It is almost appalling to me the number of Koreans who are so worried that the tragedy at Virginia Tech is somehow going to affect them.  While racism is real and the unfair perceptions of others toward us is real, the tragedy is also real.  To boil it down to "how will this affct me" cheapens it.  I believe that one of the reasons that mainline Americans don't "trust" us is because we have this ability to become incredibly selfish and self absorbed.

After the September 11 attacks, I remember sitting at a cafe in Fort Lee, NJ and hearing two older Korean gentlemen talking about the affects of the terrorist attacks.  They started dwelling on the fact that they could not go into Manhattan and open up their businesses.  They were complaining about all the money they were losing.  I understand that money and livelihood is important, but when our view is so myopic that we cannot suffer and mourn with our own countrymen, then we deserve exactly what we are going to get.

It's time to forget for a few days that the tragedy at Virginia Tech will affect us in ways that it will not affect our white, black, latino neighbors.  It's time to see the suffering of others as real.  If we cheapen it by dwelling upon how it will affect us and not seeing the real tragedy of the murders committed, then we are inviting even more racism and bigotry.  Racism is real and we do need to fight it but there is a time and a place to fight it correctly and a way to become self absorbed and selfish.  Quite frankly, we Koreans are very good at the latter and that is why we don't have much success at the former.  I also think that the more self absorbed we get, we give creedence to those that accuse us of "not really being American".