Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
It's become common for people who find themselves caught up in or near situations like the UCLA shooting to post real-time updates on social media.
As the situation progressed, many students used social media to let others know that they were OK. Others posted pictures of themselves barricaded in classrooms.
But after it was revealed that the shooter was Mainak Sarkar, a former doctoral student from India, one amateur web commentator tweeted this:
This concern — that when violent tragedy strikes, an entire ethnic or racial group will be implicated in the crime — isn't new.
Take Two explored this concept with two guests:
(Written answers have been edited for clarity.)
Jeff: Yeah, it was that hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. The way that people subsequently start spreading rumors or making conjectures about who this person is or why they did it instantly becomes more of a touchpoint because the person has a cultural identity, a faith: a racial or ethnic presence that is overtly associated with another community. Because it’s UCLA and because he’s a grad student and frankly because the initial conversation was about a dispute over grades — you know — load on the stereotypes, but instantly I felt so afraid that this person was Asian or an immigrant.
I think it's because they’re often the ones who are described to be the implications of such an event. For instance, if you happen to be a Muslim-American or an African-American, there are caricatures and stereotypes about your hostility against the dominant group. Often, those stereotypes are never fulfilled, but those stereotypes are so pervasive that they’re almost imagined and executed in people’s minds.
I think that part of the job that the media has is to try to divine some kind of meaning, some understanding as to what occurred. When you have somebody who’s seen as more of a generic killer — they typical FBI profile of a white male loner — then, more often than not, the conversation turns to his social network, his political beliefs, and his mental health issues. Those conversations have their own issues. The problem is when people see somebody who is more obviously part of a particular group; it becomes less about the individual and more about the group. It doesn't even have to be a group that is directly related to that individual. You mention Muslims. If you look on social media right now, you’ll see that a lot of people are implying or even stating outright that Mainak Sarkar was Muslim, and he was not.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full conversation.