicity? How will current “model minority” stereotypes play into the analysis? How does the incident’s proximity to the 8th anniversary of the Columbine incident frame this shooting?

Read Tamara Nopper’s commentary, “What May Come: Asian Americans and the Virginia Tech Shootings” at: http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content
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