AAA cancels event after shootings
April 24, 2007
On Sunday, the Asian American Association began its annual Asian Awareness Week, but AAA faces new challenges in promoting itself to the MU community.
After the Virginia Tech shootings last week during which Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people before killing himself, AAA held an emergency meeting April 18 to determine whether Cho's South-Korean heritage would result in a negative response to Asian Awareness Week.
"Specifically, our I Am Asian American campaign scheduled for Wednesday was designed to spread awareness of the Asian-American culture and show our presence at MU," AAA President Annie Guo said. "However, we do not want this to be an opportunity for ignorance and racial discrimination to take place given the recent incident."
Guo, a former reporter for The Maneater, said the initial controversy surrounding the I Am Asian American event was its theme — race is not black and white. The I Am Asian American event was intended to promote the visibility of Asian students on campus.
"People would think it was in response to the Virginia Tech incident when most people wouldn't believe we've been planning it for over a year," Guo said.
One of the main concerns about the program, and Asian Awareness Week in general, was the safety and security of Asian students on campus, Guo said.
AAA ultimately decided to cancel Wednesday's event. Guo said there was a point at which the organization had considered canceling Asian Awareness Week altogether.
"We wanted to use this week to combat any stereotypes that may have occurred," Guo said. "We want to use this to educate, create awareness and try to make it a positive."
Instead of the I Am Asian American program, AAA will spend Wednesday afternoon in Speaker's Circle with a banner bearing a Virginia Tech ribbon of maroon and orange. Students can sign the banner that will later be sent to Virginia Tech.
"We still kind of want to incorporate the race thing, and we're gonna pass out flyers with the victims on it," Guo said. "We want to give the message that we are all Hokies. We are one, and the message we want to give is, regardless of race, everyone is affected by this issue."
Guo said Cho's race has not proven to be a factor in his motives for the April 16 attack.
"Additionally, the actions of the individual are not representative of Asian-American students and one person should not define an entire racial group," Guo said.
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