Unfortunately, the horrific shooting rampage at Virginia Tech (240 miles from D.C.), which is now being described as the deadliest in U.S. history may does have a brown angle, if only to further a reckless agenda. The death toll is up to 32 33; at least 22 28 people are injured. Tipster Hema emailed us about Debbie Schlussel, a blogger who didn’t waste any time before irresponsibly blaming “Pakis” for the tragedy (I have quoted most of it so you don’t have to go to the site– it doesn’t deserve the traffic):
Who is the “Asian” Mass Murderer at Virginia Tech?
Here’s what we know about the murderer of at least 32 students and maimer of at least 28 more at Virginia Tech, today:
* The murderer has been identified by law enforcement and media reports as “a young Asian male.”
* The Virginia Tech campus has a very large Muslim community, many of which are from Pakistan (per terrorism investigator Bill Warner).
* Pakis are considered “Asian.”
snip
If I were Asian, I’d be legitimately upset with this broad generalization of the mass murderer’s identity.
Why am I speculating that the “Asian” gunman is a Pakistani Muslim? Because law enforcement and the media strangely won’t tell us more specifically who the gunman is. Why?
And the ass-covering finale:
Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.
So far, there is no indication that she might be right. I pray no one decides to indulge their inner-vigilante after reading her hate-spew. Enough people have been hurt by this nightmare.
May the memory of those students whose lives were stolen be eternal. This is just heart-breaking. I’ll update this story as it develops…
::
UPDATE 8: Minal Panchal is confirmed among the lost (Thanks, brown_fob).
Information about Minal’s death came in late because no immediate family member was present on campus.I remember her life here.
UPDATE 7: Information about the gunman (Thanks, Desishiksa):
Cho Seung Hui was a South Korean native who immigrated to this country as a child, officials said. His lifeless body was found in Norris Hall, a classroom building, among those of several other slain students, Virginia state police superintendent Col. Steve Flaherty said. Cho, a senior, had apparently taken his own life. Cho graduated in 2003 from Westfield High School in Fairfax…
Cho, described by fellow students a loner, cleared a federal criminal background check at the time his green card was renewed in 2003, as did his family, a U.S. immigration official said. [WaPo]
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p>UPDATE 6: Regarding VoiceInTheHead’s comment:
It has also been reported that an Indian student, Minal Panchal, is missing after the shootout. [DNA]
UPDATE 5: A desi Professor is among the lost (Thanks, Murugan):
Reports have it that an Indian-origin professor is among those killed in the campus massacre.
Professor G V Loganathan of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was teaching in a class in the Norris Hall – one of the crime scenes – when the gunman went on rampage. [IBN]Abhi remembers him here.
UPDATE 4: In a move which shocks absolutely no one, the blogger who inspired our post uses the latest information in this case (Chinese, not “Paki”) to rail against furriners coming to America for college (Thanks again, Hema):
So, the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre is a Chinese national here on a student visa. And today, this alien did “the job that Americans just won’t do.”
Remember that the next time you hear President Bush and Condi Clueless waxing lyrical about how we need more foreign students in America. We do not. Remember the Mana Saleh Almanajam and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, two Saudi students in Tampa, last year, who hijacked a school bus full of kids while wearing trench coats in 90-plus degree weather?
…And remember: Just because this attacker was not Muslim, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of potential and hopeful ones among the thousands Muslim nations are sending here to “study” under Saudi King Abdullah’s scholarships.[pure crap]See? This is a teaching opportunity, to remind us of how evil Muslims are.
UPDATE 3: Campus police thought it was an “isolated incident”; the email warning they sent was probably too little, too late.
“You can second guess all day. We acted on the best information we had.”
At 9:29 a.m., the university sent an e-mail warning students that a gunman was on the loose and to stay indoors. At about that time, a shooter opened fire at the engineering school’s Norris Hall, killing 30 people. Several students leapt to safety from upper stories, and the gunman’s body was later found at the building, Flinchum said. [Bloomberg]
UPDATE 2: CircusInJungle points us to Wiki, which first said the shooter was “James Jay Kim”. The article has been updated, no longer reflects that.
