Consider media terms in tragedy
YOU THINK YOU KNOW
by Shirien Elmasraya
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 4/23/07 at 11:41 PM MST Last update: 4/23/07 at 11:40
I opened the Yahoo! News page last Monday to find out that 32 people were murdered. At that point they hadn't released the identity of the gunman. All they said was officials were looking into whether this was a "terrorist attack."
Later the world learned the gunman was 23-year-old Seung Hui Cho, a South Korean native. Not only was I in total shock and felt horribly for those affected by this incident, but I was completely disgusted that officials did not label the gunman a "terrorist." How many people have to die for this to be called terrorist activity? From what part of the world does one have to be in order to be labeled a terrorist? To what religion must one ascribe in order to perform terrorism?
If this is not the perfect example of how the media uses propaganda, I don't know what is. Why do you think South Koreans were afraid of retaliation against them after the incident? It's because they see what popular opinion did to Muslims and Arabs after 9/11, not to mention, if we go back in history a little more, to the Japanese after World War II. Will the media not play the same game with the South Koreans as they did with Muslims, or is there a double standard here?
Better yet, why was he not called a Christian terrorist? He claimed in a letter written before the attack that he was trying to die "like Jesus Christ," and he committed suicide.
One can easily realize the double standards displayed so obviously by this incident.
As I have said over and over throughout the past year, you cannot classify a group according to the actions of few. The media this time were indeed correct to not classify someone as a "Christian terrorist" and to make an effort to dispel any ill feelings that some may have had toward native South Koreans. Ask yourself if there is a discrepancy here with Cho and the way people treat those of other religions.
The next time one hears the phrase "Islamic Terrorist," he should as, "Is the media classifying him as terrorist merely because he is Muslim?" If the answer is yes, and indeed it is yes, then Cho can only rightfully be called a "Christian terrorist."
Although the incident was indeed tragic, people need to understand that if 32 people died in one day in Iraq, that would be considered a pretty good day. People across America held ceremonies and vigils. Papers were filled with their faces and detailed their stories. But of the more than 600,000 people who have died in Iraq, most can't even name one of the innocent civilians who have died - not one. It seems American blood is more valuable than the blood of Iraqi civilians.
Early last week, as details of the Virginia Tech incident unfolded, a small headline came across the TV screen reading, "198 killed in Baghdad today." Imagine more than six Virginia Tech incidents in one day alone.
I am not trying to trivialize the incident that happened this past Monday, but people often fail to see the bigger picture. Just as we all felt distressed by the tragic shooting at Va. Tech, this happens on a much wider scale in Iraq and other parts of the world every day.
Considering Iraq is only a small portion of the size of America, one can only try to imagine the chaos that happens there daily. It's time we wake up and smell reality.
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Contact Shirien Elmasraya at
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www.lsureveille.com
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