Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Virginia Tech


Something about this tragedy has really gotten to me. I was tearing up watching the news last night. It's just such a pointless waste-- so many talented, amazing lives lost and for no reason.

Details are still emerging but one theory that has been circulated in several stories--- that the tragedy ignited with an initial act of domestic violence. A man gunning down his ex-girlfriend. Which is so ho-hum normal that campus and police figured there was no need to shut down classes for the day. In fact, you can bet if this tragedy had ended there, most of America would not even hear about it because the truth of domestic violence ending in murder is so common in this country. Mere weeks ago an ex-girlfriend was tracked down, strangled, cut into pieces and barbequed. Yet, that story was a flash in the pan.

Another fabulous blog, Dakota Women, calls attention to this history of shootings and their implications in light of violence against women.

The media is skipping over this detail in most of their coverage. Yes, the story is still fresh & to be fair families are still being notified. However, I can only pray that this discussion will come up in the days ahead. Our country has consistently turned a blind eye to the serious and very real epidemic that is domestic violence.
It hurts men, women and children and we need to stop the silence.

1 comment:

Sarah @ All The Book Blog Names Are Taken said...

I always love reading your blog Tobes because the issues you discuss are very real and things that need to be dealt with today. However, in the case of VA Tech, I think that it is far too soon to start a debate about anything. 32 innocent people are dead, they need to be mourned and remembered before anything else. There are several issues that are already stemming from this horrific act - gun control laws, campus security, etc. Before this happens though, I wish everyone would just take some time to really let it sink it what has happened so the community can start to heal.