UPDATE 1: Amardeep provides a link where an eye-witness IDs the suspect as “Asian”; the shooter may have been looking for his girlfriend.
*I have amended the title (was Tragedy at Virginia Tech; Quick, Blame Pakis) and original content of this post because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; several of Schlussel’s quotes have been removed because they serve no further purpose here. Additionally, updates are now in reverse-chronological order, to facilitate information dissemination.
He is from west bank, lived his entire life in Saudi Arabia. He is now talking about what he went through before he came here to the USA.
No, just the Awful German Language…
This news was very depressing for those of us who are teachers here in Virginia. We practice for these sorts of situations about once a month and it’s always harrowing to hear about something tragic like this happening at a school. Or anyplace, at anytime.
Their poor parents and siblings.
HMF(# 97)
I did hesitate before typing it .I don’t use that word and don’t see it being used in the media so I don’t know what the “acceptable” format of it is- if there is one.If I had said “C-word” I am pretty sure it would have been confused with another vulgar term .#74 Filmiholic confirmed that it was as offensive as I believed.
I wonder, what if in the rush to condemn racism against us, we gang up and create a new kind of racism against some other group? Stereotyping hurts -and we know that through personal experience.How can we of all people- as a minority – justify stereotyping and using unacceptable terms against anyone?
Anyway , as you said , this isn’t the time and the place.
Its been a very bad day for so many people .Adding fuel to the fires already raging in hearts will not help.
Sadly, I do think this is true – the ignorance of the masses. That’s why outlets such as Fox News not only survive, but thrive.
it’s funny how extremists beget other extremists who claim not to be extremists, and vice versa. Which extremist came first?
I agree with ANNA on this opportunity to castigate an entire group of people and bring up the violent tendencies of a small portion of that group, while this behavior is common TO US ALL. Forget this Schlussel woman, CNN did almost the exact same thing. As I wrote on First Draft this morning,
Now that they’ve (sorta) identified the man as a Chinese national here on a temporary student visa, I really hope this situation doesn’t explode at the hands of vigilantes.
You are quite correct in this statement, IMHO. I just happened to have renewed my pathetic and paltry health care policy this week and noted that any mental health issues (even due to pregnancy, trauma, etc) are NOT covered. And, I’m on the “more benefits” plan. Go figure. I wonder if any insurance companies have been sued for denying coverage to the perpetrator when something like this (mass shootings, etc) has taken place.
ok, i just have to say this. please do not make unsubstantiated comments. if you have a source, please cite it.
Well you can’t completely disreguard what she says as racist. It’s not like it’s a completely random guess, afterall people of pakistani descent are unproportionally inclined toward terrorism and violence (in comparison to people of any other Asian nation be it Indian, Irani, Chinese, etc). It’s an undeniable fact, but at the same time it’s too early to say that it MUST be a pakistani. But once again, the chances are higher that it’s a pakistani than any other nationality….
For the love of whatever deity you prefer, STOP IT. What utter garbage. Spew more like it and we ban.
all responders, please ignore this knuckle-headed comment.
Yes. I saw the “confirmation”, via urban_dictionary , a user edited joke of a site to prove a sociological point is like using a cracker jack toy to pick steel titanium reinforced lock. Look, terms like cracker and honkey are caricatures, the site had a picture of Indiana Jones for crying out loud. They don’t carry the same historical weight. Racism is an institution, needing years of socialization, indoctrination, etc.. so there’s no way we can fight racism with our own racism. Any form we come up with will simply pale in comparison.
It’s offensive, in a satirical way.. it’s just not as offensive.
Uh, since this is a S. Asian blog, I’m sure the bloggers feel some responsibility to address the naked hatred perpetraded on our community for not other reason than our skin color, country of origin, or historical identity.
