30 April 2017
ASA 2 A02
Week 5 - Imperial University
Darrel Hamamoto's piece "Empire of Death" illustrates the extent to which violent death is normalized in society, and how even terrorizing, brutal deaths can be brushed off the backs of citizens. The section that stood out most to me was "Race Murder", wherein the methods and patterns of killings of racial groups is explained. Although I was aware of the "white supremacist systematic violence" (Hamamoto 283) that white people have inflicted upon people of color for centuries, I did not realize the extent to which murder is highly racialized. The holocausts created by white people in Vietnam and Korea, amongst other Asian countries, are influenced heavily by race. The systematic racism and power that white people hold over people of color is translated into every action, including mass murder. Just how a University can be "imperial", in that it is domineering and tyrannical, so is the hold white people have on so many countries, and has consequently lead to so many deaths. This topic makes me wonder about the curriculum taught in schools surrounding the Korean War and other atrocities white people have inflicted upon other countries. As we all know, history is told from the point of view of the victors. But knowing the other side of the story would give a full picture and illustrate the racialized nature of these horrible murders. Why don't we teach about these events from the perspective of the victims? Included is an image from the Korean War. Why don't we know their stories?
Works Cited
Korean War Records [National Archives]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/research/military/korean-war
Hamamoto, D. Y. (2003). Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence. In Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire (1st ed., pp. 276-292). New York, New York: Routledge.
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