April 29, 2017
A03
Hamamoto's chapter titled "Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence" presents a stunning reality on the fate of several Asian American victims who were either targeted or randomly killed. Reading about these former soldiers, the perpetrators, and their killing sprees disgusted me as I am reminded that much of this was due to our hyper-militarization civilian society, and how their desires to kill stemmed from targets of the same ethnicity in the war. Hamamoto turned this study of behavior into a science. He credits Ressler of coining the title "serial killer" due to movie-goers leaving the theater with a cliffhanger that encourages audience members to return every week. This is why serial killers want the thrill of murdering again. This behavior is reflected in sniper culture and abuse in mail-order brides. Whether the tragedies were due to reminding killers of the Vietnam War or merely the result of yellow fever does not excuse the role Asians and Asian Americans play. Throughout history, we have been exploited more than benefited by systems that were supposed to protect us, and we are continued to be depicted as defenseless and unprivileged. For what was once thought to be a casual reading about murder outside war, Hamamoto reminds us that unjustified acts such as killing are a reflection of what our society has allowed, and we are equally responsible for changing that.
Q: Professor Valverde mentioned in class that going to college is like going to war. When we graduate college and enter the "real" adult world, how do we unlearn certain behaviors that we have spent most of our lives trying to defend?
Bivins, T. (Date Unknown). Anti-Japanese Propaganda in WWII: Racism Takes an Uglier Turn. Retrieved from http://j387mediahistory.weebly.com/anti-japanese-propaganda-in-wwii.html
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