Schlussel’s only agenda is to spread hatred of Muslims especially in the context of them hating Jews, Israel, Christians and Americans. There is nothing she won’t use to try an undermine any attempt at moderation from the Muslim community because it interferes with her message that Jews=good, Muslims=bad. The purpose of her message is little more than an elementary school popularity contest. The woman has serious self hatred issues that manifest themselves as hatred of Muslims. Instead of relying on the great contributions of the Jewish diaspora and Israel to the greater good of the world, she needs to demonize Muslims, believing that their demonization results in elevating the status is Jews in the eyes of other Americans. The vitriol she, and others spread, leads to excessive suffering and the promulgation of hate crimes. Addressing her vile hatred and bigotry is just as important as any grief that everyone around the country feels for these pointless murders. The issues aren’t related so stop trying to pretend feelings aren’t possible to be expressed at the same time.
Since you’re so big on media comments and sources, the unconfirmed identification of the shooter as a Chinese man here on a temp student visa is on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown and every other mainstream source right now. Turn on the TV.
As for my hope that this doesn’t get out of hand, that’s my hope and I don’t have to cite a damned thing.
I’m surprised Schlussel still has a job anywhere. I remember during 9/11, she wrote (when she was on townhall.com) something about how she was trying to blame 9/11 on Spike Lee and Malcolm X, and how their “anti-semitism was justified” to link it to Johnny Taliban, the white American turncoat who joined the Taliban, months before 9/11.
I was so furious that I told her that “First of all, Malcolm and his family was denied freedom since birth. His father was lynched by the Klan-like terrorists. Johnny “Taliban” Lindh was given his freedom and his citizenship on a silver platter and threw it away. No one lynched his family or thought of him as subhuman.
“If you can blame Malcolm X and Spike Lee for Johnny Lindh for joining the Taliban, then I can blame Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie for setting back fashion for Middle Eastern women 1000 years. And before you talk about someone who is anti-Semitic, you better check your fellow townhall.com brethren Pat Buchanan on his anti-Semitism.”
Schlussel never been back on townhall.com since.
Schlussel is just unbelievable. To comments on her use of “Paki”, she responds with:
“UH, ACTUALLY IT ISN’T A RACIAL SLUR. AND WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DICK CHENEY AND NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR FRAN TOWNSEND CALLED THEM PAKIS?”
Is this woman really this misinformed, or is she just this twisted? Even Don Imus had the sense to know that he’d said something offensive in the recent kerfuffle.
Also, now that reports suggest the shooter might have been Chinese, she says only “The shooter has now been identified as a Chinese national here on a student visa. Lovely. Yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students.” Not even a backhanded attempt at some kind of retraction.
It’s this sort of complete intellectual dishonesty that really turns me off the political blogosphere.
I am from Virginia Tech and at this point I find this article in very poor taste. Perhaps, one actually needs to be in the building during the shootings to know fear of death. And to think I checked SM for a decent writeup.
Personally, I don’t think anyone should be looking for any angle on this tragedy. Unless evidence comes out that this was somehow racially inspired/motivated, identity politics really need to be set aside so we can all mourn properly.
a) Your IP address suggests otherwise. You are not from VT.
b) The only thing about this “article” (it’s called a “post”) which is in poor taste is the inflammatory pandering which inspired it; take it up with Schlussel.
c) If you had checked SM for “a decent writeup”, you would presumably have read us in the past; that would mean you would be aware that this is EXACTLY what we would post.
d) It is beyond reprehensible that you would use this tragedy as an opportunity to troll here. Shame on you.
