The sense of shock and shame that has engulfed the Korean American community in the wake of the murderous Virginia Tech rampage might seem overdone to some, but its roots are familiar to many minorities.
"My first thought when I heard initial reports (of the shootings) was 'Oh my God, I hope it's not a black person,' " said black commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson. "It's a visceral reaction, a reflection of this country's long history of typecasting all minorities."
When the spotlight settled on Cho Seung-Hui on Tuesday, Korean Americans in Los Angeles wasted no time denouncing the crime, hosting a candlelight vigil and prayer service -- extending, in effect, a collective olive branch to a society they worried might judge them all harshly.
"It is during these times that we need to remind each other how far we have come as a multicultural nation and continue to help each other heal past wounds," said Grace Yoo, of the Korean-American Federation of Los Angeles.
That kind of response prompted confusion, even derision, in some quarters. "It's a lack of intelligence to think that one lunatic shoots up a university and we're going to go after all the Koreans," Los Angeles radio talk-show host John Kobylt told his audience Tuesday afternoon. He poked fun at Korean American mea-culpas, accusing them of "playing the race card. ... Now look who's stereotyping."
But the sensitivity of Korean Americans' -- and that of other minorities -- is rooted in culture and history, and reflects the reality that distinctive events, with distinctive players, tend to leave a unique mark on our collective psyche, bolstering innate tendencies toward bias and stereotyping.
"People will never forget that it was a Korean that committed the crime," said social psychologist Joel D. Lieberman, chairman of the criminal justice studies department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "When you've got a white guy going crazy, (his ethnicity) doesn't stand out, because most mass killings are done by whites. But when you have two rare things occurring like this, people tend to overestimate the frequency of the occurrence" and make a connection between group membership and behavior that doesn't exist. The psychological phenomenon is called "illusory correlation."
Lieberman said he "can't imagine" people holding the Korean American community accountable."
But their impulse toward a public display of contrition is also rooted in psychology, he said. "People's sense of identity rests not just on your own accomplishments but the failures and accomplishments of your group. If you're a Mets fan and the Mets are doing well, you feel good about yourself. When a person from your group does something that reflects negatively, you feel bad about yourself. You have a desire to distance yourself from the person."
The feeling might be more pronounced among minorities who feel more vulnerable to being judged by society. Each group nurses its own concerns, specific to its history and place in society. Blacks might fear that events like this will bolster stereotypes that they are violence prone. Jews' fears might reflect a history of being scapegoated for society's ills. The spotlight on immigration causes many Hispanics unease. And hate crimes against Muslims in America have soared since the World Trade Center attacks cast them as terrorists.
Asian Americans of many nationalities are sensitive to the possibility of repercussions, said Rene Astudillo, executive director of the Asian-American Journalists' Association. His group sent out an unusual advisory to media outlets as coverage of the killings unfolded Tuesday, urging them to "avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason."
But the Korean American community is by no means of one mind on the issue. "Many Koreans are upset that some members of their community are accepting this as a collective guilt," Astudillo said. "They are saying, 'This is an act of one person who may have some mental issues who may happen to be from South Korea. There is no reason for us to say we are sorry for that.' "
But Hutchinson, head of Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, commended Korean American leaders for stepping up to offer apologies and prayers. "They know there's a rush to judgment about foreigners," he said. "This sent a warning signal to them, 'We'd better get out in front of this fast.'
"Is that fair? No. But the reality is there's a long history of stereotyping Asians in this country."
