Serial killers and mass murderers can't be simply dismissed as anomalies...or why whatever helps you sleep at night doesn't really help anyone

Reading Reflection #5

"Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence" by Darrell Hamamoto was such a disturbing and chilling read. At some points, I felt like, "I can't keep reading this, can I?" But I read it, feeling sick, sad and enraged the entire time.

At first I was skeptical about having to make blog posts each week for this class, but this week especially made me realize that this blog is actually a really great outlet. Maybe we can all feel sick and sad and enraged together?

Anyway. Big picture aside, the smaller things in this article really set me off. How that 14 year old child had the chance to be rescued but police were somehow swayed that it was all just a lovers' quarrel, how someone could be so brutal to a 7 year old. And behind all of this was deep and disgusting racism--racism against Asian Americans in this particular article. Hamamoto argues that these violent attacks against Asian Americans took root in the Vietnam war, and I find it hard to disagree that there is a definite connection between the two. How can you have a war in an Asian country without it affecting the way Asians at home are seen? How can you dehumanize a certain group of Asian people without it dehumanizing all Asian Americans at home to some degree?

Also, this article really linked to something we discussed in Women's Studies 50. It was about women during wartime and how they are often brutally raped and attacked. Dominating the women of a certain country seems to be a way to show dominance over that country, maybe because women help to populate that country, maybe because women are seen as possessions to rob that country of.

So racism and misogyny are all very linked here. But I'm left wondering, now what? What can I do about this instead of silently fuming? The truth is, I kind of already know what I could be doing. It's just about being brave enough to take those steps. Calling people out for their bullshit comments (even those said in casual "jest"), continuing to take classes like asa2 and wms50, getting involved in organizations that fight against all the -isms of the world, being part of activist movements on campus...those are all things I know I can do to help.

Are you guys still struggling to be more aware and involved as well?

Felicia Peng
Section A01