I’m surprised that Ms. Schlussel’s blog hasn’t been referenced earlier on this site. If you browse through even a few day’s worth of posts you’ll see this woman’s obsession with linking all crime, politics and world events with Muslim terrorist motivations. Howard Stern has her on his show regularly, and while he poke jokes at her, calling her work a game of “six degrees of separation to al qaeda”, her horniness to “expose” every public figure in the US associated in some way with Islam as some sort of closet terrorist has gotten hotter and more ludicrous every weeks since 9/11. A case of a pair of Indian graduate students trespassing in Cowpoke, Oklahoma, will show up on her site, speculating that “Vivek Patel” and “Kiran Krishnaswami” could possibly be Muslims scoping out a terrorist attack. She regularly fills her hourly prolific impassioned posts with phrases such as “moderate muslims (oxymoron)”. What’s surprising in days like these with the issues with Imus and Isaiah Washington how this woman is somewhat still a mainstream talking head and op-ed contributor in rags like the New York Post.
Right when the story broke and the shooter remained unidentified, I had a feeling she would be on it in minutes, as another comment noted, praying that this was the work of a Muslim; and in predictable fashion, there it was.
What a double standard brown people have to face in asserting their “right to be tolerated” these days. I pray for less sucky days. I feel cheap for making a semi-political point after such a tragedy, and so should someone like Ms. Schussel, who seems to have built a career out of it. Right now, praying for the dead is a lot more important.
SM Intern, I find it equally reprehensible that SM use this tragedy to lambaste Schlussel and her ilk. (regardless of how much they deserve it) These people will always fodder, but that should not be the issue today.
(a) not everyone has or watches cable
(b) you should have mentioned cable as a source
Espressa, I’m giving you the benefit of our doubt, but you’re really starting to sound like a troll impersonating the “real” Espressa. Your current IP inspires my concern; I recognize that I could be wrong, but this has been an issue here recently.
The issue today is that a tragedy occurred. What is relevant to this blog is how a racial slur and stereotypes were employed to exploit this situation. After 9/11, desis suffered the brunt of retaliatory hate crimes. It is not outlandish to express concern that the same could happen today, nor is it “reprehensible” for us to alert our target audience as to what is being said about them.
You may unreasonably fault us for posting this, but you overlook that it allowed our readers to express themselves about something which affected all of us, regardless of color or creed; we served our role by reporting it this way.
It’s an emotional day. We are all raw. I’ll chalk all of this up to that simple, unpleasant fact.
i really wonder if there are people that take Schlussel’s words seriously, her words nothing more than racist ranting.
hema, didn’t you know? as a white person from the midwest, Schlussel is the authority on such things.
Espressa…I am trying to understand you. Do you object to the way that I blogged this post? Were you worried that SM Intern was banning a potential student (they def. were not)? I take words like “reprehensible” seriously. I take blogging here seriously. I tried to be respectful while handling this and if you think that I wasn’t, contrary to beliefs held by most trolls, I would like constructive criticism regarding what you think I could have done differently. You are welcome to email me if you’d prefer to speak re: this offline, thanks.
‘Real’ and ‘troll’ espressa are indeed one and the same. I’m at a different location than usual, perhaps that explains the IP difference. (but, shoot, didn’t realize we were under watch like that) And I’ve pissed you guys off enough times, you shouldn’t be too surprised =)
I can sorta see your point but I deeply, strongly disagree. If backlash from this tragedy comes to resemble the backlash from 9/11, lets talk about it then, but lets not anticipate it. Especially not because some asshole is blogging off some straight up nonsense.
HMF, perhaps you might find this more acceptable.
And how do you measure to what extent or how offensive a derogatory term is to anyone?
By alerting SM to the Schlussel blog, I didn’t mean (on any level) to belittle the extremely tragic situation at VaTech, or even to exploit it in order to make a point. It was just something I stumbled across, and it hit me that it was wrong for Schlussel (who some take very seriously) to attempt to exploit a massive tragedy to push her own agenda.
I am sorry to have raised this issue in retrospect. Maybe it was in poor taste in view of the tragedy.
