Like all of you, I've been watching the terrible sadness unfolding day by day at Virginia Tech. But I am most troubled by the turn the coverage took yesterday, an endless examination of the shooter and his "motives" -- including, now, photos and video -- as if it will provide us with a reason, something that actually makes sense. We need so badly to believe that we can recognize grief before it reaches us, that we can assess and contain madness, that we can prevent tragedies of all kinds. We now know that this young man was mentally ill; is this news? Didn't we know this the minute we heard about the incident?
We convince ourselves that by studying circumstances, we can avoid or alter them in the future. But this strategy requires identifying What Went Wrong, including placing blame. We hear "experts" argue about campus security, mental health screening, gun control, police procedure. But there are two sides to all of these issues for a reason: making changes to any or all of them still won't guarantee our safety. And that is a conclusion our controlling culture just can't bear.
What if we simply accepted that these things happen, beyond reason or regulation? What if we skipped over the endless analysis of a person whose behavior is beyond our understanding and focused, instead, on the flip side of tragedy? On the flip side are stories of loving relationships, of inspired lives and deep friendship, of bravery and compassion and the kindness of strangers. Imagine if, out of every event of this nature, we got 'round the clock coverage of these things, an opportunity to bask in all that is right with our world.
One person unleashed a terrible thing at Virginia Tech; as a result, millions are showing the blinding beauty of humanity at its best.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Real News at Virginia Tech
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2 comments:
Absolutely wonderfully said. Thank you.
I am from Blacksburg and attended VT, as did my husband. WE met there and got married there, and wanted to set up our lives in this sweet little town. The town and school are inseparable. They are like a big family. We are all still in a state of shock - this is not happening - not here in safe little Blacksburg. But then we see the vans with the sattelite disks on them, and we remember that it IS true and it DID happen, and we are so sorrowful. A lot of us have some connection with the victims of this tragedy, and it has nearly torn our Blacksburg family apart in grief. Instead of focusing on the shooter, let's focus on the lives of those we lost - what they gave to us and to the world.
Annie Littlewolf
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