|
Toronto
Star
INSIGHT
Monday, April 15, 1996
When normal,
peace-loving human beings are faced with an intense crisis, they
react in different ways. There is the typical anger, distress
and fear, but there is also something else - a need to justify
what happened.
The recent
shooting of a Canadian family residing in Vernon, B.C., brings
this strange phenomenon to light. The tragedy is of immense
proportions, because mass murders are not a frequent event in
this country. Canadians are appalled, horrified and generally
confused. The question that resonates prominently in everyone's
mind is, "How could such a tragedy happen?"
This is a
justifiable reaction. What is not justifiable or acceptable is
the way in which some in the media set out to explain why this
particular murder took place. Some enthusiasts from the Asian
community have not helped the process of understanding, either.
As a result, many misconceptions and stereotypes are
perpetuated.
It no longer is a
case of a demented person killing an innocent family. It also
becomes an issue of race and culture, as though the ethnic
identity of the victims is a factor leading to the murder.
A major newspaper
carried a front page story on the fallacy of arranged marriages,
because the killer in the B.C. slaying happened to have had an
arranged marriage. This was followed by a CBC radio interview in
which a prominent Asian talked about cultural differences
between Asians living in the West and those still residing in
the East.
It's important to
clarify that race, creed or nationality have no bearing on the
mind of an insane person bent upon destroying an entire family.
How can one even begin to justify the thinking or the mindset of
a person who killed a houseful of people and then turned the gun
on himself?
Maybe, over time
and with thorough investigation, the reasons why Mark Chahal
chose to kill will be disclosed. It's possible, however, that
the true reasons may never come to light, because the victims
and the murderer are dead.
When Marc Lepine
killed innocent women in Montreal, the entire French Canadian
community and its heritage or cultural norms were not
investigated as the cause.
By the same standards, cultural
practices of the Asian community may not be the compelling
reasons behind this act of violence in B.C.
The fact is that
all immigrant communities have assimilation and integration
problems. This is par for the course in coming to a new country.
Similarly, there
are socio-economic, cultural and religious issues at play in the
Asian community that are serious and affect lives of Asians
living in North America. Concerns about teenagers, seniors,
drugs, sex and alcohol are not limited to one community but
transcend all cultural and social barriers. They are dealt with
on a nationwide level. To associate an isolated incident with
the ethnic background of a particular community seems unfair and
unjust.
If extensive
research has taken place in the Asian community and results
show, for example, a connection between arranged marriages and
murders, then the statistics of such surveys should be made
public. If not, then unsubstantiated innuendoes can only harm a
community and the traditions it practises in good faith.
We need to
understand that there are weirdos and psychopaths lurking among
normal people everywhere. They can't be identified by a specific
color, creed or race. It's difficult to ascertain whether
cultural pressures or personal problems lead them to commit
crimes.
However, when a
crime is committed, it is an individual act of violence that is
not necessarily provoked by cultural barriers. When a crime of
great magnitude is committed, as the one in B.C., the whole
country hurts, not just one community.
Copyright
© 1996 Toronto Star, All Rights Reserved.
Back
to Toronto Star Articles
|