Debbie Shlussel is an idiot, and a dangerous one at that. But like one or two other commenters, I would have preferred to read this a day or two removed from the events. I read SM partly because I get news about things that don’t get attention elsewhere. But I do feel like reading about this in a day or two would still have an impact but give us time to reflect on the tragedy as just a tragedy, without a specific desi angle. I’m not saying this post shouldn’t have been written–I may be completely wrong about it having the same impact in a day or two. But people like Debbie Shlussel will always use any tragedy to their benefit, and I am much too upset about the events themselves to spare any outrage for her. I’m not suprised that there are people in the media who put put a “foreign terrorist” angle on the incident, but I really don’t give a crap about them right now. Perhaps I should, but I really don’t.
Again, I am not criticizing ANNA for writing this post. This is just how I feel about the situation.
I now have a lot of respect for the VT students. Every student who has been on CNN so far is talking about how they are trying to cope, the reporters on the other hand are prying them about the possible mistake made by the university, the students are not giving up.
I salute you Hokies.
This might be wrong to say, but I am deeply dissapointed that the shooter wasnt white! If he was white, this country would just shrug it’s shoulder’s and move on to more important topic’s like baseball, but now that he is asian all hell will break loose.
All the talk will be about “Asian culture and if it promote’s this type of behavior.”
“Should we kick all immigrant’s out of college?”
“Does Kung Pao Chicken promote violence?”
“Should we attack China?”
“Chinese Restaurants? Should we start referring to them as, ‘Freedom Restaurants’ in protest to these shootings?” and on and on.
This whole thing is just plain bad. Just imagine sitting in a classroom with no place to run and no place to duck and have no choice, but to just sit there and hope not to be shot. I also have the feeling, since there is a large Indian/pakistani population in the engineering school there, that there will be a number of Indian student’s, who died today. Not that it make’s it better if there wasnt, but since this is a desi blog, I just thought I might mention that.
Frankly, I’m really glad Anna blogged this angle as early as she did. There were any number of ways the story could have turned between then and now, and I think I’m much better off being aware that there was somebody out there, even in the Blogosphere loony-boonies, that was desperately trying to spin this desis/Muslims/’P-word’ angle on the story.
Desishiksa and Espressa,
I respect you both as commenters and I respect your opinions on this, but I hope you realize that Hema’s tip was the single way that this very important story was relevant to our readers; we are not a “general purpose” blog. We have a distinct focus.
I respectfully disagree with both of you because the sad fact is, whenever there is any sort of a tragedy, accusations flow brownwards, first. “We” are guilty until proven innocent. This very blog was created in part because of a profiling incident, a “foreign-sounding name” that was interpreted as a threat. It’s our duty to cover this exact angle to such news. MSM will give you the actual facts, we provide the reasons for why it matters to South Asian Americans– and a forum in which we can discuss it all.
I understand that both of you are hurting because of this and you would prefer to read about “my take” on this in a day or two, but I don’t think we had that luxury. I am at work right now because I took several hours off this afternoon to blog this, update it and then vigilantly moderate the comments. I mention that not because I’m looking for praise but because that is how important this story was to me and by extension, to this blog. It received comments seconds after I posted it. That means that our Sepia community yearned to express themselves regarding what they were experiencing. I felt like I owed it to them and our initial mission to write this, when I did, how I did.
I hope that you can forgive me for offending your sensibilities; I have to balance such risks with what I think is best for SM. I almost never please everyone, so I just try to be true to myself and the inspiration I felt in the summer of ’04 when SM was born.
Hema, I am thankful that you sent in this tip and I’m sure the readers who engaged in this discussion are, too. There’s enough pain going around today, you don’t need to take any of it for yourself, not when your heart was in the right place.
For what its worth, I guessed that the blog was Schlussel’s before clicking on the link…maybe that means Schlussel-level ignorance and stupidity is rare enough that if it’s that easily recognizable. Schlussel is the same person who called Jill Carrol a traitor when she made those videos criticizing America while AQ terrorists held a gun to her head. From Schlussel, we can hardly expect her to blame anyone else.
