Made in China: When is it enough?

Like many of you who may read this, you may have heard the horrific news Saturday that involved a gunman who killed 10 people and injured 10 more in a deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park, California. The suspect who was identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran opened fired into a crowded dance studio where all of the deceased were in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

This act of violence irrupted the day before the Lunar new year, one of the most popular holidays celebrated in Chinese culture. However, it is hard to celebrate at a time when we as a society almost start feeling numb to mass shootings as such.

According to California’s state report, hate crimes against Asian Americans saw another year of a triple-digit percentage increase. 2021 there has been an increase of 177.5% from 2020 to 2021.

When is it enough? Not only the increase in Asian hate crimes but also mass shootings becoming a regular occurrence? And I know I’ll sound like a broken record but as someone who was born in 2001, I have never not been terrified that something like this may happen at my school.

As a child who grew up in a public school one of the first drills I remember learning in elementary school is the scenario in case a shooter was in our building. We would hide in corners, barricade the door and stay as quiet as possible.

Transitioning to high school we were taught to run, hide, and fight which was our protocol in case a shooter was in that building. Thinking about I always wondered if other kids from different countries had this same worry, or protocol in place.

When is it enough?

Write to Julia Lin at julia.barton@mnsu.edu