Speedy
ANNA, you didn’t offend me. And it’s obvious from the comments that I’m in a minority, and that’s okay. I commented on it because well, that’s what the comments section is for, right? Thank you for your response. And I’m truly glad you blog about these things, even if the timing doesn’t work for me in this case 🙂
Thanks, ANNA. I’m new-ish here, so I’m not always certain that everything is kosher, so to speak. I appreciate the effort you put in to make all sorts of different opinions welcome. Thanks again!
Baby girl, please don’t apologize!!! Like I said, I can see your point for writing it — its just that my balancing of the interests would have come out differently. That’s OK to share, isn’t it? Also, once written, I don’t think the SM Intern should make such a strong presence in the comment thread. Thus, my 121 was more in response to the Intern’s attitude toward 117. Delete as you see fit, but chastising posters from an authoritative handle, especially since the Intern sounds very much like you, creates a teacher/children atmosphere many of us might resent.
Anna, I was writing you an email but I want to say this publicly. I’ve disagreed with you and other bloggers and other posters, with my algebra teacher, my parents and friends and my little brother… well, authority in that last case is perfectly clear so it doesn’t really count… anyway, yes I’ve been critical in the past, perhaps overly and causticly so, but none of that is an attack on you doing that thing you do. I sometimes comment in haste without giving adequate thought and finesse to my words, but I don’t think I have ever trolled. You’re a fantastic blogger, an artistic writer and I feel personally enriched for having read your work. I am deeply sorry that my words have ever caused you worry. I will be more careful with my words, since that is all we are here.
(The email was in the same vein, but a bit gushier)
Anyone who types strictly in CAPS is dying for attention. She is what she is; xenophobic, jingoistic, racist trash
debbie schlussel’s take on the situation is hardly surprising. She’s of the conservative movement who hold some core beliefs that inform their opinion-making in nearly every situation:
the ‘MSM’ deliberately tries to mislead the american public in order to elevate and glorify immigrant, non Judeo-Christian images and values in a misguided attempt at propping up ‘multiculturalism.’
Terrorism is an acceptable component of a news story about, and motive behind, every crime reported in the ‘MSM.’
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (and in Christians in general) are the most persecuted people in our nation.
The Muslims are coming to get us.
More Muslims than you think possible are coming to get us.
The Muslims you meet in everyday life are perfect candidates for Gitmo, or a terrorist trial.
You should be ever suspicious of Muslims wherever and whenever you meet them if they do not immediately and loudly proclaim their immediate renunciation of terrorism and any activities abetting terrorism like giving to charities.
If you are suspicious of a Muslim, please call Homeland Security right away. The lives and reputations that you destroy are of little consequence as you are showing all their terrorist homeboys that you mean business.
A female Indian grad student is missing and an Indian professor is said to be among those dead.
I updated the post to reflect the latter; if anyone has links about the grad student, please let us know. I will amend the post accordingly.
🙁
That says nothing. 9600 students live on campus, another 14,000 live OFF campus. Most universities have their own block of IP’s while the surrounding neighborhoods have blocks assigned by the local (or even national) ISPs. His or her IP not a VT assigned one? Simply means that s/he lives off campus.
Think before you type.
Hmm…just to add to the post above. Considering that so many students live off campus, what would have happened if the police had locked down the campus after the first shooting? Most kids would not have been able to get to their classes….
Professor killed
I did. You should, too. I’m aware of everything you stated. None of it applied. Perhaps you are new here; if so, welcome and you might be interested to know this– we don’t call people out like that unless it’s deserved. We don’t ban unless it’s REALLY deserved. I stand by my disgust that someone would troll about this (and troll they did).
He was from TN originally.
Minal Panchal is the grad student’s name apparently.
Thanks, MuraliMannered…so amended, per VitH’s comment. Each update… 🙁
a stiff upper lip is sometimes recommended. I can’t hold the pose though–this story is too much.
Shallowthinker, I was worried about that too. I hope they find the poor girl.